Like 2018, 2019 is shaping up to be a positive year for the insurance industry. The stronger economic outlook is driving up net investment income, consolidated capital and surplus and other factors -- see the table (from Deloitte) below: However, in the same report, Deloitte warns, “While 2018 and 2019 are shaping up to be banner years for insurers, some concerns are being raised about an economic slowdown, if not a full-fledged recession, as early as 2020.” In other words, insurance businesses must be mindful of expenses if they wish to navigate the rough waters of a less lucrative market. One of those cost areas is IT. No matter the size or specialty of the insurance agency, IT affects operational efficiency, customer experience and compliance, among other areas. Making the right decision in each is essential, but it cannot be done without a chief information officer (CIO), i.e., an experienced IT leader to identify bottlenecks, maintain compliance and ensure that your clients are satisfied with their digital experiences. Unfortunately, not every insurance business can necessarily afford or access a CIO. See also: How Virtual Reality Reimagines Data   However, these insurance businesses could leverage virtual CIOs (vCIO). The benefits of vCIO consulting cut across three major areas of relevance to your insurance business: 1. Complete IT Leadership Be it patchy WiFi, computers breaking down or client portals crashing, these and other such IT issues will impede staff productivity. This can hamper your ability to sign on new clients as well as put existing client relationships under pressure. A vCIO can bring a team of full-time IT experts to investigate your existing system to find the root causes that are derailing your operations and causing cybersecurity issues and compliance problems. A vCIO can provide clarity of how your IT options -- be it systems, processes or training -- will both maintain productivity and meet strategic business goals. 2. Lower Costs The average payroll cost of a CIO is $142,609 per year; salaries can range from $81,718 to $269,033 (Monster). For small and medium-sized insurance agencies, that salary alone would be a significant spike to overhead. Moreover, these smaller agencies may not require a CIO around the clock, as a large outfit would. This is where the cost advantage of a vCIO is key. Typically, vCIOs will charge a flat fee. A number of IT solutions for the insurance industry, such as managed services, actually include vCIO services as part of the agreement. So, many small or medium-sized agencies leveraging managed IT services may not need to pay extra to access vCIO services. 3. Objective, Outside Look at Information Systems Your IT manager may be a great asset, but IT has many different fields, with each field requiring dedicated experts. Be it cybersecurity, mobile, cloud management, web development or something else, it’s good to have an outside expert to take a look. See also: Insurance and Fourth Industrial Revolution   A vCIO can provide a neutral assessment. For example, a vCIO could come in and identify a gap in your compliance measures, thereby preventing you from getting hit by a fine. The vCIO could identify a glaring cybersecurity problem before it flares up into a costly technical (and legal) problem for your agency. A vCIO may not be ideal for larger entities, which have exponentially greater technology needs, potentially across dozens -- or hundreds -- of offices. Larger entitites may also have many more custom technology systems, such as an on-premises data center or custom-coded internal and client-facing applications. But every organization needs full-time access to a CIO to take ownership of your technology. Should something fail, you can’t afford to not have that leadership when you need it most.

Let’s slice pie from the sky and seriously consider AI’s role in workers’ compensation claims. First, admit that an end-to-end AI solution is impossible. WC does not provide a dispassionate linear process ripe for automation. Flow-charts or fishbone diagrams cannot codify WC claim contingencies. Rather, we must account for WC’s disparate interests and human unpredictability with a less analytical depiction… such as a pile of actual fish bones surrounded by alley cats fighting for scraps. Forcing a vision of full-auto AI blinds us to the real possibilities. AI should not seek to master our status quo claim system. Rather, our existing system should radically change to best apply AI. Forget usual vendor roles and re-draw the process. With conventional models gone comes freedom to revolutionize. I suggest we form logical “function modules” as powered by a sub-array of distinct AI tools, all recognizing boundaries for human connection and influence. Overseeing this flux of action is a super-adjuster in a role elevated from “data entry” to “data reaction.” New adjusters are extremely skilled and well-paid, acting as the human glue among a matrix of AI tools and able to react in real time to events and milestones in the interest of claim outcome all while managing the claimant experience. As just a partial illustration, some newly defined function modules might include:

• Employee sentiment
• Reporting
• Work continuum
• Care direction
• Finances
• Closure
• Filings and compliance

See also: Quest for the Holy Grail in Workers’ Comp   Function modules are in simultaneous action through the life of a claim, each contributing more or less depending on the situation and strategically sharing each other’s AI tools as appropriate. We can scratch the creative surface and imagine some aspects of function modules as follows:

