KEY TAKEAWAYS:

--With many traditional life insurance agents retiring, AI can step into the gap and present customers with the right proposal at the right time.

--AI-powered chatbots can also sweeten the customer experience by providing 24/7 customer service, answering questions and resolving issues in real time.

--Insurance agents can also use AI to refine their messaging process across different media channels, as well as to reduce fraud.

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Breakthroughs in machine learning and AI mean that insurers can tap into insights from vast troves of data and refine their operations on a more granular level than ever before. Consequently, insurance companies are finding new ways to enhance the customer journey, streamline operations and make better decisions. 

Machine learning and AI permit insurers to employ large data sets that would be a nightmare for humans to parse. According to Dror Katzov, CEO of Atidot, many insurance companies only use 20% to 30% of their data. There is much more that could be used to improve the customer experience, from digital policy delivery to better customer engagement and claims management.

AI can help insurers identify customer behavior and adjust product offerings accordingly. Just consider what it can do for life insurance. With many traditional life insurance agents retiring, there is an opportunity for AI to step into the gap and present customers with the right proposal at the right time. AI can continuously model the different situations that consumers face and provide better risk models to help insurers make savvier decisions, which opens up the means for more dynamic pricing. For example, an AI model could be trained to recognize if a person has started going to the gym and offer them a better insurance rate for adopting a positive lifestyle change.

AI-powered chatbots can also sweeten the customer experience by providing 24/7 customer service, answering questions and resolving issues in real time. This frees customer service agents to handle more complex issues. Moreover, AI can also personalize product offerings based on customer data, making it easier for insurers to provide the right coverage at the right price and to produce client-advocacy documents, such as cover letters, in much less time. 

Insurance agents can also use AI to refine their messaging process across different media channels. Jeff Root, managing partner at DigitalBGA, says the assistance offered by AI will obviate the need for many types of instructive classes. “You should never have to buy a course again,” Root says. “All the courses selling you Facebook ads for any sort of life insurance… you can get the information online through this [Chat GPT] AI bot.” Aside from helping businesses generate leads through social media platforms such as Facebook and Google, AI can also help businesses be more agile and responsive to changes in the market.

For ages, fraudulent claims have been the bugbear of the insurance industry. (Florida, for instance, has been a bastion of fraudulent claims – so much so that many insurers have exited the area.) AI may help to remedy this situation by improving fraud detection, enabling insurers to quickly identify suspicious claims and prevent fraud before it occurs. Additionally, AI can enhance risk management by providing more accurate pricing and underwriting decisions, resulting in better outcomes for both insurers and policyholders.

All that said, there are challenges associated with the adoption of AI in the insurance industry. It has long been a burden for the industry to establish trust with the customer; AI can help automate more processes, but human oversight is still essential. 

See also: Technology and the Agent of the Future

Ethical and legal considerations constitute the main challenges surrounding AI. There are valid concerns about how AI is used to price insurance policies and how it may lead to unfair discrimination against certain groups. The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires companies to explain their decision-making processes when using AI and to provide individuals with the right to contest decisions made by automated systems.

Another challenge is the potential for bias in algorithms. AI systems learn from the data sets they are fed, and if that data contains biases, the AI system will also be biased. For example, an AI system may learn that individuals living in a certain ZIP code are more likely to make fraudulent claims, leading to discriminatory pricing or coverage decisions.

Privacy is also a significant concern. As insurance companies collect and analyze large amounts of data, it's important that this data is stored securely and that customer privacy is protected. Steps must be taken to prevent data breaches and exposure of sensitive information.

Finally, the effectiveness of AI in insurance depends on the quality of data that is being used. If the data is incomplete, inaccurate or outdated, the AI system will not be able to make accurate predictions or provide useful insights. For instance, although ChatGPT–the most popular AI chatbot in the world today–can deliver fast results, there is always the possibility of it offering up erroneous information. On a positive note, Nvidia has developed a new way to keep AI from "hallucinating," i.e. offering up incorrect or inappropriate content.

AI's potential for innovation is exponential. AI can help insurance companies meaningfully and efficiently use more of their data, improve customer engagement and refine their targeting process. Nonetheless, businesses interested in using AI should closely monitor developments in the space and be cognizant of the challenges associated with its adoption. With scrupulous implementation and judicious oversight, AI can supercharge the insurance industry and provide better services to customers.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

--Organizations should begin with an assessment involving nine questions, then explore each for opportunities for consistent improvement.

--Organizations don't need superhuman efforts to be innovative. They need small actions that can compound over time. It is much easier to adjust the course of a ship in small tweaks than to change directions drastically. The passengers aboard will also prefer avoiding brute directional changes. 

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Contrary to popular perception, innovation isn't about transformation. The most effective innovation will come from small changes that compound over time.

One of my favorite examples of how small changes can snowball into bigger results is the 1% rule. If you improve an area by 1% every day, you will double your results within 70 days. Try the math on your end!

If organizations improved their innovation efforts by 1% every weekday, they would transform their output in a little over three months. 

Relying on big hits is unstainable. Industries built on big hits are also highly susceptible to droughts. A perfect example is the movie industry, which needs blockbusters to make the economics work.

In this article, you will learn how your organization can start to look for those 1% improvements that will add up to big changes in your innovation efforts.

Making Innovation Tangible

One of the biggest challenges organizations face when tackling innovation is ambiguity. What does it even mean to become more innovative? Without clear definitions, you will end up with meaningless words on a random wall somewhere.

To help make innovation tangible, I created an assessment called the Innovation Reality Check (IRC) that any team can run in a few minutes. It is meant to help you pinpoint areas within your organization that could be improved to create more innovative decisions.

There are nine questions in the assessment. For each question, rate your team or organization on a scale of one to five, with one being never, two being rarely, three being sometimes, four being frequently and five being always. 

The questions are as follows:

1. We check a consistent list of broad categories where innovation can happen
2. We start with the end in mind and work backward, letting go of present day constraints
3. We track the speed of our decisions and work to improve it whenever relevant
4. We have a process that encourages ideas from anywhere in the organization
5. We have a decision-making process that minimizes bias and politics
6. We encourage healthy debate of ideas regardless of role or status
7. We provide sufficient support and resources to allow ideas to flourish
8. We review successes for future process improvements while ignoring failures
9. We reward the behaviors that lead to innovation and not just the result

Here are some guidelines for understanding your rating.

