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The Real Highlights From the Super Bowl

While lots of commentators are dissecting the plays and the players, here is what really mattered in the Super Bowl broadcast.

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football play book

For me, the highlight of the Super Bowl is that the San Francisco 49ers are still at five Lombardi trophies, one behind the record held by my Pittsburgh Steelers and some team based in Boston. 

But there were highlights, too, for those of you who aren't yinzers. So I'll run through a few and explain how they relate to insurance — starting with the total absence of cryptocurrency ads.

Weren't we being assured for years that the entire economy was about to be rewired around decentralized digital currencies? What ever happened to that notion? What does the crypto crash tell us about other ideas that might be fads (beyond that we shouldn't just take Matt Damon's word for it when he tells us that "fortune favors the brave")?  

I'll be rather quicker than normal because I'm headed to the airport and to México City to help my older daughter celebrate her 30th birthday. She was born there but has no recollection of the city because she wasn't yet two years old when we moved back to the U.S. We're going to wander around and acquaint her with the city of her birth.

On to the highlights. Mine aren't as jazzy as Chris Berman's, but I hope they're more helpful.

Fortune Favored the Cautious

Cryptocurrencies are still around, of course, and Bitcoin has more than doubled in price since languishing in the doldrums in the second half of 2022 and into 2023. But the total lack of Super Bowl ads (the "dog coin" that didn't bark?) shows how much more perspective we've gained on the prospects for the currencies and for spinoffs such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

Even if crypto eventually becomes the core of our financial system (and I'm a skeptic), it faces the sort of chicken-and-egg problem that slowed the rollout of high-definition television. I saw demos of HD TV decades ago, but the same old analog signals were driving them, so there was almost no difference in the resolution I saw on the fancy new screens. Nobody was going to spend thousands of dollars on an HD TV just to get the same reception they always had. It was only after most of the back end of the television world became digital that there was enough sharp, new video to justify the switch.

So there's no need to figure out how to take payments in digital currencies, no need to rush out a host of new coverages, etc.

The lack of crypto ads also got me thinking about how we can all distinguish fads from real business trends. In addition to crypto, I've been skeptical about the metaverse (here, in 2021) and virtual reality (including Apple's new Vision Pro), while touting generative AI (including in this piece last spring), and I feel quite comfortable with all those predictions. Why? The rule of thumb for breakthrough innovation is that it needs to be 10X the status quo — not 10% better, 10 times as good.   

Crypto doesn't even work nearly as well now as our banking system does. Turning myself into an avatar without legs in Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse feels like a distinct loss to me, too. At least with the Vision Pro, I can see gamers loving it, but I'm simply not going to strap a 1 1/2-pound weight to my face to go online, not when my laptop, phone and iPad all do nicely. Generative AI, by contrast, has all sort of immediate applications to help, for instance, gather documents for underwriters and claims that pass the 10X test for parts of the work. 

While Matt Damon comes across as a good guy, fortune only favors the brave when they're headed in the right direction. In the case of crypto, fortune favored the cautious, as it does with all fads.

Social Media Is Forever

Troy Aikman got snippy back in September 2019 when someone noted on Twitter (now X) that "Patrick Mahomes has thrown 36% of Troy Aikman's career touchdowns, in about 8% of the games."

Aikman, who won three Super Bowls in the 1990s as the quarterback of the Cowboys, replied: "Talk to me when he has 33% of my Super Bowl titles."

Well, Mahomes and the Chiefs won the Super Bowl after the 2019 season and have now won the last two, as well, so Twitter dredged up the old exchange and made sure Aikman knows that "Patrick Mahomes would go on to win 100% of Troy Aikman's Super Bowl titles before turning 29 years old." 

I think we just about all have gotten the message by now to be careful on social media, but reminders never hurt. Right, Troy?

On the Other Hand...

...Social media can be your friend, if you use it right. Yes, lots of social media is toxic these days, but people still respond to clever posts, and they can be used to help, say, an agency build a persona. 

One of my favorite examples is Merriam-Webster, which decided it didn't need to be dry. It drops little pearls of cleverness into my feed from time to time, including this one, based on a snippet showing Taylor Swift and two friends hooping and hollering in reaction to a big play by the Chiefs. The droll caption reads, "When you spell ‘restaurant,’ ‘definitely,’ and ‘accommodate’ correctly in the same sentence." (Warning: If you read lips at all, you'll see Blake Lively scream a word that starts with "f.")