• The “employee sentiment” module exemplifies just one new opportunity to support a known yet unmanaged challenge. In the current system, “employee advocacy” is a throw-away term with no defined responsibilities. “Employee sentiment” arises as a standard core concern with dedicated resources, focused purpose and ability to flag real-time urgencies. AI can support employee profiles before and during a claim. Continuous insight honed by machine learning ingests recorded statements, doctor findings, cooperative indicators, interim communications and non-claim-specific aspects. Human intervention is precisely triggered, gauged, placed where needed and not wasted. Nuanced automated messages can nudge desired reactions. More employees are better-cared-for while poorly motivated employees are dealt with from a smarter foundation. Less attorney representation is a critical result.
• The “reporting” module requires dedicated degrees of human interaction with nurses, investigators, employer contacts and intake staff. No “reporting” situation is fast-tracked because all information is valuable. This human investment returns value in securing fundamental data and spring-points for subsequent AI tools to act. As in old-school programs, good nurse triage can divert would-be claimants, yet we can add predictive analysis to round out a nurse’s conclusion.
• The “work continuum” module uses AI to evoke progressively updated, medically validated and predictively successful work opportunities with intensity far beyond common return to work (RTW) programs. Human interaction exists simply to coach a claimant among a wealth of opportunity. Beyond internal employer jobs are data-connected partnerships with out-placement temp agencies or non-profits, predictive validation for vocational rehab and labor market surveys. This module provides constant pressure and a holistic outlook. “Permanent restrictions” as a claimant legal tactic are conquered. A new employee culture is compelled to respect the ability to work.
• The “care direction” module replaces for-profit managed care with a dedication to predictively optimal care, with incentives provided by positive “employee sentiment.” AI validates treatment plans and choice of provider based on analytics matched to case-specific issues. Optimal healing is the paramount goal. Legislatures adjust laws concerning utilization review (UR) and customary care to allow weight for analytics as combined with traditional medical evidences, all with confidence in patient outcome over legal gamesmanship.
• The “finances” module might run mostly on AI, including basic management of employer funding schemes, premiums, claim payments and reserving. Medical bills are adjusted based on vast analytical data that supports any jurisdictional scheme. Percentage-of-savings fees no longer exist. Aggregate employer-population contribution from the “employee sentiment” module builds weighing factors to fortify premium calculations and actuarial outlooks.
• The “closure” module applies AI to provide a progressive outlook for method of resolution and closure date. Predictive likelihoods around dollar value and strategies to settle or litigate and even subrogation value are updated in real time. Data on judges, mediators, and lawyers feeds machine learning. The array of related AI tools herein includes analytically derived Medicare Set Asides (MSAs) and annuities.
• The “filings and compliance” module can be highly automated, fed first from the “reporting” module and updated from other modules in real time while running the gamut of statutory and OSHA requirements. Even this benign stockpile of data can be a reciprocal source of machine learning among other AI cells.

See also: Strategist’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence   In conclusion, AI can be a powerful force in a renaissance for the WC world. We must first abandon the knee-jerk inclination for AI to make the existing end-to-end process more efficient while protecting current profit streams. Vendors need to redesign operations and service lanes with new pricing and new value propositions. The industry must adopt the spirit of open-source development by defining non-proprietary functional modules whose needs invite the tech world and spark creative innovation. We must clearly define sacrosanct human tasks and connections that are paramount to an employee’s WC experience. Legislatures must seriously adopt analytics as an arbiter to remove considerable human bias from critical decisions. Humble pie may be hard to swallow, but pie on the plate beats pie in the sky!

This one has been a long time coming. I have discussed the topic time and time again, both on the podcast and with many folks -- both in incumbent insurers and at startups breaking new ground. In fact, it's the countless conversations with startups that have led me to this conclusion. Quite simply, the more insurtech founders I meet across the globe, the more partnerships we create, the more convinced I am that the lowest common denominator for the insurtech (r)evolution is the core system itself, most notably the policy admin system and quote-and-buy process. Claims is present in some of the new platforms but seems to be a slower follower here for new/low code/business-focused platforms. The Holy Grail Having been involved in many large-scale core system transformations over the years, I feel the pain here. Ultimately, though, I believe they are the holy grail of holy grails. I have worked with many clients on "core system transformation" projects and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. These systems typically replaced decades of legacy claims, policy and billing platforms. These old systems were not built for the current (or future) market environment with its very specific and demanding requirements around data and engagement, to support today's very different customer expectations. The multitude of platforms is a result of a whole host of factors, including increased M&A activity, out-of-support platforms, security issues and efforts to modernize or simplify. Those are all valid reasons to act, if the business case stacks up. Sadly, more often than not, it doesn't. What's the alternative? On fire but not hot enough Unless there is a burning platform, I am seeing more organizations lean toward leveraging an insurtech solution to address the key challenge of speed-to-market for products,. See also: Is Insurance Industry Too Complex?   Insurers are typically adopting a two-pronged approach, these being:

1. Left to Right —solving the core system challenge from the foundations upward, addressing the burning platform issues through slow-moving projects that take months to years. These are the more traditional transformation programs, bigger and using some of the industry's leading core systems technology, such as Guidewire or DuckCreek. I don't think these are going away anytime soon. In certain markets, these programs will have more success than others.
2. Right to left — starting with the customer and working backward into the organization, addressing the very specific "speed-to-market" challenge that almost every carrier I talk to is looking to solve. The internal change stack is either full or the existing platforms can't get there at the right speed or price point to test the market or to meet a specific demand that has been identified. These projects are typically fast-moving and short, lasting weeks to months.

