Read Majesco's latest research to better understand the important changes in insurer's strategic priorities which are fueled by growing customer expectations and defined by three digital eras.

The assumption about technology is that progress comes fast: Because electrons move at the speed of light, changes driven by technology must, too. But that's often not the case. 

As employees start to return to work after two years of mostly working remotely, smart employers are rethinking just about all aspects of how work is done to get the best of both the home and office worlds.

Marie Carr, Amanda Davis, and Bhushan Sethi, along with moderator Paul Carroll, discuss creating a culture of innovation and how to attract new talent and motivate and upskill existing talent.

ITL's latest On-Demand Webinar featuring Marie Carr, partner at PwC; Andrew Robinson, CEO at Skyward Specialty Insurance Group; and Andy Cohen, COO at Snapsheet; along with moderator Paul Carroll, editor-in-chief at Insurance Thought Leadership.

Insurers have at their disposal incredible amounts of data, and powerful analytics can turn it into business intelligence better than traditional tools.

Why have reinsurers' facultative underwriters wait until an insurer has finished its process? Why not consult as experts across an ecosystem? 

The pandemic heightened the country’s collective understanding that experiencing a disabling event is not a long shot by any means.

While investment slowed in the early phases of the pandemic, it rebounded strongly in 2021: Levels during the first half equaled the total for all of 2020. 

There is no going back. Insurers must optimize operations for remote teams and supporting partners serving an increasingly diversified, and shifting, client base.

But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the move to decarbonization; crew and port congestion challenges and other issues mean there is no room for complacency,

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues in the insurance industry today, but forward-thinking insurers have found the way to combat it: AI. 

While process improvements and innovations result from these spinoffs, they do not come without a host of technology challenges and considerations. 

An increase in digitization, the rise of AI and better value-tracking methodologies have paved the way for more advanced technology like "intelligent decision-making."

One insurtech has tried, but Hippo has burned through $628 million in cash and is spending more than $1.50 for every dollar of premium it is generating. 

With two-thirds of consumers reporting they base buying decisions on brand values, an increased focus on sustainability presents a huge opportunity for insurers. 

While talent challenges are nothing new to insurers, new research shows they are prioritizing talent strategies more than ever in the post-pandemic era.

If we think of the insurance company as a home, it has similar types of vulnerabilities -- but smart use of APIs can cover them. 

Here is what insurers should be aiming to achieve ahead of the UN climate summit in November to support both their own and broader net zero emissions pledges.

A key to diversity and inclusion is having strong support from senior leadership. Another is naming a single leader to be responsible for the success of all your efforts.

Technology and weather science have evolved to help warn of approaching events, giving advanced notice to people to alter course and relocate to safety.

Can insurers envision the opportunities clearly enough that they are motivated to switch gears and change something right now, and tomorrow, and the next day?

A survey of hundreds of business leaders found 15% saying that moving to the cloud will be their biggest technology expense this year. 

I am convinced that  "we're free" are the two most damaging words in a broker's vocabulary, yet we see and hear them all the time.

Here are three opportunities for our near future that will modernize, democratize and grow the industry for the next 100 years.

The pandemic elevated the need for companies to provide digital experiences to customers and employees, such as real-time payments and virtual claims submissions.

A Chubb survey found that 44% of U.S. homeowners experienced internal water damage in their home in the past two years, up from 27% in 2020.

Four lessons from Amazon's Web Services relevant to all of us driving innovation in the insurance enterprise.

The 2022 tornado season is upon us, and it’s expected to be even busier than last year. So, policyholders need help.

Workers’ compensation survey shows more payers are investing in electronic payment platforms and digital claims management tools.

The majority of workplace injuries are slips, trips or falls, but there are many unexpected injuries, such as getting hit by lightning or falling overboard.

Instead of simply selling consumers products, smart companies. including insurers, market themselves as companies to believe in and make part of one’s life.

With online-only companies becoming more popular and more desirable, they’re causing the entire industry to rethink how they’re going to stay relevant.

With all the complex challenges and opportunities facing the industry, there is real benefit to meeting face to face.

Organizations that focus on gender inclusion and prioritize the advancement of women report up to 61% higher revenue growth than other companies.