• 30 – 45 = you are a consistently innovating organization
• 15 – 29 = you are attempting to innovate, but several factors need to be improved
• 0 – 14 = you’re not spending enough time or resources thinking about innovation

The first step in any endeavor is to know in what direction you should head. The assessment gives you some initial ideas, and I will help you understand the possibilities of each question.

See also: Insurers Aren't Innovative? Think Again!

Deconstructing Innovation Into Next Steps

Each question contains endless opportunities for improvements and better decisions. Here are some examples for each one:

We check a consistent list of broad categories where innovation can happen

My favorite list of innovation areas comes from The Innovation Formula by Michael Robert and Alan Weiss. They identified 10 areas where innovative ideas can be found, if analyzed correctly. For each area, I provide a recent example, but try to come up with your own. 

• Unexpected Successes = PetSmart and similar companies 
• Unexpected Failures = Napalm
• Unexpected Events = Pandemic
• Process Weakness = Uber identified the weakness in hailing taxis
• Changes in Industry or Market Structure = GM using customer segmentation to overtake Ford
• High-Growth Business Areas = The surge of Baby Boomers who are retiring wealthy
• Converging Technologies = AI generative tech
• Demographic Changes = Declining birth rates and their second order effects
• Changes in Perception = Remote and hybrid work
• New Knowledge = mRNA vaccines

In your organization, you should explore multiple categories for innovation opportunities. You could do that regularly to ensure that you're not missing out on big trends and changes.

We start with the end in mind and work backward, letting go of present day constraints

If you start with the present, you're constrained by reality. Starbucks popularized their "third place" idea, but it no longer makes sense. If they focused on the present, they would try to make their in-store experience more appealing. Instead, they are working backward from their ideal future to arrive at a better take-out experience and even walk-throughs.

We track the speed of our decisions and work to improve it whenever relevant

I wrote about the magic of Decision Speed in the previous article I wrote for this publication. Faster decisions are almost always better.

We have a process that encourages ideas from anywhere in the organization

Management doesn't have a monopoly on good ideas. The doorman of a hotel has a great sense for how the customer experience could be improved. Are you doing enough to encourage these ideas?

We have a decision-making process that minimizes bias and politics

I once worked with a CEO who micro-managed everyone. Their decisions revolved around what would make him happy. You can see how this approach limits growth and innovation.

We encourage healthy debate of ideas regardless of role or status

Teams need to debate the status quo, profit centers and the future. If you don't do that, the competition and the market will be for you. Think of all the companies that never adjusted to the future and are now gone.

We provide sufficient support and resources to allow ideas to flourish

Strong ideas require strong action. If you want to foster innovation, you need to put resources behind it. That could mean a dedicated budget for trying things or just mean allowing employees discretionary times—like Google did with their 20% time.

We review successes for future process improvements while ignoring failures

I'm skeptical of post-mortems on failures. Gucci doesn't care why customers don't buy, but they do care why their best customers keep coming back. The reasons for failure can often be varied, but the reasons for success are limited and easily replicable.

We reward the behaviors that lead to innovation and not just the result

Innovation is about failure, and you need to reward those behaviors that will eventually lead to success. Consider creating awards for the best ideas, best execution and even best effort. Reward success and the roads that lead to it.

Don't think too hard about which area is the best for your business. Choose one and look for the 1% improvement. Once you're done, repeat that over and over again. Do it consistently, and you can completely change your culture and approach to innovation.

See also: When Regulation Offers Opportunity

Conclusion

Peter Drucker viewed innovation as a new way to view the universe. He envisioned a world where humans were no longer limited to scarce resources. Instead, they could literally create the future regardless of perceived limitations. 

Organizations don't need superhuman efforts to be innovative. They need small actions that can compound over time. It is much easier to adjust the course of a ship in small tweaks than to change directions drastically. The passengers aboard will also prefer avoiding brute directional changes. 

I leave you with this story: In 2013, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) gambled on a new approach for making vaccines. It awarded $25 million to a relative newcomer called Moderna, with the hopes that the small investment would one day pay off. Ten years later, Moderna's mRNA vaccines helped humanity move on from a global pandemic.

Breakthroughs don't always look like home runs. They are often just small steps in the right direction.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

--Mobile teams asking for in-app feedback and acting on it are better able to keep customers active and engaged in their mobile channels. Closing the loop with dissatisfied customers is crucial.

--The success rate of selling new services to a customer you already have is 60% to 70% versus 5% to 20% for new customers. 

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In Alchemer's 2023 Mobile Customer Engagement Benchmark Report, insurance (auto, home, life, renters and pet) apps were much more popular than other finance apps (fintech and banking). At the same time, our data showed that consumers were happier with their fintech and banking apps than their insurance apps.

The report compiles data from more than 1.2 billion app installs from Alchemer Mobile customers and the consumers who use their apps. As it does every year, the report provides insights into mobile customer behavior and what gets people to act. 

Ratings, Reviews and the Differences Between iOS and Android

Across all industries, iOS users were generally happier with apps than Android users. According to Statista, as of March 2023, 83% of apps had a rating of less than three stars out of five. Research also shows that apps with four or more stars are 89% more likely to be downloaded.  

Retention

Insurance apps had lower-than-average retention rates in 2022. The category had 30-day retention of 51% (compared with 67% across all categories), 90-day retention of 41% (58% overall) and one-year retention of 24% (42% overall). However, when brands invested in asking consumers for reviews (such as with a Love Dialog – the “Do you love our app?” feature within Alchemer Mobile), 30-day retention grew to 75%.  

See also: 3 Great Apps for Insurance Agents

Customer Sentiment

Positive customer sentiment for insurance was 73%, above the overall benchmark of 64%. While the high cost of switching contributes to customer retention, it doesn’t keep sentiment high. Mobile teams asking for in-app feedback and acting on it are better able to keep customers active and engaged in their mobile channels, extending the brand’s reach and deepening each customer’s brand relationships. 

In-app Surveys

Insurance brands have room for improvement when conducting in-app surveys. Insurance apps’ average survey response rate was only 12% (the overall benchmark was 13%). When mobile teams used surveys presented with a Note – a message or invitation from the brand – to ensure customers were bought into the survey before presenting it, the results were impressive: The average response rate to Note-linked surveys was 56%. Insurance brands should experiment with various engagement strategies across target segments this year. Additionally, these brands will want to close the loop with people so customers know their feedback has been heard and changes to the app are being made as a result of their feedback. 