These approaches are not mutually exclusive. Many of the folks I speak to are doing both and aiming to meet in the middle somewhere. I genuinely see the case for both in some of the insurers I work with. You simply can't run 30-year-old platforms and expect to meet modern-day agility requirements. The second approach above, of course, is where the insurtech (r)evolution is playing out right now in full force. Finding our feet I categorized these challengers into three broad categories:

• Category 1 — Modern-day equivalents of the traditional (large) core system providers, albeit cloud-native and built for speed to market. These are all-encompassing, with a huge amount of flexibility, either to operate standalone or integrate into carriers' existing standard tools for rating, documentation, etc.
• Category 2 — As above, but with the added benefit of being able to write business in specific states or geographies, authorized by local regulators.
• Category 3 — Players that have been built from the ground up to solve a single, specific problem -- but that could easily be repurposed to solve another challenge or address a new line of business.

I mapped some of the existing players into each of these groups below. This is not exhaustive; we know there are north of 2,000 insurtech startups and over 100 providers in the platform space. A little more detail Category 1 — Instanda, for example, has 45-plus clients, from MGAs to insurers, that it has helped launch propositions and products to market in 8 to 12 weeks each, often less. Like everyone in this space, Instanda is cloud-native, sitting on Microsoft Azure, with the ability to spin up and down in a heartbeat. The screenshot below shows the simple, logical flow a business user can follow to create full insurance products, from rating questions and calculations to documents and endorsements. Adding to this, Instanda will quite happily deal with the first notice of loss (FNOL) phase for claims, passing then on to the client's in-house claims or TPA platform. Category 2 — Slice not only has a cloud-based platform with ICS for policy and claims, it has the ability to write business in specific states. Built from the cloud down, Slice is outsourcing the speed-to-market challenge and has some great examples. Category 3 — Finally, these folks have been on their merry way solving very specific challenges, whether it's Laka reinventing the business model while solving cycle insurance, or Flock with its head in the clouds with drone insurance or Canopy for Renters or MyUrbanJungle or Buzz or so many others. They have built in most cases an end-to-end platform focused on one line of business or one specific product. There is nothing stopping them leveraging this technology for another line. For example, what else could Flock insure that needed: location, real-time pricing, third-party data and much more? You guessed it: anything in the mobility space. And I probably wouldn't limit it there, either. Have a look at the Flock full insurance stack: My view is that those in Category 3 are more likely to (will need to?) pivot into Category 1 or 2 in the search of scale, unless, of course, the business segment they have gone after is large enough. I would ask: How can I turn my platform and capability to broader and greater use? Solving business challenges I see insurers leveraging any number of these platforms depending on what their specific business challenge is to address new market pressures very quickly, whether they want:

• new capability, flexibility and speed (category 1)
• above, plus the ability to test easily in new states/markets (category 2)
• a new specific product/line of business (category 3)

Interestingly, many of these platforms are country-specific or country-focused (not to say they can't work across geographies), a lot of these operating in the individual countries where they started. They are not only cloud-native but are geared up for the API economy. A great example is CoverGenius, which integrates at the commerce layer, not as an additional task for the customer. (Here is an interview with Sarah and the team here.) There will not be one single platform here. It's great to see insurers leveraging the right one to address the business problem. New platforms, new challenges Jump forward five to 10 years, and we may well be back to insurers having more platforms to manage than they currently do, but being less reliant on any single slow old beast. I'd hate to share some of the numbers that I see when it comes to the numbers of PAS platforms in play at most insurers; needless to say, it's never one! Maybe we'll go full circle and head back to mainframes, but I very much doubt it. My hope and expectation are we get the data right and end up with a beautifully orchestrated ecosystem of capabilities with multiple platforms doing what they do best and meeting specific market demands. Growing up, what next for the startups As the startups in Category 3 mature and scale, I see this as a typical sequence of events:

1. The early years: As a new startup, most founders I know build their own tech stack, and do a bloody good job of it. They are unbound by legacy, free from data, customers, partners and all the other the things that often get in the way, and give you the benefit of a clean sheet of paper. This is enough to prove the concept, business idea, ability to acquire customers and get the seed/series A round under the belt.
2. The growth stage: Companies start to hit scale problems and spend energy on places they can truly differentiate in, not reinventing the wheel.
3. Serious player: The company has money, scale and lots of customers and wants to grow exponentially, going multi-country, multi-product and much more. Time to deploy the enterprise big guns and get ready for hyper growth or an exit.

They will likely engage the folks in Category 1 and 2 as they mature, creating a market and ecosystem. See also: So, You Want to Work With Insurtechs?   Is there space for everyone? Sadly, probably not. I think we will see a whole host of consolidation, with many of the smaller or local players getting together to build longer runways and greater customer bases and drive scale. They will then face their own challenges in combining platforms and technologies. We have already seen some of this in Germany with the likes of Knip and Komparu in 2017. A timeless debate If we were to start the industry today, of course we wouldn't design it the way we did 30 years ago. We didn't have the ability back then to adopt a capability-driven and services-enabled approach to plug the necessary components together easily or swap out capabilities quickly and easily. We simply have a better start point today, and this will no doubt continue to improve.

Insurers of the future will be assembled, not built. New platforms are an essential component in the rapid assembly process.