If the proper guardrails and governance are not put into place early, insurers could face legal, regulatory, reputational, operational and strategic consequences down the road.

People want to do work that is interesting and purposeful. They value an organizational culture that places a premium on creativity, thought leadership and innovation.

Just as the U.S. spends hundreds of billions on warships and planes, it should invest in an information warfare machine focused on continually preempting disinformation.

For brokerages that intend to participate in fast-emerging opportunities, the future is now. It’s time to carpe diem. 

Few drivers are aware that texting while traveling at 55mph is the equivalent of driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed.

We often think about climate change in the long term. It's easy to forget that we already live with the consequences of unchecked climate change today.

When done correctly, technology is as transparent as it is critical. When implemented poorly, it's like begging your customers to look elsewhere for services.

The insurers that will pave the road to the future will be those that figure out to seamlessly serve customers by matching each product to the right distribution channel.

The customers want to drive. Are insurers prepared to thrive once we’ve handed them the keys?

The invasion poses a complex threat to the operations of financial services companies and has enormous consequences for the financial markets in the short term. 

Family offices face increasing threats to their assets, reputation and physical security, and the consequences can be severe if risk barriers are not built.

Emerging risks affecting the reinsurance business present opportunities for analytics and predictive modeling.

A story about monks and nuns doing electronic piecework suggests just how far the gig economy can stretch, if we think about the issues creatively enough. 

At this point, we believe that the hard U.S. E&S market will not end any time soon; however, some companies will struggle with prior year reserving issues.

Existing strategies addressing medical debt, such as stopping lawsuits or removing it from credit reports, are important but do little to actually prevent debt.

Technology can tip the scales back in favor of a healthy workforce, driving growth and innovation as well as preserving institutional knowledge.

Insurers can create a better narrative for investors if they, like Musk, play offense, not just defense, on moving toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases. 

Having multiple reviewers with varied socioeconomic, ethical and individual backgrounds can lower the risks of biases being placed into AI programs.

Emerging threats are precursors to business crises, so all organizations should have an updated risk management plan to implement when these risks become a reality.

There is a huge range of opportunities that are still untapped, just waiting for creative, research-driven, passionate agents to capitalize on.

Too few are measuring the most important numbers of your business, so you're not in a position to make the proper adjustment as you work to grow.

The litmus test for talking about suicide is to substitute the word "cancer" for the word "suicide" to see if the sentence still makes sense or if it has a negative connotation.

Many P&C carriers say they will become more data-driven, and many of them have tried -- but the results can be much better.

Putting the right product in the right place at the right time through embedded insurance has more potential than any other insurance innovation in recent memory.

Email is based on an antiquated physical model (the inbox and outbox), and better ways of communicating -- even collaborating -- with customers are emerging.   

This year and beyond, agencies will fiercely focus on channel expansion and assess their current partnerships. Insurers must stay abreast of new partnership opportunities.

The pandemic has provided the sort of compelling event that is needed to propel employee benefits insurers to a digital transformation. 

Social media data provides insurers with an opportunity to gain insights into a customer's risk exposure in real time. But it comes with many challenges.

In our fervor to embrace new insurtech companies, we may have missed the opportunity to learn from those incumbents that have seen the ups and downs.

Maintaining compliance requires manual, repetitive and error-prone processes, handled by small armies of well-compensated experts -- but many can be automated. 

The ecosystem model empowers technology departments by getting them closer to the end customers, positioning them as supporters of business strategy.

The acceptance and delivery of payments must be in real time, and capabilities must let customers create tailored digital payment experiences that fit their needs best.

Insurance claims software lets agencies reduce fraud, shorten the claims lifecycle, optimize costs, improve efficiency and a lot more.

Many fall into the industry, find success, go out on their own, hire a couple of "accidental" team members and wake up one day with an accidental business.

Only if it's used right. Root is having problems, but Discovery Insure shows how telematics can make a profound difference. 

Carriers can begin by simply challenging their outside counsel to deliver more value and then discussing how to get there together.

The roots of intelligent automation remain firmly established in the information technology industry, yet its influence has branched to serve a wide range of businesses.