Trey Wingo, a sports broadcaster, does personal branding with clever tweets like this one, mocking the conspiracy theories about how Taylor Swift's dating Travis Kelce is somehow part of an elaborate plot to win reelection for President Biden while also taking a shot at the bloviators who claimed earlier in the season that she was distracting the Chiefs and costing them games. He puts her face on a famous photo of longtime Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson smoking wearily during halftime of the first Super Bowl. The caption reads: "Taylor Swift after carrying the Chiefs all season to a Super Bowl victory."

Oh, okay, here's one more just because I like it. Someone posted this widely shared image of Kelce screaming at his coach, Andy Reid, and added the best caption I've yet seen: “We’re losing, coach! She’s gonna write a song about me! She’s gonna write a song about all of us!!!!!”

Close up image of Travis Kelce yelling in Andy Reid's face during the SuperBowl

For Heaven's Sake, Know the Rules

The overtime rules for the Super Bowl changed a couple of years ago — but some 49ers players say they didn't get the memo. They didn't know that both teams were guaranteed a possession until they heard the referee say so at the start of overtime.

I see no reason to think that the lack of knowledge affected the outcome. While some commentators say the new rules meant the 49ers shouldn't have decided to receive the kickoff in overtime when they won the coin toss, head coach Kyle Shanahan had gamed out all the possibilities ahead of time. Still, the lack of understanding is unforgiveable.

Communicating key messages is a pain for executives. They not only bore themselves with their repetition but are sure they're boring their audiences. But I've never heard a CEO say they communicated too much, and I've heard a lot wish they had hammered their messages home more. 

Simplicity Sells

While Tony Romo got so involved in explaining the new overtime rules that he talked over the winning touchdown, here is Dora the Explorer explaining a false start. There's a reason the Nickelodeon broadcast was so well-received — and, as I've been saying for years, I think the insurance industry's language could use a hefty dose of simplification.

A Bonus Highlight, From My Steelers

Yes, I know my team hasn't even been to a Super Bowl since 2011 and last won one in 2009, but the culture that pervaded the 49ers during the Bill Walsh days and that seems to be back reminds me of the importance of culture to all organizations — and great culture reminds me of the Steelers.

Steeler culture is often traced back to Art Rooney, the founding owner, and there's some truth to that. "The Chief," as he was known, instilled some kindness into what can be a brutal business. For instance, when Rocky Bleier came back from Vietnam with a right foot mangled by a grenade, Rooney told him to just worry about healing for a couple of years. The team would take care of him. Bleier, of course, more than repaid the kindness in four Super Bowl wins, including catching a game-winning pass in one. 

Steeler culture is also about steadfastness concerning its leaders. They have had only three head coaches in 55 years, and the current coach, Mike Tomlin, who has never had a losing record in 17 seasons, is only 51 years old. I'd say that steadiness is a piece of the culture, too.

But for me, the culture really took root the day Joe Greene showed up in camp, having been taken with the fourth pick in the first round of the 1969 draft. He was not only spectacularly gifted but competed so ferociously against the Steelers offensive linemen that the veterans told him to take it easy, to save his energy. They'd line up for the next play in practice, and Greene would blow up the whole line once again.

Eventually, the offensive linemen got the idea and started working much harder in practice, too, if only out of the need for self-preservation. Then the defense started filling in around Greene — Jack Lambert, Mel Blount, Jack Ham, Donnie Shell, LC Greenwood... all playing with the same sort of talent and intensity. The offense took longer but finally developed in the same mold, with Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Mike Webster and more.

Culture matters so much to businesses, and the Steelers have always been my model for how to get a culture right. The 49ers are probably a great model, too, though I'm far less familiar with them — and am in no hurry to have them win their sixth Super Bowl.

So much for being brief. Oh, well. Vamos a México.

Paul 

A New Focus for Cyber Criminals

The new battlefront is hackers exploiting human vulnerabilities, not systems or software. Coverage needs to adapt. 

Padlock on rusty chain

KEY TAKEAWAY:

--Fortunately, an early-detection tool that blocks people from accessing suspicious links and sites in the first place has been in use for 15 years in the corporate world and only needs adaptation for a broader market. This risk-mitigation tool creates a security perimeter around people’s digital lives by overriding their browser settings on every device, cutting off the supply of data at its source and overwhelmingly reducing the likelihood of acquiring malware. 