There are, of course, a whole host of other categories across the entire insurance value chain that insurtech has been addressing. Many of these are incremental and address a specific problem area, whether it's making an efficiency play, helping price better, understanding risk differently, leveraging processing power, aggregating new data sources, addressing fraud, etc. We are merely at the tip of the iceberg still. I would love your perspectives.

1. Are the two approaches correct, and do they make sense (left to right and right to left). Have you seen others?
2. Does the categorization of startups feel right in the platform space? Who would you add, and to which category?
3. Is my outlook for startups in this space correct?

Today’s technology news is dominated by articles about the promise of 5G—it was one of the top stories coming out of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. 5G, so named because it’s the generation following today’s 4G, could bring mobile phones information 600 times faster than today’s speeds. Further, 5G will enable connections of up to 1 million devices per square kilometer. That is significantly more than the 2,000 to 10,000 devices per square kilometer that 4G allows. The capacity for a massive increase in connected devices that respond seemingly instantly will bring about important innovations in a range of sectors, including the property & casualty and collision repair industries. As Kent Finley wrote in Wired, “There's more to 5G than just speed; 5G technologies should also be able to serve a great many devices nearly in real time. That will be crucial as the number of internet-connected cars, environmental sensors, thermostats and other gadgets accelerates in coming years.” It’s these and other connected devices that have the greatest implications for these industries. 5G and Connected Cars 5G has the potential to be a game-changer in terms of how connected cars interact both with other vehicles and with the environment around them. In the future, 5G will enable faster, more reliable connections with cellular networks as well as “vehicle to anything (V2X)” communications—with the anything being “car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure” linkages, as Digital Trends’ Jeff Zurschmeide explains. As he put it, “Cellular and other V2X communications … (will be) critical for autonomous driving, but they can also improve your driving experience while you’re still behind the wheel. For example, systems have been tested in which vehicles are allowed access to traffic light signal information,” helping drivers, both humans soon and autonomous vehicles later, work in concert with signal timing, improving traffic flow. 5G connectivity will be essential for innovation in vehicles to make the next big leap forward, including managing the charging of electric vehicles and making autonomous ones acceptable and then routine. See also: Why 5G Will Rock the Insurance World   Impact on Insurers and Collision Repair Facilities 5G has significant implications for the entire auto physical damage ecosystem. As the number of sensors in vehicles increases, the data they produce may collect details of collision damage, which in aggregate can help manufacturers improve vehicle designs, carriers price coverage appropriately and collision repair facilities accomplish proper and safe repairs. Further, the ability for vehicles to communicate with each other and the environment via 5G may signal greater safety on the road. For instance, with embedded sensors, vehicles could crowd source information about weather, road conditions and hazards and share it with other vehicles in real time. But increased vehicle complexity may also signal increased repair complexity. As Mitchell’s Jack Rozint explains, as advanced driver assistance systems become more prevalent, repair facilities “must be prepared to fix, and heed the advice of, a computer network on wheels.” This is a pattern that is likely to escalate as 5G drives the adoption of increasingly sophisticated onboard computers. 5G in Healthcare: Reverberations Across P&C 5G is expected to bring significant changes to healthcare that will reverberate across the property & casualty industry. Among the most important opportunities will be Internet of Medical Things (IOMT) devices that allow for sophisticated remote monitoring of patients. Today’s consumer wearables and even IOMT devices like heart and diabetes monitors already provide medical care providers with information and insights that they previously would not have had access to. 5G networks will have greater stability and lower latency and be much less of a drain on battery life, so they will be able to support more critical healthcare monitoring and functions. And with the data these sensor-enabled devices produce, healthcare providers can deliver more personalized care. See also: Blockchain, Privacy and Regulation   In fact, 5G networks will be so fast and so stable that one company, Ericcson, believes they will be able to support functions that could mean the difference between life and death like remote robotic surgery performed by a physician working on a patient via a super-precise robot. In the not-too-distant future, the surgeon could be performing a remote surgery as close as in the same building as the patient or as far as in another continent due to the speed of 5G in IOMT. When Will 5G Get Here? While wireless carriers are rolling out early iterations of 5G networks worldwide, it may be several more years before the systems are in that will make V2X and remote robotic surgery a broadly shared reality. Based on the expected advances that 5G will foster and the current speed of innovation, I envision the way we live today will someday seem quaint, with today’s phones, cars and medical equipment appearing to our future selves as antiquated as a rotary phone. Maybe not tomorrow, but possibly faster than we might expect.