Engaging customers appears to be the key to success in 2023 and beyond. Engaging customers through surveys is one of the easiest ways to improve ratings and reviews. Insurance brands prompted 35% of customers for surveys and received an average interaction rate of 37%. When Notes were used to invite consumers to participate in a survey, the response rate jumped to 56%.

The Value of Risks

Even though Risks (those consumers who answered “No” to the question, “Do you love our app?”) may be unhappy with an app, retention in the insurance category is just a few percentage points better for Fans (those consumers who answer “Yes” to the question “Do you love our app?”). Retention was 77% for Fans versus 73% for Risks after 30 days. This means that even though people at risk are unhappy with the app, they’re invested in making the app work better for them or it’s too hard to switch insurance companies, so they continue to do business with the insurance company, even when they're not satisfied with the app. Consequently, closing the loop with these patrons not only lets them know you heard them, but when you make changes based on their feedback, they are much more likely to convert from Risks to Fans. 

Keep What You Have

Mobile app retention will remain a vital metric for mobile product owners and managers across the insurance industry. Because acquiring new customers can cost five times more than retaining existing ones, many mobile product owners are shifting their focus to keeping the customers they have. Additionally, the success rate of selling new services to a customer you already have is 60% to 70% versus 5% to 20% for new customers. 

Better understanding of customer churn will drive product owners and managers to use tools in 2023 to improve app retention. Features like Alchemer Mobile's Love Dialog and Fan Signals can help. Carefully monitoring customer emotion shifts will enable smart communicators to respond with messages, promotions and surveys to better seize the opportunity.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

--Hackers have infiltrated companies' IT networks through their suppliers, such as in the infamous SolarWinds debacle.

--Quantum computing greatly increases the ability to break encryption, making attacks through the supply chain far easier.

--Even though quantum computing is still in its infancy, companies should take four steps now to prepare.

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Quantum computing holds so much potential for the world, but inevitably it will also introduce new risks to your business. Chief information security officers (CISOs) may have already started considering what quantum computing means for their own infrastructure, but one area is often overlooked: the supply chain.

Supply chain providers can unwittingly introduce security vulnerabilities into your organization. These vulnerabilities can be exploited by attackers and expose your company to security incidents, ransomware, an unwanted reputational hit or all the above and more. And the ability for quantum computers to break today's encryption algorithms that keep our data safe will only exacerbate the threat.

Sophisticated attackers, who have your company in their sights, may consider using a variety of attacks against your suppliers to compromise them, and ultimately you. Once your supplier is compromised, they become a steppingstone into your organization.

For example, a supply chain attack plan was used and executed to notorious perfection with the SolarWinds cyberattack. For those unfamiliar, in December 2020, it was discovered that the service supply chain of SolarWinds, a U.S.-based IT management software provider, had been compromised. SolarWinds is a key provider of software and services to companies around the globe. The attack resulted in the theft of sensitive data from numerous government agencies, technology companies and other organizations worldwide.

The SolarWinds compromise steps became a blueprint for other attacks:

• Initial Compromise: The attackers initially gained access to SolarWinds' software build environment, where they injected malicious code into a software update for the Orion platform, a widely used IT management tool.
• "Trojanized" Software Update: The malicious code, referred to as the Sunburst malware, was included in the Orion software update and was signed with legitimate SolarWinds digital certificates, making it difficult to detect.
• Distribution of Trojan Software: The compromised software update was then distributed to SolarWinds' customers. When the customers installed the update, Sunburst malware was installed on their systems, allowing the attackers to gain persistent access.
• Lateral Movement: Once inside the SolarWinds customers' compromised organizations, the attackers used various tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to move laterally across their networks and gain access to sensitive data.

Quantum computers process information in a fundamentally different way than classical computers. Quantum computers use qubits, which can represent both 0 and 1 simultaneously, and, as a result, quantum computers' power grows exponentially in relation to the number of qubits linked together. The expectation is that, with this power, quantum computers will multiply the effectiveness of several supply chain attack vectors that are in use today, specifically:

• Brute Force Attacks: Quantum computers can perform certain types of calculations exponentially faster than today's classical computers. This means they can run possible combinations of keys or passwords in a fraction of the time it takes a classical computer, making the effort of "guessing the right combinations of keys or passwords until the correct one is found" much more efficient and effective.
• Password Attacks: Quantum computers can also be used to break password hashes, which are used to protect user passwords in many systems. Password hashes are vulnerable to quantum attacks using Grover's algorithm, which can be used to find the original password from the hash.

While quantum computers have the potential to break many of the currently used encryption algorithms, the technology is still in its infancy, and large-scale quantum computers capable of breaking encryption are not yet available. However, it is important for companies to be aware of the potential risks and to take steps today to protect against them, including adopting post-quantum cryptographic algorithms and taking a strong cybersecurity posture. This effort includes reviewing the software and services you consume within your company - your supply chain.

See also: The Challenge of Quantum Resilience

To that end, CISOs should consider four steps:

1. Risk Assessments: Do your third-party vendors and suppliers have a plan to address post-quantum cryptography (PQC)? Perhaps they have a robust and mature security program that includes PQC. Risk assessments should be comprehensive enough to understand security controls and the maturity of those controls. You are going to find companies at different stages on their cybersecurity journey, and understanding that maturity level as it relates to the services being consumed by your organization is one way to evaluate risk for your organization.
2. Supply Chain Requirements: Draw a line in the sand to mandate that the security and integrity of the products and services provided meet certain standards. For example, you can require a SOC 2 report from your provider. The SOC 2 report is centered on a service organization's IT controls. It's an attestation report in which certain internal controls have been designed and implemented, and those assertions are audited by a qualified CPA firm. This may not be readily achievable but should drive desired business behavior. The White House has issued executive orders that emulate this approach by directing new security standards with a focus on adoption of emerging technologies, including post-quantum encryption.
3. System and Communications Protection: Take the time to understand the what, where, how and by whom regarding a product or service being provided, and then discover the constituents in your organization using them. Knowing these potential threat vectors can better prepare defense and response models to protect the organization as post-quantum technologies advance.
4. Incident Response Planning: Create response plans that include procedures for security incidents involving third-party vendors or suppliers. Supplement your current plans by understanding how critical suppliers would notify you about a security incident. Streamline those communications with the right resources in your organization so you can respond quicker and take timely action against an attack.