Embracing a digital approach reduces roadblocks to deliver exponential benefits for policyholders and your claims organization.

Clients, brokers, insurers and investors have woken up to the possibilities of simpler, faster catastrophe insurance, and they are already experiencing the benefits.

Efforts will include using technology to improve the ease of doing business for agents and implementing tools and applications to increase employee productivity. 

Here’s a four-step plan to initiate a systematic process to uncover, screen and scale the best ideas using an innovation portfolio approach.

Studies show that the quantity and quality of sleep have declined steadily, and sleep loss can make it more challenging to maintain focus and vigilance.

84% of executives agreed that innovation is critical to their growth strategy, but only 6% are satisfied with innovation performance.

Application forms that encourage fast thinking can lead to misdisclosure through careless mistakes, approximate answers and intuitive biases. Slowing the buyer down may help. 

Consumer trends may cause you to rethink how your organization fits within other ecosystems that customers want and are willing to buy insurance from.

How Amazon’s approach to selling the former can help you move more of the latter.

We need to start a discussion about underinsurance, especially after natural disasters, to determine if changes need to be made to better estimate replacement costs.

Given the need for flexible and agile insurance product lines, the future of insurance lies in the adoption of SaaS systems.

Insurers have always been data-savvy, but they will have to move faster than ever to keep pace with competitors and other industries.

Despite optimism at the outset of Q4 2021, property and auto insurance shopping trended below 2020 levels by year’s end, TransUnion finds. 

Independent agents, in particular, have the human touch, industry knowledge and carrier access needed to build and retain customer relationships.

Seemingly impersonal digital transactions underscore the criticality of personalization. The key is to pinpoint the exact moment of need in the insurance buying and filing experience.

Leaders can take bold and visible positions declaring suicide prevention and mental health promotion critical community concerns.

Insurers have an opportunity to shape the discussion on algorithmic fairness by demonstrating awareness of potential societal implications.

While some may consider today's challenges translating to the worst of the times, this is the best of times for innovative-minded P&C companies.

In the face of all the grim predictions, remember that myriad tools can protect businesses against and mitigate the impact of cyber-related events.

Personal lines insurers will continue to advance their digital transformation strategies in 2022, albeit with a new lens and several shifts in priorities.

The forward-thinking approach in the P&C market is to provide the required property data as a service (PDaaS) to carriers.

Barring another “black swan” event like the pandemic, the automotive ecosystem of 2030-2035 will be virtually unrecognizable from today.

The cyber risk landscape has always been in motion, but the rate of change has accelerated during the pandemic and will likely remain volatile.

In dynamic conditions like today's, strengthening existing relationships, elongating the customer lifecycle and focusing on the right prospects are all-important.

Even if legacy systems are occasionally updated, a completely new way of looking at the system as a whole is needed. This is where DevSecOps comes in.

The gender gap is societally based, and change needs to happen at a core level. Not just with how men see women in the industry, but with how women see themselves.

Russian hackers may retaliate against companies and countries that have aided Ukraine -- and the rest of us may get caught up in the wash. 

These risks are moving the insurance market away from transactional coverage and more toward co-management of risk. 

Group and voluntary insurers have a whole new challenge: How to create products that fit each unique life and then offer them where life happens — at work.

Insurers are already familiar with adverse selection. Now, they are getting to grips with the new concept of inverse selection that arises with big data.

The following are important ways to reduce corporate risk and support employees in both remote and on-site environments. 

Insurance performance through inflation cycles. 

Commercial insurers will continue to advance with their transformation strategies in 2022. However, their focus will look a little different than it did a year ago.

Work automation is not about technology. It’s about process. A process that is best led by the line of business or function head and not corporate IT.

New political risk insurance losses in Ukraine due to Russia's invasion will likely be material but well within the ability of private carriers to perform on their obligations.

AI-powered optical character recognition lets insurers unlock vast troves of data and streamline all processes.

The two most immediately relevant are "the end of passwords" (yay!) and the growing availability of "synthetic" data to train AI in situations where there isn't enough real data available.

Properly applied, AI produces better medical outcomes, gets employees back to work faster, reduces litigation risk and lowers the costs associated with claims.