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At first glance, it makes sense that the proliferation of digital devices used by the average person would make consumers more vulnerable to cybercrime. However, the reason is not straightforward. It is because our smartphones, tablets and laptops have actually become more secure that fraudsters and hackers have switched their point of attack: As vulnerabilities have become more human-centered, they are no longer hacking software — they are hacking people.

Over the last 18 months, the dynamic of this cyber threat has shifted so fast that insurers have been unable to change their policy language to keep pace. 

Our analysis shows the most prevalent claim type is social-engineering fraud, where threat actors use an onslaught of sophisticated digital scams to trick users into clicking the wrong link and sharing too much information, so hackers can defraud them of large sums of money. Social engineering is now, by far, our number-one issue. Cybersecurity firm PurpleSec estimates that 98% of cyber attacks leverage social engineering. The most common type is phishing, in which attackers dupe recipients into handing over login credentials through emails purporting to be from a trusted source that lead recipients to fake websites. 

Phishing email volumes surged a shocking 569% from 2021 to 2022, and of the 77,000 URLs created daily, 86% are fraudulent. Many people are looking to insurers for protection, but the identity-restoration coverage companies have historically offered is no longer enough. While insurers know their potential customers worry about sharing information, they are uniquely positioned to help those customers feel more secure online.

The Evolving Threat Landscape

Ransomware had been the leading claim in cyber insurance until about 2022. However, holding business data hostage and extracting payment is a much messier process for threat actors than tracking people across the internet and then impersonating legitimate websites. These social-engineering scams offer an easier access point to consumers’ personal information due to the many digital devices people now use and the growth of remote work, accelerated by the pandemic.  

Today’s threat environment is an arms race as threat actors create new fake sites every day to keep ahead of security measures. With so many people now working in online workplaces, both individuals and their employers are being exposed. This mingling of risks happens when threat actors manipulate the individual on the personal side of their digital presence to gain access to their business credentials and vice versa. 

Insurance carriers, in general, have been slow to respond to the shift toward targeting individuals, yet in one of our recent consumer surveys, most people assumed it would be their insurer — not their bank or financial provider — that would protect them from this type of fraud. That is why the new wave of social-engineering attacks represents an urgent call to upgrade coverage to protect both the consumer’s physical assets and their digital presence. 

Bringing Insurance Up to Speed

Originally, large companies used several layers of security to protect their businesses and employees against cyber-attacks. By contrast, consumers and small businesses have been an underserved market for cyber insurance and typically left to fend for themselves after falling victim to a cyber-attack or digital scam. 

Nearly every U.S. personal lines insurance company covers ID theft, but the next generation of coverage needs to include personal cyber to respond to social engineering scams, ransomware, cyber bullying and other cyber risks. Younger people are especially worried about cyber attacks, with 35% of Gen Z respondents having experienced cybercrime within the last six months, so the right coverage will have relevance to the market.

Over the last few years, early mover insurers have begun offering personal and small commercial cyber insurance, but these rarely include tools that protect against persistent cyber threats. While insurers are more likely to bind and retain business if they have a more comprehensive offering, their cyber coverage will be incomplete if it does not offer a first line of defense against top cyber risks like social-engineering scams. 

Prevention Is Better Than Managing Breaches

Threat actors tend to take advantage of people over time, where they gradually misuse personal information to avoid drawing immediate suspicion. But like a balloon slowly inflating, the problem just gets bigger and bigger. If our defense is to triage breaches in real time, we will always be left behind. 

Fortunately, an early-detection tool that blocks people from accessing suspicious links and sites in the first place has been in use for 15 years in the corporate world and only needs adaptation for a broader market. This risk-mitigation tool creates a security perimeter around people’s digital lives by overriding their browser settings on every device, cutting off the supply of data at its source and overwhelmingly reducing the likelihood of acquiring malware. 

We have not seen this type of solution used before in the context of cyber insurance or prevention, but its time has come. Our advice to insurers is to find providers offering this tool and make it part of their cyber-risk coverage. It will not only safeguard customer information but improve profitability over time by reducing cyber claim costs and making insurers relevant at a time of shifting threats and shifting demographics.

Risk Aggregation and a Total Solution

The biggest fear of insurers is dozens or even thousands of policyholders making claims after a mass event, like a hurricane coming up the coast. That concentration of risk is just as relevant in the world of cyber threats, where a data breach can implicate scores of consumers. The issue for insurers is that cyber risk is so amorphous that it is hard to quantify or qualify.

