A few days ago, we hosted Dave Ovenden, Managing Director of Pricing, Products, Claims, Underwriting, and Insurance Consulting & Technology with Willis Towers Watson for a discussion regarding the digital transformation underway in the insurance industry.
Dave and his team have a unique perspective on the dramatic changes in the market, with decades of experience working in the industry. Joining him, MuleSoft insurance lead in the Office of the CTO, Prashant Choudary, provided additional perspective on the role of API-led within open insurance digital initiatives.
Review the full conversation in our webinar. Below are four of the top takeaways from our talk with Dave:
#1 Share data to support customized product offerings:
Insurance providers can increase operational efficiency by finding ways to share data between internal systems and external partners. Dave sees this not just as a way to save costs, but also tailor coverage to specific risks and better serve customers.
For example, with commercial insurance only covering about 10% (estimation) of actual business exposure, there’s a significant upside for carriers who can capture the opportunity.
#2 Connect “specialisms” to become customer-centric:
When discussing the characteristics of the most innovative insurers, a key priority is transforming their IT system from being policy-centric to putting the customer at the center.
To do this they pick the best components for a particular job and connect them to deliver the best customer experience. Luckily, with the continued innovation in the InsurTech market, specialist tools are multiplying and integrating these tools has become easier.
#3 Open up underwriting rules to empower channels:
Distribution executives have an increasing range of options these days when it comes to selling their products. Insurance exchanges, digital MGAs, comp raters, price comparison websites, and non-insurance companies offer new ways to reach customers.
Insurance carriers can capture value across these opportunities if they implement critical business rules consistently and with minimal human intervention. The innovative insurance carriers of today are already using tools such as Radar Live and MuleSoft to expose those rules. This ensures the right risks are being covered at the right premium regardless of which channel distribution.
#4 Tap into ecosystem innovation to stay ahead:
A recent McKinsey CEO brief highlighted the need for insurance organizations to innovate faster. The panel discussed how tapping into the innovation provided by a wider ecosystem of partners is key to enabling that speed.
According to Dave, the best carriers have reduced the time needed to update ratings and other key rules from several quarters to a matter of hours. One specific carrier called out was Direct Line Group, a leading UK automobile insurer, who recently announced a “new, cloud-based platform […] including Guidewire, MuleSoft, Salesforce, Amazon Web Service (AWS), and Willis Towers Watson’s Radar Live to create a unique ecosystem to deliver future business initiatives.”
Review the full conversation via our webinar.
Learn about Anypoint Platform and its out-of-the-box integration with Radar Live, Guidewire, and others on Anypoint Exchange. Hear from insurance carrier CIOs about the benefits they’ve seen since adopting an API-led approach to digital transformation:
- Generali CIO Yanna Winter
- United Property & Casualty Insurance CIO Chris Griffith
Learn more about Willis Tower Watson’s Radar Live platform.