For each dollar of premium, claims cost Lemonade 90 cents, marketing cost it 60 cents and other costs added 40 cents. Feel a little betrayed?

If an organization does not have a well-thought-out incident response plan with trusted and tested backups in place, a cyber attack can be devastating.

CRM software does not solely benefit relationships with customers. It also helps in communication and collaboration among various departments.

Thousands of lines of insurance haven't been innovated in 30 years. With so much opportunity, it's time to think about insurtech as a permanent fixture in the larger ecosystem

While the assumption has been that higher repair costs for advanced driver assistance systems features offset ADAS loss-cost benefits, a new study finds significant benefits.

2022 will look a lot like the second half of 2021, but opportunities are emerging for auto insurers to differentiate themselves, especially through telematics. 

Apple, Google and Amazon just announced a new standard for communication for devices that could finally unleash the smart home's potential. 

Employers need to build a better bridge between workers' comp and LTD to better manage the common ground between them – the employee’s health.

Large and small carriers, in most cases, have inherently different business processes, capabilities and priorities due to their variance in size.

Customers now expect exceptional service from all businesses, and low-code platforms hold great promise for businesses’ internal and external users alike.

With time, the true cost of maintaining a legacy system and its entire ecosystem tilt in favor of an upgrade. The trick is to know when that time has arrived.

Capacity-seekers and capacity-providers are starting to recognize the benefits of an organized digital marketplace with an efficient electronic infrastructure.

Field service management software can digitize steps of the warranty workflow to improve customer satisfaction and provide quality and convenience.

With the power of predictive modeling and its resulting efficiencies, life insurers can simplify underwriting, reducing both time and complexity.

Home-based businesses exemplify the sort of opportunity that is arising as we start to come out of the latest wave of this awful pandemic and head toward a new normal. 

IFRS 17 might be a major factor in insurers’ decisions on buying reinsurance, so it's important to understand key issues and start preparing. 

Insurtechs and carriers both need to take the time and make the effort to understand one another’s needs, capabilities, constraints and strategic objectives.

Used cars are suddenly worth more instead of less. So, for claims in progress, there's a significantly higher payout for fixing and replacing cars.

The process for gathering enough data so machine learning can detect species in images is the same process for detecting fraud in the vehicle industry.

While there aren’t yet a slew of policies stepping into the breach to cover NFTs, a new class of policies will manage risk for this emerging market. 

Next-gen core platforms are going to rewrite group and voluntary benefits insurance because technology has advanced to the point where it can fill the gaps. 

Policy Advice reports that 68% of young insurance agents think insurers' digital transformation is too slow, and 88% of consumers demand more personalized products.

Many firms have pursued digital transformation yet found little relief. The reason is that most legal software vendors don’t understand how insurance defense firms work.

Daisy AI solutions recommend step-by-step implementation of Halo Effects into your fraud detection, claims management and underwriting processes, including useful examples that can be put into practice

Paul Carroll sits down with Jim Duggan, vice president, client engagement, global service delivery, at Rimini Street, and Anne Plese, Rimini Street's senior director of product marketing. They discuss how to optimize IT costs. 

On the journey to net zero, (re)insurers have an opportunity to lead on key issues and strengthen their position in the marketplace,

The presence of a host of insurance management systems in the market does not make it easy to pick the one that is right for your agency.

Ron Rock discusses how the insurance industry is rapidly evolving, and the importance of recruiting and retaining top software and programming talent. 

While grief is common and normal, there is no “normal” amount of time to experience it.

The level of change has never been greater, and insurance’s opportunities have never been more numerous.

As we formulate a path toward regulating AI innovation appropriately, we can look to the work regulators accomplished regarding cybersecurity.

Entrepreneurs are so active, whether on their own or within marketplaces such as Uber and Airbnb, that there is a whole new category of risk. 

Don't look now, but some of the big insurtech names -- Lemonade, Hippo, Oscar, Root and Metromile -- are having a rough go of it. 

Carriers have started to unlock the power of conversational data, mostly through chatbots, but often fail to follow three key principles during the transition. 

Far too little time and resources are spent understanding a customer’s buying journey or their communications preferences. This represents a massive opportunity.

