A timely reminder from Patrick Kelahan that ; -

"InsurTech is that similar situation- many firms ‘touching’ the initiative from a narrow perspective. Not blind, surely, but not from a vantage of ‘seeing’ the entire concept. Of course it would be very daunting to try to grasp the industry from all angles, and very expensive too.

So, there are the individual firms describing their unique parts- underwriting, pricing, distribution, administration, claims, agencies, customer acquisition, etc. And designing and/or applying technology- artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, IoT, algorithms, data science, actuarial science, behavioral economics, game theory, and so on. Using technology and new methods to help them see their part of the beast that is insurance innovation."

360Globalnet

focusses on digital claims whilst its platform also offers answers for other aspects of insurance from administration and brokers to underwriting. Covering such a wide area of transformation, not to mention the differences of regional markets, there is ample opportunity for confusion.

In Europe we talk with enthusiasm about orchestration of the supply chain  to both increase customer satisfaction and in parallel reduce cost claims. In the USA that term "orchestration" is viewed suspiciously as conspiring against the customer. One word and different meanings.

Is it a snake, wall, tree, fan or exactly what as Patrick vividly shows in the picture above?

It is not helped by the overplayed terms like AI that often cover anything from deploying simple algorithms to deep learning. They are often used without reference to the other technologies that must be planned, tested and deployed in parallel like master data management (MDM). 

At the heart of the matter Kelahan brings us back to the customer.

" And without belaboring the theme, we can be reminded that the elephant is not InsurTech; the elephant is insurance. InsurTech is the trappings with which the elephant is enhanced. And the elephant is the contractual agreement that comprises insurance, and the elephant’s handler must be the customer saying: - 

Let’s all describe the beast well from our unique perspective, with the understanding that in the end the elephant’s handler- the customer- must be why we are touching the beast at all."

It is also important to continually emphasise that " Digital Transformation Is Not About Technology" but about vision, leadership, strategy, execution. Much more than just insurtech.