In this context, having a preventative tool that can evolve with the threat can give insurers the confidence to create a broader solution around cyber — one that helps customers feel secure no matter how many devices they have and without their ever having to deal with the scare tactics used by all those faceless threat actors.

Modernizing Commercial Auto Insurance

Advanced data analytics and machine learning can bring insurers back into profitability after years of posting losses.

Long exposure of car lights on a road

KEY TAKEAWAY:

--We are seeing a transition away from a reliance on underwriters to data science and algorithmic rating-driven approaches. For many insurers assessing less complex and more commonplace risks, the underwriter now has less discretion to change the price and less leverage to adjust the policy. In many cases, insurers have implemented “no touch” pricing and underwriting, eliminating underwriter involvement completely.

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When fewer cars were on the road during the pandemic, U.S. commercial auto insurers enjoyed a respite from years of struggling with profitability. However, it turned out to be only a one-time shot in the arm for underwriters who maintained premium levels while enjoying a transitory reduction in loss exposure. As soon as driving patterns normalized post-pandemic, auto insurers began losing money again. After almost breaking even in 2021, the sector recorded underwriting losses of $3.3 billion in 2022.

Commercial insurance is lagging the personal lines insurance market in its digital transformation, which could help combat headwinds of “social” and economic inflation while dealing with the residual effects of supply chain disruptions that occurred in 2021 and 2022.

The commercial auto insurance segment has posted a combined ratio above 100% in 11 of the last 12 years — and some insurers are exiting the industry altogether. Yet, the market leaders that have pursued pricing automation and upgraded their segmentation capabilities continue to be profitable.

We need to broaden the conversation about modernizing rate plans to ensure the whole segment can move into profitability and benefit from these gains.

In an uncertain global economic environment, adopting next-generation data tools necessary to incorporate disciplined pricing, to achieve rate adequacy and to perform targeted underwriting can help future-proof policies and businesses against runaway loss trends. 

See also: Could Auto Accidents Be Reduced by More Than Half?

Becoming Responsive, Not Reactive

The insurance industry, particularly commercial insurance, made up for lost time in 2023 and is rapidly automating. We are seeing a transition away from a reliance on underwriters to data science and algorithmic rating-driven approaches. For many insurers assessing less complex and more commonplace risks, the underwriter now has less discretion to change the price and less leverage to adjust the policy. In many cases, insurers have implemented “no touch” pricing and underwriting, eliminating underwriter involvement completely.

In the long run, using more data science-based versus manual pricing approaches will improve rating accuracy, make businesses more efficient and increase objectivity. 

Traditionally, insurance actuaries and product line owners make an educated guess of where they think inflation and loss trends are headed, build those assumptions into their rating and tell regulators how much premium they need. However, the limitations of this approach were exposed when insurance was disproportionately affected by the spike in inflation in the last few years. 

Inflation rose as high as 20% on a year-over-year basis for replacement equipment and parts, while the realized cost of replacing a totaled vehicle exceeded what insurers’ rate plans had built into their policies. This coincided with a supply chain choke point where new vehicles and replacement parts were not available due to a shortage of semiconductors, equipment and other parts. With obtaining approvals for rate increases from regulatory authorities taking 12 to 18 months, auto insurers couldn’t react fast enough — and so they accumulated losses faster, with commercial lines hit especially hard. 

The Digitization of Insurance

Historically, the task of evaluating most risks fell to commercial insurance underwriters because of constraints in the availability of scalable data for use at rating, as well as limitations in legacy systems’ abilities to process complex data. But now, automating underwriting through robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence and machine learning is helping insurers expand the breadth of available data, gain new insights from existing data and increase their level of rating sophistication. 

To determine the pricing of a commercial auto policy, a data-driven approach assesses and weighs various exposures, allowing for a more granular evaluation of risk. This approach includes the assessment of drivers’ and vehicles’ records and behavior, as well as predictive factors such as proprietors’ and drivers’ financial management. Automated processes also play a crucial role in gathering all relevant data about businesses’ risk profiles.

Synthesizing these damage-coverage data points helps fuel the ability of insurers to automate reading and better select risk. However, when it comes to liability coverage, additional factors come into play, contributing to serious challenges in the industry. Yet, once again, a data-led approach can prove invaluable in mitigating the risks associated with social inflation.