Parametric insurance is often bought as a complement to indemnity insurance, but newly announced hybrid, parametric/indemnity products will launch in 2022.

Google, Amazon, Walmart… tech powerhouses are moving into the insurance industry, for better or for worse.

The insurance industry faced a wake-up call when the pandemic exposed just how unprepared insurers’ digital capabilities were in a crisis.

Here are the insurance technology trends, such as automated underwriting and virtual assistants, that will shape our industry in 2022.

Insurers need to embolden change agents and embed courage into their culture so it permeates every level of the organization from top to bottom.

Read this report to better understand the recent changes in customer behaviors and expectations and how new capabilities and technology can make emerging opportunities become a reality.

Comprehensive perinatal education helps employers address at least five related opportunities.

Carriers that continue to work from vague three- to five-year timelines will lose market share and perhaps wind up as someone else’s acquisition.

Cyber perils worry companies even more than business and supply chain disruption, natural disasters or the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Genomics Revolution in Life and Health. Plus, top 5 P&C insurance trends in 2022; keeping the human element in AI; the evolution of leadership intelligence; and more.

What if life insurers could help all policyholders with cancer live at least two years longer than they would have otherwise?

High-impact issues relating to workers’ comp, healthcare and risk management need more attention.

The trends stem from a changed work landscape, expanded use of ADAS, climate change, new customer expectations and complexity.

Meeting the high demand for effective leadership requires a special type of intelligence, one that has evolved far beyond traditional IQ.

Most transformation programs include a focus on efficiency or process improvement. All of this progress proves incremental, at best.

A conversation with Greig Woodring on how life insurers can use genomics to help clients make remarkable strides, especially against cancer.

Only 22% of SME owners and founders have read and understood all their policies. 29% let their insurance auto-renew without changes.

We all have a responsibility to see that AI is done well, that it has a humanizing influence, not a dehumanizing one.

How Important Is the Human Touch Really? Plus, consumers wary of AI-driven insurance; commercial insurers shift tech priorities; 3 key themes for check-ins with clients and more.

"By having a simple yes/no metric, such as a temperature that rises above a certain level or drops below a specified level for an agreed-upon amount of time, parametric insurance removes the need to have an adjuster go into the field..."

As part of this month’s ITL Focus on parametric insurance, we spoke with Henry Gale, parametric insurance research lead at Instech London, on the prospects for this increasingly popular approach to insurance.

There's a division of opinion. Is the human touch overrated: Do customers want to serve themselves online? Or are they demanding human attention when they buy policies and file claims?

83% of consumers wouldn’t feel comfortable if their home, auto, or renters insurance claim was reviewed exclusively by artificial intelligence.

According to Gartner Predicts, today’s customers manage 85% of the relationship with an enterprise without interacting with a human.

Insurers currently favor digital capabilities that replace face-to-face interactions – continuing a trend that emerged early in the pandemic.

Keeping hotel guests and restaurant and bar patrons safe is just one part of how the hospitality industry can move toward full recovery.

In this webinar, ITL Editor-in-Chief Paul Carroll sits down with Jim McKenney, chief strategy officer and products business head at Intellect SEEC, and Sandeep Tandon, CTO of Intellect SEEC.

There will soon be a three-digit hotline for mental health emergencies -- 988 -- that will greatly simplify and improve assistance.

13 “transformational” technologies, working with foundational technologies, are moving the industry into the new digital-connected era.

The Future of Work. Plus, 2022 resolutions to foster innovation; building a digital field of dreams; 3 keys to enhancing the customer experience; and more.

A national survey finds business owners want easy claims processes, need help with risk management and value guidance from agents.

... while improving care for employees. The secret? The city sent them to the best doctors.

Someone interrupted at work, even briefly, typically needs 15 minutes to refocus. Now is the time to redesign work to filter out those interruptions.

Here are our top wishes for 2022 that will alleviate barriers to innovation and adoption and foster breakthroughs.

SaaS 3.0 is all about precision in what is used, what is stored and how it is managed. This precision will give insurers real competitive advantage.

"We all know the experience of giving our information again and again at different stages of one call to one organization."