Newcomers to the insurance industry face no shortage of challenges. If you’re a broker embarking on a career in insurance, you need to learn a variety of skills and navigate an ever-changing landscape. Among the most critical skills you need to develop early on is the ability to forge relationships with underwriters and put forth robust insurance applications and supplementals. Knowing how to communicate effectively with underwriters and providing them with quality submissions will be pivotal to your career. On an average day, a typical excess & surplus lines (E&S) underwriter may review 16 to 20 submissions, so getting yours to the top of the pile is critical. Underwriters consider three important factors when prioritizing the submissions in their pile: (1) if the submission is complete and detailed, (2) if it fits their appetite and (3) if it's from a broker who is known and trusted. So, how do you get yours to the top of the pile? Here is my three-step guide: Step 1: Start with trust As with any other successful relationship, trust is essential. Underwriters will always prioritize a submission written by a broker they trust. The first steps in building these relationships are often awkward, but getting over that uneasiness is critical. Pick up the phone and get to know the underwriters you work with. Try to find common interests to bond over, such as sports, music or cars. You don’t need to be best friends with underwriters, but you do need to reveal your personality to them, rather than keep the relationship merely transactional. See also: Underwriters Need Some Power Tools   You also can build trust by showing an underwriter you understand his or her company and its appetite. Being prepared goes a long way for underwriters who work on tight timelines and have busy schedules. Learn what underwriters seek before submitting, patiently answer any questions they have and be respectful of their schedules. When you’re able to demonstrate that you understand their unique appetites, you’re making their lives easier and helping to build trust. Building trust is the most important step because everyone, unfortunately, carries some hidden bias, intentionally or not, that goes into the decision-making. If an underwriter receives two submissions of equal quality that both fall within his or her appetite, the one from a known and trusted broker will likely get preference. Even submissions on the fringe of an underwriter’s appetite are more likely to be considered when coming from a trustworthy source. The human factor will always play a role in the decision-making, so, if you establish trust, the hidden bias will favor you. Step 2: Write an effective submission While building trust is a critical first step, it won’t mean anything if you can’t craft submissions that grab underwriters’ attention and save them time. With so many submissions to handle each day, underwriters will always favor those that include as much information as possible, provide specifics, anticipate questions and include summaries. A good broker knows the specific information and answers that underwriters seek and provides those. It’s best to provide as much information as possible about operations, losses and exposures. It’s okay if you don’t have every specific detail, but make sure that what you provide is as accurate as possible. Be transparent, and let the underwriter know you’re working to obtain more information. Also, be prepared to take no for an answer. It’s okay to ask for a justification, but being agreeable and understanding will help you next time. At the end of the day, underwriters are looking for submissions that save them time. By putting forth a submission that includes summaries, provides specifics and anticipates questions, a broker significantly enhances his or her chances of getting the submission to the top of the pile. Step 3: Communicate effectively Knowing how to communicate properly after putting forth a submission is the third most important step you must learn. One easy way to differentiate yourself among other brokers is to include a cover letter. This is a great way to kick off your communication around a submission, because it provides underwriters with a concise summary of what to expect, thus helping them understand the information that follows and saving them time. (Notice a pattern here?) Your cover letter also gives you an opportunity to call out specific items you know the underwriter will be concerned about, immediately showcasing your value. Just a simple email up-front with a summary will do. It's also very helpful to promptly follow up by phone – not email – with underwriters to provide an overview of your submission after you’ve sent it. Of course, you don’t want to be annoying, but staying persistent is key. After all, it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. See also: 14 Keys for Broker-Underwriter Ties   Embrace the future Taking these three steps skillfully and consistently will set you up for success in your career as an insurance broker. Remember, however, that they are just the basics. As our industry changes at a rapid pace, the brokers who understand and embrace future trends are the brokers who will thrive. Underwriters want to work with brokers who keep pace with change. So my last bit of advice to brokers is to become an expert in one of these trends – whether it’s IoT, automation, hydroponics or clean energy. If you gain a reputation as a forward thinker, you will stand out now and in the future.

While our industry has made great strides in recent years, we still have a long road before balance is achieved at the leadership level. A recent study found that women represent more than half of the industry’s entry-level positions, yet hold only 18% of its C-level roles.

These numbers are not uncommon; among all industries, only 79 women are promoted into manager positions for every 100 men. The disconnect starts early, and, as a result, just 1% of insurance organizations have a female CEO at the helm. The imbalance is further fueled by the industry’s gender wage gap, with women making just 62 cents for every dollar earned by men.

As the #BalanceforBetter campaign advocates, “gender balance is not a women’s issue, it is a business issue.” A balanced workforce results in more than a level playing field. It yields tangible business advantages that are key to staying ahead in today’s competitive and complex market.

See also: Why Women Are Smarter Than Men  

Women remain underrepresented at the executive level across all industries, yet research consistently demonstrates their positive impact on business. A McKinsey study found that organizations in the top quartile of gender diversity at the executive level are 21% more likely to outperform their peers. Additionally, MSCI reports that, over a five-year period, U.S. companies on the MSCI World Index with at least three female directors achieved median gains of 37% on earnings per share.

For our industry to realize its full potential, insurers must develop diverse leadership teams that better mirror and relate to their customers and employees. With the insurance unemployment rate hovering between 1% and 2%, it is more important than ever for our industry to attract and retain top talent from all backgrounds.

Organizations that cultivate inclusion and intersectionality enterprise-wide are more likely to be seen as employers of choice in today’s candidate-driven market. In fact, on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies list, the highest-ranked organizations had double the number of women in senior management than those that were ranked lowest.

There are several ways insurers can build trust while taking steps to realize a balanced workforce.

Embrace mentorship as a movement. Mentorship is a foundational element in helping break through the glass ceiling and building diverse and confident leaders. Through mentorships and sponsorships, women and members of other underrepresented groups gain access to senior leaders and role models that may not have otherwise been possible.