With some effort and proper planning, you will be able to reduce the quantum risk to your organization and improve your ability to respond to a service supply chain threat. Providing context to the risk in your supply chain, including threats from post-quantum computing, demonstrates a high-level of acumen all CISOs should be delivering.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

--In the last five years, calibrations during repairs for auto collisions have moved from the exception to almost the rule. Technology exists to ensure necessary calibrations are completed 100% of the time and are recorded for all relevant parties, to instill confidence in the repair.

--The wave we are witnessing with scanning is now seeing initial liftoff with calibrations. A more systematic look at the best way for each facility to execute and manage calibrations is needed to improve the customer experience, particularly with regard to quality and cycle time.

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Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have become an established feature in late-model vehicles, composed of an integrated suite of sensors, cameras, radars and more. Some of the earliest versions of ADAS appeared in the early 2000s with various forms of night vision, cruise control and lane departure warning systems.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) led two major ADAS initiatives in the 2010s – the first, in 2014, required all new vehicles with a gross weight at or less than 10,000 pounds to include “rear visibility technology” by May 2018. This was followed in 2019 by the voluntary commitment by 20 automakers to equip all new vehicles with automatic emergency braking (AEB) by September 2022.

As the list of now-standard safety systems only continues to grow, it is complemented by a bevy of systems designed for the sole purpose of improving safety. (Figure 1)

Of course, as collisions continue to occur with great frequency, these systems must not only be repaired or replaced when damaged but also calibrated to ensure proper functionality before the vehicle returns to the road. ADAS adoption may have ramped up in a relatively short time, and corresponding collision repair needs may be a steeper ramp due, in part, to the sheer complexity of these new systems.

The Prevalence of Scans

Diagnostic scan procedures are becoming more frequent as part of the collision repair process. This is especially true for late-model vehicles that are more likely to come standard-equipped with ADAS technology and other safety features. Each quarter, the percentage of claims where at least one diagnostic scan is completed steadily rises. Only 3.3% of claims included a scan procedure in Q1 2017. By Q4 2022, 57% of claims included a scan, with vehicles less than four years old being scanned 65% of the time. (Figure 2)

Auto manufacturers either recommend or require that scans be completed pre-repair and following the completion of repairs. OEM-certified repair shops are required to perform scans with the OEM’s software, and many Multi-Shop Operators (MSOs) have a standard policy requiring pre- and post-repair scans, which means repairable vehicles should receive at least two scans per VIN number. This might explain why you’re more likely to see scans included in the first estimate rather than in subsequent supplements. (Figure 3)

In-process scans are an emerging trend and considered best practices among many of the industry’s top operators. In-process scans enable repair facilities to monitor the clearance, or even addition, of Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC) throughout the repair process, which can alleviate the need to backtrack and troubleshoot issues following the completion of repairs, not to mention ensuring thorough repairs and valuable repair cycle times, as well as other related costs.

CCC’s estimating data indicates that while an increased number of scans are included in the initial estimate, the subsequent scan to validate that error codes have been cleared or that additional trouble codes were initiated is largely absent from supplements.

See also: Auto Claims and Collision Repair: The Great Reset

Absence of a diagnostic scan charge doesn’t always mean that the vehicle wasn’t scanned. Based on anecdotal field evidence, an unknown percentage of vehicles were, in fact, scanned, yet the scan procedure was left off the estimate. This appears to be an opportunity for collision repair shops to not only highlight the thoroughness of their evaluation and work but also instill added confidence in consumers that their vehicle is safe to drive.

Absence of a corresponding scan and its documentation could be the types of red flags that supporting software will be able to identify in the future, thus reducing risks or omissions by shops.

Diagnostic scans are complemented by system calibrations, such as x/y-axis settings on cameras, horizontal/vertical specifications with radar and other procedures as documented by the manufacturer. Vehicle calibrations do not come without operational changes for repairers. Vehicle manufacturers have specific protocols that must be followed for systems to be calibrated to factory standards. These include:

• The space or environment where the calibration occurs
• Vehicle setup (including such details as a full tank of gas, specified tire pressure and an empty trunk)
• Camera aiming targets and stands (Figure 4)
• Specialized scan/calibration tools and
• The technical acumen needed to perform the calibration

Calibrations Catch Up

Today, repair shops without calibration capabilities must rely on outsourcing that work to local dealerships or competing repair shops or vendors. This practice adds to total cost, turn-around time and potentially diminished customer satisfaction, not to mention the added complexity in documenting work completed. It is apparent that scanning and calibrating vehicles is a major component in the continued evolution of repair shops and expansion of vehicle servicing capabilities.

The frequency of calibration procedures has not yet reached the level of scans but is steadily increasing. As of mid-year 2022, only 24% of current (or newer) and 19% of vehicles one to three years old had a calibration charge on the estimate. That number is sure to climb as ADAS feature become commonplace in the vehicle pool. (Figure 5)

Completing the proper diagnostics, determining which components might require calibration and reviewing the OEM repair procedures can help a repairer incorporate the calibration into the repair plan up front. These steps could help to avoid added costs and repair time identified later in supplemental phases of the repair process.

See also: Transforming Auto Claims Appraisals

Based on CCC estimate and supplement data, calibration line items are most likely to appear in the initial estimate or the first supplement. However, unlike scans, calibrations are showing up on a more frequent basis in supplements. (Figure 6)

The Future of Collision Repair

In the last five years, calibrations have moved from the exception to almost the rule. Technology exists to ensure necessary calibrations are completed 100% of the time and are recorded for all relevant parties, including the end-customer, as a means to instill confidence that a repair was completed.

The wave we are witnessing with scanning is now seeing initial liftoff with calibrations. A more systematic look at the best way for each facility to execute and manage calibrations is needed to improve the customer experience particularly with regard to quality and cycle time. Once again, adjustments in technology and process to ensure this transition happens efficiently are needed.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

--Organizations are increasingly turning to attack surface management (ASM), which can identify, monitor and mitigate vulnerabilities that can be targeted by malicious threat actors.