We’re well past simplistic disruptive thinking, where startups would present themselves as the Uber of X.

An Aon survey found 70% of agents expect solid business growth this year, while nearly 20% expect that growth to be "off the charts."

Pockets of the municipal market may offer relative value in a market where value can be hard to find.

How insurers can use gamification to bolster customer experience, keep and win new clients with external and intrinsic motivation.

The industry has a great story to tell, and we'll tell it better if we strip out the over-the-top language in the New Year.

The real threat to auto insurers. Plus, managing new age construction risks; the opportunity in ecosystems; emerging risks with long tails; and more.

Organizations gloss over culture change, but it is critical for any modernization, migration or digital transformation project.

Datasets originating from third-party providers could enrich the insights insurers desperately need to offer accurate and timely quotes to clients.

Auto makers have repeatedly tried to capture more of the downstream revenue related to car sales and are now taking dead aim at insurance.

The global construction market is set for a sustained period of strong growth post-COVID-19, with radical changes in design, materials and processes.

A Wake-Up Call on Claims. Plus, employer trends shaping workplace; the future of the independent agent; what to understand about Gen Z; and more.

"The industry is lagging far behind financial services and utilities providers when it comes to the digital customer experience," J.D. Power finds.

Generation Z's appetite for personalized, digital-first experiences can unlock new revenue opportunities, both now and in the future.

In this whitepaper, we explore how conversational AI can create a better customer experience, improve agent productivity, reduce contact center traffic, and more.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed how we sell insurance and rewrote the role of the independent agent forever.

IoT comes into focus. Plus, dramatic shift in underwriting ahead; premature failure in CPVC pipes; 5 trends to watch in commercial auto; and more.

If the pandemic has proven the need for anything, it is flexible and hybrid work environments.

A new report offers sharp insights into how the IoT will develop from here and into how insurers should adjust as they try to use it in products and services.

The key to success is to remember that an insurer will be co-developing a solution with the startup; transparency is a must.

An “underwriter simulator” program of gamified learning and 3D interactive scenarios redefines what's possible for workforce training.

With the world changing, commercial underwriting is going to be called on to minimize the impact of complex risk on an ever-riskier world.

In this week's Six Things Paul Carroll discusses, Time to Get Rid of the IT Department? Plus, how to transform claims experience; how to transform product creation; and more.

It's time to integrate IT with front-line operations so a combination of business people and programmers can innovate in ways that matter most to customers.

As part of this month’s ITL Focus on smart homes, we spoke with Matteo Carbone, the founder and director of the IoT Insurance Observatory, about how far the technology and adoption have progressed and where the market goes from here.

In this week's Six Things Paul Carroll discusses, do you need a ‘Digital Twin’? Plus, the future of insurance is preventive; digital distribution with a personal touch; navigating the vaccine mandate; and more.

For as much coverage as telematics has received for decades, its impact is just beginning to be understood.

"Digital twins" can allow companies to simulate strategies before implementing them -- but can be misleading if not monitored carefully.

A discussion on the Triple-I’s latest Insurance Economics Outlook for Q4 2021 focusing on this year’s unusually wide range of growth and inflation forecasts and key performance indicators for the P&C industry in 2021.

This week, Paul Carroll explores the great unbundling. Plus, navigating the future of risk management; when captive agents go independent; the importance of explainable AI; and more.

GE's announcement that it is splitting into three parts underscores a theme we've been sounding at ITL for years now: that the future belongs to ecosystems.

In this webinar, ITL Editor-in-Chief Paul Carroll interviews Anne Plese, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Rimini Street, and James Maudslay, global director of insurance at Equinix on how operational efficiency can create the room for innovation.

Over this six-part series, hear from industry leaders about building an innovation culture, leveraging data for success, and more.

Beam Dental, an innovative insurtech business, was growing. With the help of JobsOhio, Beam Dental moved to Ohio and found the perfect market for a growing startup.

Risk management teams face difficulties within the insurance marketplace, emerging risks and business challenges.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll discusses new thinking on driverless vehicles. Plus, the need for scalable response teams; how automation adds to the need for humans; and more.