These can be internal programs or ones run through industry groups like Million Women Mentors, which aims to spark confidence in women and girls to succeed in STEM careers and leadership positions. Whether long-term or for a specific situation, these relationships can help propel women into manager roles and beyond, enabling them to move up the corporate ladder at a similar pace to men.

Create a culture of inclusion. Diversity of thought results in effective problem solving and more innovative ideas. Cultivate inclusivity through formal diversity and inclusion (D&I) programs and employee resource groups. By seeking out various points of view and effectively engaging and supporting employees of all backgrounds, teams benefit from unique viewpoints and healthy discourse. A greater sense of inclusion translates to an increase in decision-making quality, collaboration and perceived team performance.

Promote networking among women. Women helping and lifting up other women is vital to success. In fact, a commonality among most high-ranking women is a strong female-dominated inner circle, according to a recent study. Women whose networks are wide with strong female relationships at their core receive jobs at seniority levels that are 2.5 times higher than those who have smaller, male-centric networks. Female leaders are also more likely to surround themselves with other women. Credit Suisse found that female CEOs are 55% more likely to have women heading business units and are 50% more likely to have women as their CFOs.

Engage men as allies. A growing number of enlightened men are publicly advocating for women’s equity, standing as allies in identifying and breaking down barriers. In many organizations, male executives are spearheading employee resource groups and championing corporate D&I programs. By inviting men into the conversation and committing to open dialogue, organizations create shared ownership. A balanced insurance workforce will not be achieved through just one voice, but through a chorus of voices for change.

Hold leadership accountable. In an EY survey, only 39% of insurance leaders said their companies are formally measuring progress toward gender diversity, and just 8% shared that they have structured development programs in place for women. Additionally, Deloitte found that while 71% of organizations aspire to have an inclusive culture, their actual maturity levels are low. Implementing D&I programs is an important first step, yet true change will come as a result of organizations holding key decision makers accountable for setting and meeting goals.

See also: Survival Guide for Women in Insurtech  

International Women’s Day is March 8; however, its spirit and mission extend throughout the year. Through mutual trust and respect, along with actionable steps and accountability, our industry can work to create a culture of inclusion and achieve balance beyond gender.

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Looking to get involved? There are a number of insurance D&I organizations that join to support each other’s missions and events: STEMConnector’s Million Women Mentors Women in Insurance Initiative, Advancement of Professional Insurance Women (APIW), Business Insurance’s Diversity & Inclusion Institute, Dive In, Gamma Iota Sigma, Insurance Careers Movement, Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Global Women’s Conference, Insurance Supper Club (ISC) and Women’s Insurance Networking Group (WING).