--Cyber threat intelligence (CTI) equips teams with invaluable insights into the motives and capabilities of cybercriminals, emerging tactics and intended targets. 

--But the potential threats that are identified can overwhelm security teams, so it's crucial to apply an ASM lens to refine CTI output and focus on those that are most relevant for an organization's unique attack surface.

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Cybersecurity Ventures estimates cybercrime will take a $10.5 trillion toll on the global economy by 2025. If it were measured as a country, the underground cybercriminal economy would be the third largest in the world after the U.S. and China. Amid the growing complexity and sophistication of malicious cyber threats, how can cyber defenders protect their organizations from falling victim to cyberattacks and keep their hard-earned profits from being diverted into the coffers of cybercriminal threat actors?

As the threat landscape evolves, organizations are increasingly turning to attack surface management (ASM) as an essential component of their cybersecurity program. ASM empowers security teams to identify, monitor and mitigate vulnerabilities across the attack surface -- including all known and unknown entry points -- that can be targeted by malicious threat actors.

While continuous monitoring of an organization's environment is critical to protecting its IT infrastructure, systems, and data -- ASM alone is not enough. Without real-time insight into the cybercriminal underground, ASM solutions cannot accurately identify at-risk assets or overall organizational threat exposure. This visibility gap hinders security teams from efficiently prioritizing the threats that pose the greatest risk -- costing more time and effort than resource-constrained teams can afford.

Like ASM, cyber threat intelligence (CTI) is considered indispensable within the organizational cyber defense arsenal. CTI equips teams with invaluable insights into the motives and capabilities of cybercriminal threat actors; emerging tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs); and the intended targets for attacks. Many organizations have adeptly incorporated CTI within their cybersecurity programs to gain critical insights into their threat landscape and risk exposure.

However, when unfiltered and unscoped for organizational relevancy, the sheer volume of data can be overwhelming. Without the ability to refine this intelligence to focus on the threats and insights that matter most to their business, security teams are unable to cut through the noise -- potentially missing a looming threat that exposes their organization to attack.

By combining CTI with ASM, teams can optimize performance, with the internal context derived through ASM serving as a filtering mechanism for the vast volumes of threat intelligence data. In other words, applying an ASM lens to threat intelligence data refines CTI output to focus on the threats that hold the utmost relevance for the organization's unique attack surface.

When CTI and ASM work in unison, the combined solution empowers security teams to automate the monitoring and discovery of assets, facilitating the preemptive detection and mitigation of potential threats. This cohesive approach significantly strengthens the organization's security posture while optimizing the productivity of existing teams and resources.

ASM and CTI: A Cyber Defense Advantage

The benefits of integrating CTI with ASM go beyond protecting a company's financial position and brand. Consider the following additional areas where ASM and CTI deliver value:

Compliance: When combined with CTI, ASM solutions can help enterprises meet regulatory compliance requirements by delivering complete visibility of their risk exposure across network assets. This visibility enables governance, risk and compliance (GRC) teams to measure their compliance coverage, discover potential regulatory violations before attacks are carried out, undertake risk assessments and justify their decisions for vulnerability remediation.

Supply Chain Risk: ASM solutions equip security teams with the insight and automated capabilities to detect and manage all potential exposure points within the organizational network, including exposures through third-party partners and suppliers. By taking into account crucial internal context, such as the business criticality of each asset and real-time threat intelligence that indicates urgent risks, ASM enables security teams to swiftly prioritize remediation efforts and fortify the protection of both internal and external networks and assets.

Cloud Migration: Organizations' cloud migrations and rapid digitization efforts present significant challenges for organizations as they attempt to manage their growing attack surface and maintain robust cyber hygiene. By leveraging context-rich threat intelligence tailored for their unique organizational attack surface and environment, security teams can maintain constant vigilance in continually monitoring digital assets and addressing high-risk threats that target their cloud systems and applications.

Mergers and Acquisitions: In the context of M&A, the combined value of ASM and CTI extends to both pre-M&A cybersecurity due diligence, as well as post-M&A integration processes. During pre-merger cybersecurity due diligence, the integrated CTI and ASM solution enables security teams to thoroughly evaluate the cybersecurity posture of the target company. This assessment assists in identifying potential risks and exposures, allowing organizations to better assess the potential impact on sensitive data and overall risk posture before finalizing an acquisition or merger.

Following a merger or acquisition, the resulting expansion of their attack surface and heightened security risk pose a challenge in the post-M&A integration phase. By leveraging CTI and ASM, security teams gain complete visibility into known and unknown assets and the highest-risk threats targeting their systems and data. By adopting this combined approach, organizations can navigate the complex terrain of post-M&A cybersecurity, managing and mitigating threats to their systems and data.

See also: Why Hasn't Cyber Security Advanced?

Two Valuable Tools Are Even Better Together

While ASM and CTI play equally critical roles within any organization's cybersecurity arsenal, their true value can only be realized when they are harmoniously implemented together. By integrating ASM and CTI, security teams unlock a synergy that empowers them to identify, monitor and mitigate exposures across their unique attack surface and gain critical insights into the motives, capabilities and targets of cybercriminal threat actors.

This combination allows organizations to prioritize their efforts and focus on the threats and vulnerabilities that pose the most significant risk to their business, enabling them to defend against cyberattacks and protect their digital assets. The combined force of ASM and CTI serves as a force multiplier, strengthening the overall organizational cybersecurity posture and significantly reducing the risk of falling victim to malicious cybercriminals who seek to exploit the organization for financial gain.

Certain insurance sectors, such as auto insurance, are heavily commoditized. With everyone offering almost identical products, customer experience-based services emerge as a key competitive differentiator for auto insurers. This is where robust insurance customer relationship management (CRM) systems come into the picture. Be it retaining existing customers or acquiring new ones, the importance of CRM in the insurance industry cannot be downplayed. 

Even though CRM is not new and some insurers are already using it, they are on the lookout to maximize the value derived from it. In this respect, knowing the ins and outs of CRM systems and how to effectively use the features and functionalities to overcome challenges can be instrumental in gaining through such an investment. Moreover, modern-day CRM solutions are acting as a unified dashboard for all customer-related interactions across different channels such as digital marketing, social network and self-servicing portals. Such a system allows insurers to nurture deeper and more meaningful customer relationships.

