Page 42 - Insurance Times JUNE 2022

backlogs, and increase productivity, they’ve become than being painstakingly coded and then extensively tested.
prevalent among IT teams. Perhaps the thing that makes CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous development)
no-code technology so appealing to Insurers is the expedited will become the new go-to for companies in a future where
time to market for digital applications and products changing consumer demands necessitate quick and timely
compared to traditional development projects. Ultimately software deployments. While many enterprises, including
this technology gives insurers the power to develop software those in the insurance sphere, must accommodate trends
products faster and with better quality. like cybersecurity, they should first equip themselves with
the capability to change products in the event of market
Augmenting legacy IT fluctuations.
As new technologies like no-code tools and “headless tech”
Quicker claims processing
become more prominent, financial service organisations are
Another thing that can’t be slow on the uptake is claims
able to maintain their legacy systems and improve the
processing times (the amount of time that passes from the
customer and employee experience.
opening to the closing point of a claim). This is fast becoming
a crucial distinction between insurers. Those that are
Traditionally, insurance has been a conservative industry, but
winners of the future will use technology to help them speed
this is now changing with new competition in the form of
up processing, almost instantly.
tech giants, innovative startups, and digital-first insurers.
There’s a shift in the mindset of insurance leaders and
As a result, companies are exploring AI-enabled tools to
experts, and the need for innovation is becoming clear to
automate estimation and inspection. One instance of this is
everyone involved. More and more, we are seeing the
the use of telematics to offer greater levels of contextual
industry shift from conservative to innovation-focused.
information to aid smoother, faster, and more
comprehensive claims settlements.
As we near the year’s halfway point, it’s clear we are headed
towards more innovation, better employee and customer
Joint ventures with insurtechs
experience, increased agility, and innovative applications of
Another growing trend is collaboration with ecosystem
existing technologies. As well as slowly leaving behind age-
players, as partnerships between InsurTechs and incumbents
old insurance problems, like risk assessment, claims
increase. And for good reason, too – it’s often a win-win
processing, and policy sales.
situation!
Shorter application development cycles
Established insurance companies are harnessing their customer
Insurance companies are in a “digital race” as they rush to
relationships and data to develop new income streams, while
innovate to support better customer experiences. Agility has
innovators provide technical know-how and support. Perhaps
become a baseline to mark competitiveness in today’s
the most monumental outcome of these partnerships is the
insurance space. Before, insurance companies would release
selling of embedded insurance products, which refers to selling
new software every six months, or maybe every three
insurance products as part of another purchase experience.
months for those in a more aggressive growth stage, and
This has changed how insurance is sold and consumed on a
these release cycles would take anywhere between 18 and
fundamental level. Embedded insurance is rapidly growing,
24 months. Now tech giants have created a new paradigm
thanks to the widespread use of APIs that offer an easy way to
where software continuously changes, features evolve
link insurance sales to other customer experiences.
rapidly, and products enter the market just as fast as they
are thought of. As a result, insurance companies need to Looking ahead, insurance companies will continue to
focus on cutting application development cycles to shorten embrace API technology to make themselves available to a
the speed to market.
far broader marketplace.
To make this a reality, companies require a major shift in Digital channel: The new primary
how they think and build software. This is where low-code
channel
platforms that can be changed often or frameworks which
allow dynamic changes and can be quickly deployed, rather Prior to the digital age, the physical distribution channels

42 The Insurance Times, June 2022