AVs are not where many of us expected two or three years ago that they'd be by now -- and are heading in a surprising direction.

"I often tell people that my favorite line from my Silicon Valley days is, “Never confuse a clear view with a short distance” — and I surely made that mistake with telematics..."

The vision is a fever dream for gamers who'd love to immerse themselves in their online worlds and not have to worry about the messy details of physical existence.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll discusses the supply chain fiasco. Plus, insurtech is much more than just hype; the future of digital claims; innovation at the point of the customer; and more.

The supply chain fiasco will run deep into next year, impeding almost every sort of business across the globe and requiring agility by those that insure them.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll sees more weather disasters on the horizon. Plus, the defining factor in underwriting success; how to avoid major E&O claims; why nonprofits can't ignore risk; and more.

Forecasts for the coming winter are looking rough, especially because they build on the tough weather we've already seen this year.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll highlights a heyday for independent agents. Plus, striking the perfect balance on AI; the case for cloud computing; why insurers will turn to sonic branding; and more.

"The growth and success of independent agent distribution—not direct marketing—has been the single most important trend over the past decade."

As part of this month’s ITL FOCUS on catastrophic weather, we spoke with Christopher McDaniel of the Catastrophe Resiliency Council

This week, Paul Carroll recaps the 2021 Global Insurance Forum. Plus, future of work and collaboration; state of the insurance marketplace; underwriting in the digital age; and more.

Insights from the Global Insurance Forum, held by the International Insurance Society. 

Blockchain technology has game-changing implications for data sharing and how we underwrite, determine loss-costs and more.

A much-cited claim about how behavioral science can guide insurance has been exposed as based on manufactured data.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll highlights what AI doesn't do. Plus, how to improve the customer experience; the evolution of frictionless payments; underwriting small business post-COVID; and more.

To keep us from getting carried away, it's good to look from time to time at the failures of AI to live up to the projections -- and COVID is a prime example.

It's easy to imagine Amazon expanding beyond product liability and into other types of insurance for small businesses. For a lot of small businesses.

Budweiser's plan to offer "barbeque insurance" raises intriguing possibilities for "embedded insurance" and for the use of APIs to build ecosystems.

We sat down with two of ITL's thought leaders, Kimberly George and Mark Walls, to explore the new world of workers' comp.

ITL FOCUS is a monthly initiative featuring topics related to innovation in risk management and insurance.

Climate change will expand beyond a cause and become a calculation when we can quantify the effects and the costs of mitigating them -- which may be starting.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll explores the implications of AI-based transcription on the issue of too many meetings. Plus, how insurers can step up on climate change; solving life insurance coverage gap; how AI is moving distribution forward; and more.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll explains how Microsoft just raised the bar. Plus, the future of AI in insurance; 10 ways to prepare for the hard market; the key to the future of mobility; and more.

As Big Tech continues to set the rules on customer experience, Microsoft just put another big item on insurers' technology to-do list: speech recognition.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll considers the breakthrough technologies of 2021. Plus, pressure to innovate shifts priorities; how AI will define insurance workforce; 7 ways to innovate with purpose; and more.

Insurers can build a sort of digital twin of the customer, then tailor their offerings and improve the customer experience.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll tackles the insurance industry's archaic and often downright unfriendly language. Plus, the next wave of insurtech; insurance 2030: implications for today; increasing regulation on climate change; and more.

How can we reinvent the customer experience when insurance's insular language limits our ability to entertain outside perspectives?

While the pandemic upended 2020, the insurance industry can now build on its digitization efforts to greatly accelerate innovation in 2021.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll ponders who is liable when a driverless car crashes. Plus, COVID-19 is no black swan; advice for early-stage startups on pricing; how AI transforms risk engineering; and more.

How should insurers think about the liability for AVs? Using history as a guide, it's possible to make reasonable guesses at some of the answers.

While the pandemic has accelerated the world's move toward digital, this list of trends explains what comes next.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll shares his thoughts on a new push for autonomous vehicles. Plus, property claims and innovation, driving into the future of telematics, the state of the commercial insurance market, and more.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll asks - where are all those benefits promised by AI? Plus, how to pursue innovation in a crisis; speeding innovation in life insurance; a future-proof operating model; and more.