A bit of a backlash is developing about the insurtech movement – sort of, "We've been hearing about insurtech for a few years now, so why hasn't it meant the end of life as we know it? Why doesn't an app on my phone just know what I want and when I want it and provide that insurance for me?" We understand. We get impatient, too. But innovation in insurance is actually moving into an exciting and healthy new phase, where insurtechs and incumbents are finally working together rather than circling each other warily as potential enemies. We've always thought that cooperation was the way to go. That's why our team at gener8tor structured our OnRamp Insurance Conference to facilitate authentic, high-yield connections between participants at all levels. Over 1,100 insurtechs and incumbents come together for a one-day conference at a sports stadium. The program includes industry thought leadership, product demos, startup pitches, exhibitions and networking optimized to help attendees uncover opportunities to work with, not against, each other. We wanted to create an onramp, if you will, for consequential deals. As we draw closer to our fourth insurance conference (in Minneapolis-St. Paul on April 11 -- you can register here), the sort of deal that grew out of last year's event could serve as a model for how incumbents and insurtechs can collaborate. TCARE joined us last year as a startup with a grand total of two employees but with an unusual insight into long-term care: that caring for the caregivers can be key. "There are a lot of solutions out there helping the family members manage care better. We do not do that," said Ali Ahmadi, CEO and cofounder of TCARE. "We are all about the care of the family caregiver, not the patient. We take care of the family member better, which in turn has shown significant outcomes on the patient side." Science known as identity discrepancy theory shows that sons and daughters go through five stages as they shift from primarily a child-parent relationship to a caregiver-patient relationship, and TCARE monitors the transitions so it can support the children/caregivers during each phase. A two-year pilot with the state of Washington found that the TCARE approach delayed patients' move into long-term care by 21 months, while reducing costs by 20% by allowing so much more aging in place. See also: So, You Want to Work With Insurtechs?   At OnRamp last year, TCARE had a series of meetings with insurers that, over the following six months, developed into formal relationships, including investments. One is from RGA, the other from a faith-based institution that doesn't yet want to be identified. Ahmadi says the RGA relationship has provided considerable expertise in modeling that has improved TCARE's underwriting and has contributed demographic data on families that has greatly increased TCARE's accuracy. TCARE is now at 19 employees, on its way soon to 30-plus. It has signed a long-term contract with the state of Washington for its Medicare/Medicaid programs and has seen business pour in from other states and insurers looking to manage their long-term-care businesses. TCARE is now mandated legislatively in four states for use in their Medicare/Medicaid programs. Everybody wins, including the children and the parents they're caring for. At OnRamp this year, we expect a great deal of interest on the medical and healthcare side of the business, partly because there is so much data that can be used in insurance applications (while protecting everyone's privacy). As usual, we also believe that what we think of as horizontal technologies will play a major role, both at the OnRamp conference and within the industry – it isn't just insurtechs proper that will drive innovation; companies with cross-industry expertise in analytics, AI, etc. will be crucial, too. Elizabeth Carraro, director of digital strategy and partnerships at Securian, says, "We're looking at the innovation space broadly, not just looking at the latest and greatest in life insurance. How do you take the sorts of ideas you see with the connected home and apply that kind of thinking to improve life insurance? How do you bring a 140-year-old company into modern times?" Securian, which provides life insurance and other investment and retirement solutions, is looking in three main areas, she says. The first relates to changes in distribution, including through new aggregators and direct-to-consumer applications. "How do we change the conversation," she asks, "so we aren't just providing a piece of paper? Are there planning tools we can provide, as well?" The second covers the customer experience, a huge emphasis in the life insurance industry. "If you provide data to show that you're taking care of your health, how can we provide you with a better experience and maybe a better rate?" Carraro asks. The third relates to back-end operations: "If you started a company from scratch, what would your systems look like? You need to build for today's tech stack." Brittany Clements of Allianz Life Ventures says the corporate VC fund has a double mandate. As you'd expect, the fund needs to generate a significant return on its investments. But it also helps the startups in the portfolio thrive and assists the rest of Allianz in taking advantage of the innovative capabilities. "It's more about the strategic opportunities," Clements said. "We have one person devoted fully to business development for these investments. We work together to solve some of our business challenges, as well." She cites Covr Financial Technologies, which Allianz Life Ventures met at OnRamp and invested in last year. Covr has developed a platform that digitizes the whole life insurance process for advisers, which is a business in its own right but also can help Allianz's existing operations. See also: Is Insurtech Wave Hitting a Riptide?   Rick Zullo, who cofounded Equal Ventures and who has a history both with insurance investing and with OnRamp, focuses on establishing relationships at conferences, often well before he considers an investment. He met RiskMatch at our first OnRamp insurance conference and developed relationships that led, first, to an investment and a seat on the board and then to a successful exit when Vertafore bought the analytics company in 2017. "Our general philosophy has been less about disruption and more about appreciating what legacy insurers and brokers can do very well and appreciating what startups do well," Zullo says. "We try to match those capabilities." He adds: "Insurance is a world that is rooted in connections and complexity. The folks who win require both. You have to have an extremely nuanced understanding of how this industry operates, and of how relationships are extremely important to getting things done." We agree, which is why we think the partnership approach for insurtechs and innovation will prove to be so fruitful. We hope to see you at the Target Center in Minneapolis-St. Paul on April 11. Last year's crop of startups that applied for one-on-one meetings have raised more than $1.7 billion in financing, and we think this year's group is at least as intriguing. Please register here and join us.

Like the moon, mediation proceeds in phases. Here’s a primer on what happens when. Phase 1: Investigation The first phase of a mediation consists of fact-gathering and defining the issues. When the parties provide exhaustive briefs, time spent on fact-finding may be minimal. We can quickly pin down which facts and issues the parties agree or disagree on. Sometimes, people agree on the facts but not how to interpret those facts. Ferreting out those disagreements is part of defining the issues. Usually, case resolution will turn on fewer than five issues. As we drill down, disagreement about a fact may emerge, but a participant may be able to get the evidence to resolve the question during the mediation. Perhaps the information was not previously shared because it was not obvious that it was an issue, or someone may have been playing hide-the-ball. The employer’s side in a workers' compensation case should bring a copy of the indemnity and medical payment print-outs to the mediation. If no one can access the needed information during the mediation, we can usually put that issue aside and continue to mediate to resolution. But if that piece of the puzzle is critical, we might adjourn the mediation to allow time to gather those details, with a commitment to resume on a specified date. See also: Work Comp: Mediation or an ‘Informal’?   Mediation is not the time to declare you need additional discovery. For purposes of negotiation, let’s assume that each side’s discovery efforts would produce information favorable to that party. If the case settles, no one need undertake that expense. Phase 2: Working With the Numbers Now that we know what we’re dealing with, it’s time to talk about value. Sometimes, parties have exchanged offers and demands prior to mediation, but often they were waiting for this meeting. If everyone was together in joint session until this point, now may be the time to go into caucus, separate private meetings with the mediator. Once in caucus, parties can be candid about the strong and weak points of their case. Nothing said in caucus will be shared with the other side unless you authorize it to be shared. Moreover, per statute, no communication between any participants made exclusively within mediation can be used in any civil forum. Occasionally, a party has a secret reason for wanting to settle that has nothing to do with the case itself. For instance, an injured person told me of plans to move to another country, and a defendant company was undergoing a fiscal review in preparation for being acquired and wanted to get this potential liability off the books. In each case, the information went no further than me. While remaining neutral, the mediator gently helps each side form their offers of settlement and communicates them to the other party. Sometimes, this entails restating a party’s position to avoid unnecessary antagonism. As information and offers are exchanged, parties converge on resolution. If everyone is unwilling to go one step further, and it seems resolution is close, the mediator may suggest a “mediator’s proposal.” This allows parties to settle while saving face and can reduce dissatisfaction within the attorney-client relationship. Phase 3: Documenting the Agreement We have a deal, and now everyone gets back together. Parties are encouraged to bring a draft agreement to the mediation. If they must return to their offices to hammer out the final document, before leaving the mediation everyone should sign a memorandum of understanding that recites the agreed-upon terms. See also: ‘Slice’ Your Way to Mediation Success   Putting words to paper can call parties’ attention to missing details. Now is the time to consider the What If’s. Finally, review the timeline and commitments for wrapping up the loose ends. That typically includes court approval if required and paying the mediator.