Mitigating Social Inflation

Social inflation can be defined as the increase in liability costs as a result of paid and pending legal settlements above and beyond what can be expected due to normal inflation. U.S. commercial auto insurance liability claim payouts blew out by an estimated $30 billion between 2012 and 2021 due in part to social inflation. The Insurance Information Institute found that two of the biggest factors behind the dramatic rise were legal system abuse and third-party litigation where financiers such as hedge funds support injured parties to sue for much larger payouts. 

Attributed in part to America’s litigious culture, this development marks a big departure from when the insurance company would offer the injured party a figure and they would generally accept. Further complicating risk, the commercial driver labor market has grown since the pandemic, and younger drivers have been increasingly responsible for a rise in moving violations and accident rates. That is why a full evaluation of drivers’ contribution to risk becomes critical to more accurately rate and underwrite policies. Modernizing the rate plan leverages data to better assess liability exposure.

See also: Telematics Updates Are Transforming Auto 

Join the Data-Led Transformation

The headwinds facing the industry are admittedly highly problematic, but the market leaders are making money year in and year out because they have invested in the appropriate products and solutions. By contrast, many companies find themselves struggling to post combined ratios below 100% as a result of adverse selection from competitors. Yet, the automation tools to level the playing field by modernizing underwriting and pricing capabilities are available now. Small and medium-sized commercial auto insurers can future-proof their business by embracing this opportunity for digital transformation. 

Top 10 Challenges for Data Security

There is one common thread: Organizations must understand where data is located, the context of the data and if it is at risk.

Photo of a computer screen with green and blue text

In the wake of widespread cloud adoption, organizations are grappling with massive data volumes and the consequent complexity of safeguarding this data. Data protection is a significant challenge, as more information is processed and stored in more locations than ever before.

For organizations, operationalizing data security is no longer a simple IT task and can't be solved with one tool or solution. It's a strategic imperative that affects every level of an organization. From diverse data sources and evolving threat landscapes to the nuances of compliance and the human element of security, the challenges are multifaceted.

While technology offers advanced tools and solutions to boost defenses, the key challenge lies in seamlessly integrating these tools into an organization's operations. Essentially, it's about striking a balance between robust security and operational efficiency -- and ensuring that protective measures enhance rather than hinder business processes. A holistic approach that encompasses technology, processes and people is crucial for success.

There are numerous operationalization challenges for organizations, but there is one common thread: Before overcoming these hurdles, organizations must understand where data is located, the context of the data and if it is at risk. Let's explore the top 10 operationalization challenges for organizations and how they can be addressed.

1. Resource Constraints

Implementing robust security measures often requires a large financial investment, as well as dedicated time and expertise. Hiring skilled cybersecurity personnel is expensive, assuming you can even find the right personnel, and continuous training is essential. The deployment of advanced security tools and infrastructure places an additional strain on an organization's budget.

Data protection solutions with a streamlined implementation process eliminate the need for extensive resources. Agentless solutions based on application programming interfaces (APIs) are easy to deploy and can deliver value in days, without any upfront work required. As an example, today's managed data security posture management (DSPM) security solutions enable any size organization to streamline cybersecurity operations and significantly reduce the burden on in-house IT teams.

See also: The Latest Trends in Cybersecurity

2. Diverse Data Sources

Data is everywhere, and organizations use a plethora of platforms and services -- from cloud storage solutions like Gdrive and Box, to communication tools like Slack, and collaboration platforms like SharePoint. Even more concerning is that sensitive data is no longer just structured. At least 80% of an organization's data is unstructured, meaning it's embedded in millions of financial reports, corporate strategies documents, source code files and contracts created by CFOs, general managers, engineers, lawyers and others.

To address this challenge, today's DSPM solutions are designed to control information flows between departments and third parties, ensuring that data at risk is identified and sensitive data remains protected -- regardless of its location.

3. Data Classification

Data classification is the foundation upon which many security measures are built. By categorizing data based on its sensitivity and importance, organizations can apply appropriate protection measures. But the sheer volume of data generated and stored today makes manual classification a herculean, if not impossible, task, and continuously updating classification criteria in response to an evolving data landscape is crucial.

Best-of-breed AI-based classification solutions leverage sophisticated machine learning technologies to autonomously scan and categorize documents. With the latest AI models for fast and accurate data discovery and categorization, organizations can eliminate the need for manual classification, which has proven to be both inaccurate and inefficient.