How to attract and service customers 100% digitally (during and after the pandemic)

In this week's Six Things, Covid and 'the Great Reset.' Plus, where blockchain shines right now; reflections on insurtech, pandemic; commercial claims journey with AI; and more.

Insurers must quickly figure out what the world of work and home life will look like after the universe resets so they can start preparing their businesses.

In this week's Six Things, 'Fake News' reaches risk management. Plus, creating the future of distribution; how to evaluate AI solutions; you can still have personal interactions; what my $18,289 medical bill says; and more.

An Early Taste of Climate Change Disrupting Insurance. Plus, how 'explainable AI' changes the game; the future isn't just for insurtech; 'virtualizing' your customer service; COVID-19 and need for analytical insurers; and more.

California, the bellwether for so many things in the U.S., is in the lead on this insurance issue, with its wildfires showing how very complicated it will be.

August was about COVID and innovation. Plus, why work from home threatens innovation, how insurers are applying AI, 5 hurdles to insurtech success, and more.

In this week's Six Things, Paul Carroll takes a look at Elon Musk and Your Feedback Loop. Plus, the 'Law of Computability' powers the bionic era, COVID-19: technology, investment, innovation, 3 'must-have' digital investments, graph theory, network analysis aid actuaries, and more.

What's next? Sharknados? And what, if anything, can we do?

Walmart's acknowledgment that it is establishing a health insurance agency shows that traditional barriers are breaking down. Insurers must prepare.

Organizations should be checking to ensure that new modes of work aren't compromising cyber security.

As we've seen with all the recent videos involving police and protesters, cameras are everywhere -- and the spread is just beginning. There will be major implications for insurers.

We seem to be moving into a new phase of the pandemic, in which the economy will reopen in fits and starts, and insurers will need to be unusually agile.

Telemedicine has dominated the "tele-" discussion for good reason, but there are loads of opportunities for remote management of claims, sales and even property inspections.

After years of asking, I finally have an answer about the economic argument for "smart homes" -- just not the answer I wanted.

ITL is planning to release a collection of on-demand videos which will focus on timely topics and consist of 4-6 webinars promoted and released over the course of 8 weeks.

The "Future of Risk" conference, held by The Institutes, hit some risk-management themes that I think will be key as we all prepare for the new normal. 

More than 1 million people list "thought leader" on their LinkedIn profiles. So many thoughts! So much leadership.

Two main themes emerged this year: the need to focus more on resiliency and the industry's two-steps-forward-one-step-backward approach to innovation. 

It's worth stepping back from time to time and realizing that every project is a bet, and that not every bet pays off, no matter who you are. 

Insurers can look at the wildfire problem from the standpoint of the customer and find a series of ways—both big and small—to help.

We're now in an age where brands can take a hit overnight, at the hands of an angry mob, so it's important to think ahead about where the dangers may lie.

Workers comp will lead the way, because innovation can happen in so many more ways than is true for other parts of the insurance industry.

Let's spend a minute understanding just how dysfunctional the system for pharmaceuticals is.

The world of insurance and risk management should consider offering some rewards to tackle seemingly intractable problems.

How does the industry change if companies can sell devices and toss in some insurance as a giveaway?

Couldn't dragon-resistant building codes have been imposed? Are there enough adjusters in all of Westeros to handle all the claims?

There are lots of reasons why fires get out of control, and it turns out the biggest issue is a lack of real-time information. 

Last week's announcement by A.M. Best that it will assess and score insurance companies on their ability to innovate means that incumbents either have to build robust capabilities or suffer consequences

Incumbents are likened to oil tankers, which change direction slowly. The goal is to be a speedboat, but that's unrealistic. What about being an aircraft carrier, which turns slowly -- but can launch fighter jets?

Many industries are criticized because they talk the talk but don't walk the walk. Well, insurers don't even talk the talk yet. 

Here’s where blockchain stands today — plus how to see the inherent risks and opportunities of using this exciting technology in insurance.

The business case for smart homes has yet to be made. 

PG&E may be the first climate change bankruptcy, but it won't be the last. So, what do we do?