Cybersecurity continues to remain top of mind with business owners as breaches continue and cyber criminals become more proficient in their techniques for hacking into sensitive information. Couple that with increasing regulations, like GDPR, which put the onus on companies to protect consumer information, and businesses of all sizes are paying closer attention. In 2018, 30% of commercial insurance shoppers added a cyber insurance policy compared with just 12% in 2017. According to a recent Cyber Trends report issued by CyberPolicy, contractual requirements from large corporations to third-party vendors and compliance requirements such as HIPAA, PCI and DCI are leading SMBs to shop for $1 million to $5 million coverage limits to satisfy these obligations. And for SMBs looking to do business with large corporations, many will find that vendor contracts now require cybersecurity planning and insurance, further protecting themselves in the event that partner data is compromised. See also: The New Cyber Insurance Paradigm   As SMBs are comparing different policies, here are a few tips:

• Commercial general liability (CGL) coverage is no longer enough, as it typically has insufficient cyber coverage.
• Business owners should look at the policy coverage with respect to data protection and privacy risks, both for third-party claims and first-party mitigation costs. Cyber insurance policies vary quite a bit, with no real standard in the industry. Policies usually include some combination of first-party and third-party coverages. A business owner who is unsure about which is more important should consult with a cyber insurance expert.
• Coverage needs to provide protection for cyber extortion threats and other breach-related liabilities, including regulatory penalties, GDPR and merchant services agreements.
• Renewing coverage during the contract period is critical, as most cyber coverage is written as “claims made” coverage and will only cover claims during the policy period.
• Proper preventative measures should be embedded in operations for every company, with cyber insurance as the backup. The measures should cover how sensitive data is handled, encryption, password management and controlling access to information. Some policies will have resources for the business owners to help manage this process, something to consider when speaking with a cyber insurance expert.
• Both parties should consider documenting specific preventative measures in a contract. This ensures that everyone is in alignment and understands the expectations for risk avoidance.
• Often, certificates of insurance are all that is required as documentation in the contract. Consider including a full copy of your cyber insurance policy with the contract to prevent misunderstandings should a breach occur.

The good news for SMBs is that cyber insurance policies have become more affordable. In April 2017, the average monthly premium cost for a $1 million cyber insurance policy was $270. By June 2018, the cost had dropped to $77. See also: New Approach to Cyber Insurance   As with most business operations, owners should always consult with their insurance representative when selecting cyber insurance. With any new policy, business owners should take the time to understand exactly what is covered under their insurance, how to manage their business operations to mitigate any security risks and what steps to take in the event of a breach.

As much promise as artificial intelligence is showing in insurance, many forms of it present a formidable challenge related to "back-traceability." In English, that means the AI is a black box.

If it makes a mistake, you can't trace the error back to its origin because the AI doesn't think like we do. It doesn't go from A to B to C and end up at Z, 23 steps later. It takes a massive amount of data, processes it in some mysterious way—from A to X to M-prime to...?—and spits out an answer. Take it or leave it.

Generally, we'll take the answer, because the AI is either more accurate than human analysis or can be trained to be more accurate by providing an influx or new data. Sometimes, though, it would be great to be able to follow the logic and fix a specific misperception, such as in some of the complex situations that are presenting themselves with driverless cars. But sorry. That's not how so-called deep learning and much of machine learning works. 

Insurers actually face a deeper problem than all but a few other industries: Even when an answer is right, it can be wrong. 

The reason: An AI could well make an accurate prediction of risk but could, without anyone intending or even knowing, be drawing on some inference about gender or race or some other attribute that, by law, can't be used in underwriting. Woe to that AI and the company using it.

As we think about how insurers use data, we split the process into four stages—collecting, organizing, analyzing and applying—and the first two stages should be safe from any unintended bias. AI can help collect lots of new information and can organize it in much more flexible ways; rather than have, say, all the information related to annuities be held in a silo just for that line of business, the information could be used to inform other businesses and combined with other data in ways that could allow for new insights into customers or products and services.

But there needs to be a double-check on uses for analysis and for application, to make sure that right answers aren't somehow wrong from a regulatory standpoint. The exact form of that double-checking will vary by jurisdiction but basically means some sort of statistical doublecheck to make sure bias isn't creeping into the decisions. 

In the black box age created by AI, it's not enough to be right. You also have to be right. 

Good luck.

Paul Carroll
Editor-in-Chief