In this article, we will discuss the importance, features and benefits of a modern CRM in the insurance sector. 

Benefits of CRM in the Insurance Sector

When properly implemented, CRM can be a real boon for businesses. It offers a range of benefits, such as: 

Data Security

Insurance is a highly data-intensive industry that generates humongous volumes of data. In its aftermath, insurers are left with the responsibility to keep it secure. Moreover, customers, governments and civil bodies are growing concerned about data privacy more than ever. In fact, policyholders display a greater preference in choosing companies that can effectively manage data compliance and security. As such, secure and organized data management helps insurers win more customers. 

New-age insurance CRM systems are equipped with a very high level of data encryption and user authentication features to ensure data security and help organizations stay compliant with the latest privacy laws. CRM enables insurers to gain customer trust while mitigating data breach risks and issues concerning regulatory compliance along with a loss of business revenue and reputation. 

All in all, insurance businesses can enjoy huge data management benefits by implementing a CRM. It centralizes all business and customer information across functions, facilitates a single source of truth, improves data organization and minimizes data redundancy. All of these benefits translate to greater profitability and success in the long run. 

See also: 6 Keys to Successful CRM Implementation

Easy Onboarding

When done manually, customer onboarding can take time as insurance agents have to gather details, handle multiple forms, and verify information from multiple sources. Delaying the onboarding process and leaving the customers waiting increases the chances of customer dissatisfaction. Hence, the onboarding process is a critical step in the customer journey and sets the tone for their entire experience.  

With CRM, customer onboarding is simpler as insurers can curate distinct customer journeys based on the policyholder’s data and preferences. The CRM can automate and digitize the onboarding process and front-load value at every touchpoint. As such, whether the customer wishes to gain more knowledge about their insurance policy or explore the different products and services that you have to offer, it will be easier for the customer support agent to engage meaningfully and help policyholders acclimatize to quick and effective servicing.

Enhanced Customer Experience

Insurance CRM systems allow insurers to organize customer data in a logical and actionable format. It helps insurers keep track of all essential details regarding prospective and existing customers. This includes contact information, claims history, past purchases, etc. The insights obtained from this data can be used for a variety of purposes.

For one, businesses can use it to recommend policies that match customer requirements or use upselling and cross-selling strategies. Businesses can also look at the trends and tweak their products or services based on customer feedback or demand gaps. If there is a particular problem that surfaces frequently, they can employ resources and nip the problem right in the bud. 

The data can also be used to evaluate the marketing campaigns and see which ones are working best. CRM will help insurers determine whether it’s worth investing more time and money into specific strategies or if there is a better way to reach the audience.

Employee Experience

Insurance CRM systems automate and streamline a number of time-taking and repetitive activities. This reduces the time employees spend on recurring, low-impact tasks and frees them to focus on more valuable work that requires critical thinking and creativity. 

More importantly, insurance CRM eliminates guesswork that goes into critical processes like underwriting or policy personalization. Employees can refer to hard and objective data to gain strategic and business intelligence that improves decision-making. They can also leverage data-driven insights to maximize productivity and performance without experiencing stress. As such, the benefits of CRM in the insurance sector affect the employees as much as they prove to be advantageous to customers and businesses alike.

Features of Modern Insurance CRM Systems

Insurance CRM systems comprise various modules and diverse functionalities aimed at improving business functions. Here are some key features of CRM for insurance businesses: 

Real-Time Notifications

CRM should have the capability to send out real-time push notifications to help teams and employees stay on top of their games. 

Workflow Automation

Workflow automation capabilities allow insurers to reduce the need for manual and repetitive tasks. The capabilities help increase productivity by optimizing and streamlining day-to-day processes.

Reporting and Analytics

Reporting and analytics allow insurers to adequately assess the success of their sales and marketing efforts, identify bottlenecks and adapt the campaigns for greater success. 

Mobile Device Compatibility

While mobile compatibility may seem like an optional feature, having it allows agents, brokers and sales representatives to access the CRM functions while on the go. 

See also: Sellers Need More Than CRM

Final Words

The role of CRM in the insurance industry is pivotal, especially if insurers are aiming to digitalize processes and churn out long-term benefits. It can be a fitting replacement for paper-based legacy systems and spreadsheets that have become obsolete with time. If you are on the lookout to modernize your insurance business and make it future-proof, then introducing CRM can put you on the right path.

Farewell, ESG. We hardly knew ye.

ESG (an emphasis on environmental, social and governance issues) has struggled to take shape, and both Fortune and the Wall Street Journal pretty much declared it dead in the U.S. in the past week. (It continues strong in Europe.)

The fading of ESG will have broad implications for insurers. They'll start with coverage for the directors and officers who have had to wrestle with ESG considerations and will extend more subtly into many other lines by affecting how clients run their businesses and how they invest.

A Fortune columnist described the backlash against ESG on Thursday, writing:

"In the U.S., ESG detractors have basically won.... A full half of Fortune 500 CEOs now believe ESG issues are 'unduly impacting business decisions.' And that sentiment is trickling down to the chief sustainability officers in charge of ESG. Participants in a Fortune Impact Initiative call on Tuesday, which took place under Chatham House rules, admitted as much. 'We don’t talk about ‘ESG’ anymore,' and 'the term [ESG] does get in our way' were common refrains."

Another Fortune columnist weighed in Friday:

"The practice of speaking out on controversial social and political issues, which reached a peak after the killing of George Floyd [in 2020], is receding in C-suites.... And expectations that the Supreme Court may soon strike down affirmative action programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina will undoubtedly lead to challenges for corporate DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] initiatives."

The Wall Street Journal reported this on Monday: 

"Companies’ mentions of green and social initiatives during earnings calls have fallen off sharply in recent quarters, reversing a more boastful approach taken over the past few years amid intensifying pressure from some investors and conservative activists."

ESG always struck me as an ungainly agglomeration of ideas. They're all important, in their own right, but they didn't cohere, at least in my mind.

What do you do when Tesla stands out on the environment piece because of its electric cars but CEO Elon Musk is repeatedly investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission on governance issues? Unable to decide, S&P removed Tesla from its ESG Index a year ago.

Major consulting firms have tried to help clients implement ESG practices, but the methodologies aren't pretty. One showed me an overview that was almost 200 slides, incredibly dense with text and graphs and flow charts. 

With the term under attack in the U.S., ESG will split back into its component parts.

The "E" will see the least impact, because so much momentum has built for facing up to the environmental problems that climate change is causing. Certainly, insurers don't need to be convinced about how climate change is increasing the number and severity of natural catastrophes.

The Fortune columnists said that, despite the general pushback on ESG, they saw no evidence that companies were backing away from their ambitious goals for reaching net-zero. And there are vast profits to be generated from mitigating the effects of climate change, so even the hard-core capitalists are motivated. Think of the trillions of dollars that will be spent rewiring the world's electric grids to incorporate all the renewable energy that is being added. Or, getting down to the micro level, think of all the retrofitting of homes and buildings that will be done to make them more energy-efficient and of all the furnaces, water heaters, etc. that will be swapped out and replaced with electric versions so we stop burning so much natural gas.

The "S" will take the biggest hit, in my view, because companies are seeing that making even a modest stand on social issues can create a backlash. Bud Light runs an ad with a transgender influencer and suddenly faces a boycott from a meaningful percentage of customers. Same for Target when it carries some merchandise related to Pride Month. Disney merely expresses disagreement with a Florida law about schools that's come to be known as Don't Say Gay, and the governor tries to revoke the status the company has long had as one of the biggest employers in the state. Even Chick-fil-A, long a darling of the Christian right, stirred up talk of a boycott merely by appointing a vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion.

I'm not sure companies will back off that much. After all, they have to cultivate a broad base of customers, not just those who are offended by a transgender influencer or a Pride T-shirt. Disney, for instance, was facing pressure from customers and employees to say something about the Don't Say Gay law, and those opposing the bill felt Disney was, in fact, much too slow and mild with its criticism. Companies claim to have values and have to stand up for them, even in the face of some backlash, if they're to have credibility with employees and customers.

I do think companies will err on the side of caution in speaking out about social issues, at least for a while. But I don't suspect that companies will back away from their DEI initiatives internally. Even those hard-core capitalists see the need to tap into new pools of talent, given the low unemployment rate and, at least in the case of the insurance industry, a wave of impending retirements. Besides, DEI is just the right thing to do.

The "G" shouldn't change much. Governance issues have always been there and always will be. I just think the "G" will be severed conceptually from the "E" and the "S." 

Some insurers, given their massive investment portfolios, might be affected if Republicans succeed in their various efforts to ban "woke" investing based on ESG principles that go beyond straightforward evaluations of financial returns. But some form of what's been called "social investing" has been around at least since the 1960s, so I don't think the notion will be totally vanquished.

A complication is that Europe is still full speed ahead on ESG, so multinational firms will have to comply with laws there, just as Google, Meta and other tech giants have had to adhere to privacy laws — sometimes after massive fines.

But in the U.S., ESG seems to be disappearing as an overarching consideration. That could simplify some issues for coverage for directors and officers, though reputational concerns related to social issues will be complex. 

Meanwhile, the need to help the world limit climate change while adapting to its near-term consequences will continue to provide huge opportunities for forward-thinking insurers.

Cheers,

Paul

KEY TAKEAWAY:

--Nearly 90% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services, but 60% of insurance executives acknowledge that their company is lacking on customer experience strategy. Taking even one of the following seven steps will help.

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According to The State of the Connected Customer, nearly 90% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services.

Customer experience comes up as a stated priority across the insurance sector’s C-suites. Yet, according to the IBM Institute for Business Value report, "Elevating the Insurance Customer Experience," 60% of insurance executives acknowledge that their company is lacking strategically.

Like it or not, household name brands such as Amazon and Apple have set CX standards that customers apply to every sector, even insurance. To deliver against these high (and likely increasing) expectations, insurance executives must start by:

• Committing to operational and cultural transformation,
• Establishing their customer experience North Star, and
• Doing the hard work to align the organization mindset, behaviors, metrics and ways of working so everyone understands and acts in support of progress toward the CX North Star. 

To help build momentum, here are seven proven practices for the change makers in your organization who have taken on the hard and harder tasks of transforming the customer experience. 

1. Don’t let efficiency trump humanity when defining and designing CX improvements.

Show the organization why demonstrating empathy in your relationships with customers does not need to be a tradeoff against efficiency. In today’s market, leaders demonstrate empathy so they can deliver financial targets.  

2. From now on, start every meeting with a customer story.

Institutionalize this one new behavior across the entire organization, and bring the customer to every employee function, whether participants are directly customer-facing or not.  All employees' decisions and actions come back to affect the customer experience with your brand.

See also: Customer Experience Leaders Widen Edge

3. Build influence skills because, guaranteed, the CX team is unlikely to control the required resources.  

Small team? Lack role clarity? Build an “army of the willing” by partnering with people across the organization whose goals are aligned with what you see as the CX priorities.  

4. Approach transformation as the accumulation of experiments, pilots and other small steps that inspire action and trigger momentum.   

The path to scale starts with:

• Constructing a compelling problem statement
• Creating a North Star ambition – not a slogan, but a meaningful ambition along with essential “how’s” of execution, e.g., proven CX design and delivery practices,
• Validating the North Star in pilots and other well-defined experiments,
• Engaging growth-mindset people to make the pilots happen, and
• Ensuring expert facilitation that can introduce the team to new ways of working and stretch their critical thinking capabilities.

5. Accelerate your ability to establish standards – for practices, measurement, skills and competencies and knowledge transfer.

Put in place a governance structure that takes advantage of best practices and fits for your organization’s culture and CX maturity level.  

6. Take steps to link CX to financial, efficiency and other operating model goals, especially to the priorities of the executives who hold the most power. 

The first steps: (1) assign the right expertise – in financial analysis, customer data analytics, customer insights, data integrity and privacy – to connect the dots between customer behavior and business results, and (2) prioritize CX improvements that have the potential to move the metrics most near and dear to the hearts of your business’ "power brokers." 

See also: Tips for Improving Customer Experience
 
7. Keep asking questions and invest in defining the problem(s) you are trying to solve.

Albert Einstein is quoted famously as having said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.”

While none of us is likely the next Albert Einstein, any of us can emulate his approach by investing the time and thought, collaboratively, to develop high-impact problem statements.  

Which of these actions will you apply now?

Take on just one, and you will see improvement.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

--While many are feeling "DEI fatigue" after years of effort, companies must show employees that they have a rewarding career ahead of them and help them see how they're making progress on their path.

--Companies must build a culture that encourages everyone on the team to share their real opinions and bring their authentic selves to work. That means monitoring lots of data -- but not just the data. 

--Firms need to be more consistent about messaging, starting with recruitment and extending through the whole employment life cycle.

--And we're all in this together, so companies should share best practices with each.

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What does it take to achieve a fully inclusive industry? 

While we’ve tried to tackle this question for more than a decade as an industry, the keys to continued progress may finally be getting a bit clearer. 

Sustaining momentum on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, as well as introducing initiatives to recruit and develop the workforce of tomorrow, seems to hinge on three factors: workplace experience, company culture and a consistent approach. Those factors, in tandem with a collaborative industry effort, could be key. 

The challenges before us

Not all companies within our industry have made the same level of progress related to DEI initiatives. Some have been working on their DEI initiatives for more than a decade, while others just began implementing employee resource groups (ERGs) and other practices during the pandemic. Across different levels of experience and DEI success, though, we do see similar challenges.

The need to bring new talent into our industry remains paramount, as does breaking down barriers to leadership positions for diverse populations. Lately, one of the biggest challenges has been “DEI fatigue.” Industry professionals have expressed a lack of interest in continuing the conversation on DEI because they feel as though they have been inundated with information on the subject in the past few years. 

What can we do to combat these roadblocks? We have to connect the puzzle pieces.

The value of a good workplace experience

We want to build a strong workplace where our people feel they are engaged in a rewarding career with a positive trajectory and where they can clearly see and recognize the progress they’re making. Too many times, we’ve heard from professionals leaving insurance that they couldn’t see a path to the top or understand the value of the work they were doing.

At QBE, we respond to this challenge by providing our new team members with an opportunity to begin building their networks and to understand QBE as an enterprise – the big picture – upon hire. We want them to be able to visualize what the business and the work truly involve, the impact it makes, the role they will play as their career develops and their financial prospects. We offer prospective and early career employees the opportunity to comprehend the full range of our company’s products and services and the impact we have on our colleagues, the environment and society. We even have them meet with our executives to gain insight and advice. 

Companies that demonstrate a meaningful company experience will help prospective employees understand what a career in insurance has to offer them and how it can fit their skills and career goals. We want all companies in the industry to offer interns, new hires, experienced professionals or people returning to the workforce positions that will expose them to a range of positions across the enterprise.

See also: The Many Facets of DEI

How company culture fits in

Offering a valuable and inspiring career is only one part of the puzzle. Today’s new hires also want to ensure they are lending their talents to a company that invests in its culture. 

We have all heard about the value of good culture in the workplace, and all our businesses are looking for better ways to recruit and retain diverse talent. Many are collecting data to document their progress. That’s great, but when an organization reviews their data in terms of culture, representation, attrition and engagement surveys, they should also look beyond the numbers. 

Even if most responses are positive, we need to look at where the minority comes from. What are they saying or not saying? We want to build a culture that encourages all of our team to share their real opinions and bring their authentic selves to work. This is what creates an inclusive, psychologically safe culture. 

For example, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, our first step was to check in on the mental health and wellness of our team. We asked if they felt comfortable sharing their own perspectives and ideas, and if our company culture felt supportive regardless of where they wanted to take their lives and careers from there. Just posing the questions began a new dialogue for our culture, and it demonstrated we as a company not only cared about them but understood the criticality of a culture of belonging and inclusion. 

With this effort, we were not necessarily just referring to harassment or discrimination or topical issues. We want our staff to always feel comfortable sharing new ideas and different ways of thinking. We want them to feel comfortable speaking up about anything in the workplace, even concerns about leadership or the workplace itself. Part of that requires additional understanding from our teams. Some team members may be happy to share their thoughts on a Teams call; others may need more privacy, because diversity also entails "how" our people want to communicate.

We need to spend time working with our staff to ensure they feel company culture is psychologically safe. A psychologically safe environment will provide insurance industry professionals with a workplace where they feel happy, comfortable and confident. 

Consistency, consistency, consistency

While these first two pieces are essential to progressing with the puzzle, nothing can be accomplished without a consistent effort – and here, we have work to do.

For example, consistency could improve the recruiting process, helping prospective employees to better visualize a future in our industry. 

QBE partners with area universities to offer students scholarships centered on DEI and internships. Over time, however, we noticed a gap in interest and understanding of the insurance industry.

When I first visited campuses to gauge interest in insurance, I found students had a wide range of misperceptions about insurance. Several expressed immediately that they did not want a career in sales or a boring desk job. That’s what they had understood insurance to be. Industry leaders need to correct these misconceptions. Insurance has a path for everyone regardless of course of study and interests. 

We need to bring a more consistent experience in the employee life cycle, starting with recruitment and selection. Consistent job offerings and messaging around those positions will ensure that prospective employees understand what our business really does and how they could contribute.

Similarly, the efforts toward enhancing DEI in the workplace that are working should be shared and promoted. Sharing progress and demonstrating results will help to alleviate DEI fatigue. And of course, consistent and regular communications on our industry’s dedication to inclusion and belonging, starting from the recruitment phase and going throughout the lifecycle of the career, will attract new talent and inspire other business leaders to adopt similar practices.

Finally, we also need consistency in the labeling of DEI within our companies. DEI is woven into our organization’s values and mission; it’s not a stand-alone department. We want inclusion to be embedded throughout the entire employee lifecycle: attraction, recruitment, onboarding, development, retention and separation. 

See also: We Must Be Diverse by Design

Working together as an industry

While we laid out some critical pieces to enhancing and furthering DEI within our industry, we can’t do it alone. Collaboration will be essential. 

We all have valuable ideas to share, and together we can progress toward a diverse and inclusive insurance industry. Events such as the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF)’s Inclusion in Insurance Global Conference in New York City from June 13 – 15 allow us to continue the conversation as an industry, share our own practices and struggles and showcase diverse talent. We need these events and organizations like IICF to support us as a unifying industry voice. 

Today, we can get started on meeting industry challenges through a dedication to building out a better company experience, enhanced culture and a consistency in our approach.