4. Access Governance

Some data is public, some is confidential and some is strictly on a need-to-know basis. Managing who has access to what data is a cornerstone of data security and requires the definition of access permissions and continuously reviewing and updating them. Ensuring that permissions are always up-to-date and adhere to the principle of least privilege -- where individuals have only the access they need and nothing more -- is a continuous challenge, especially in large, dynamic organizations.

Data access governance (DAG) establishes and enforces policies governing data access and usage, and plays a key role in ensuring that only authorized individuals can access sensitive information. This process is enhanced by a deep contextual understanding of both structured and unstructured data, which helps in keeping access permissions current and aligned with the principle of least privilege. DAG solutions enable organizations to comply with access and activity regulations, demonstrate control to auditors and adopt zero-trust access practices.

5. Rapid Remediation

Rapid remediation is crucial to minimizing damage and protecting sensitive data when a security risk or breach is identified. Remediation actions include revoking access permissions, isolating affected systems or notifying affected parties. But rapid remediation requires swift action, clear protocols and a well-coordinated response team. Organizations must have these protocols in place, understand what data is at risk and ensure that all stakeholders know their roles and responsibilities in the event of a security incident.

Advanced data security platforms are designed to discover and remediate risks efficiently. These solutions can pinpoint data at risk due to inappropriate classification, permissions, entitlements and sharing. According to Concentric AI's Data Risk Report, each organization had 802,000 data files at-risk due to oversharing. Autonomous remediation capabilities in these platforms ensure that access issues are quickly addressed.

6. Compliance and Regulations

Different industries operate under various regulatory frameworks, each with different sets of data protection and privacy mandates. Operationalizing data security in this context means not only protecting data but also ensuring that protection measures align with legal and regulatory requirements.

Data security solutions that assist organizations in meeting regulatory and security mandates, demonstrating control to auditors and implementing zero-trust access are important in addressing this challenge. By detecting and remedying risks, these solutions help businesses comply with various privacy regulations, including managing right-to-know, right-to-be-forgotten and breach notification requests.

7. Constantly Evolving Threat Landscape

Today, as soon as organizations bolster their defenses, malicious actors evolve their tactics. Ransomware attacks, phishing schemes and advanced persistent threats require businesses to try to stay a step ahead. Continuous monitoring, updates and adaptations are crucial to counteract new and emerging threats

Modern data security approaches go beyond static rules or predefined policies. Innovative analysis methods continuously compare data against its peers to identify anomalies and potential risks. This stance ensures that as data changes, its protection mechanisms evolve accordingly. AI models that leverage continuous monitoring and can learn from the data landscape help organizations address new risks as they emerge.

See also: Data Breaches' Impact on Consumers

8. Complexity and Scope

Data security is a multifaceted domain that encompasses a myriad of components, from network security and access controls to encryption and authentication. Different data types, whether it's financial records, personal information or proprietary research, have unique security requirements. Coordinating these diverse components and tailoring security measures to different data types add layers of complexity to the operationalization process.

Using advanced machine learning technologies, today's data security solutions autonomously scan and categorize data, adapting to its growing complexity and scope. They ensure protection for all data types and locations. Comprehensive analysis provides a complete view of data, ensuring protection for both structured and unstructured data, whether stored in the cloud or on-premises.

9. Monitoring and Auditing

Continuous monitoring is essential for keeping a vigilant eye on systems, data access patterns and user behaviors to detect anomalies or potential breaches. Regular audits are crucial to assess the effectiveness of security measures and identify areas for improvement. Conducting these audits, analyzing the results and implementing changes based on findings demand significant time and expertise.

Modern data security tools offer accurate data classification without manual rules or policies. These tools quickly identify any discrepancies or risks in data classification.

10. Integration With Existing Systems

Most organizations have a myriad of existing systems, tools and software in place. When a new data security solution is introduced, it's crucial that the solution integrates seamlessly with existing infrastructure. Disruptions, compatibility issues or data silos can undermine the effectiveness of security measures and create vulnerabilities.

Today's data security solutions are designed to integrate smoothly with established frameworks, such as those for data classification and management. This integration ensures that data classification is in line with existing security protocols, boosting the overall data protection strategy.

While data challenges abound, technology approaches exist that can help organizations down the operationalizing data security path. DSPM enables organizations to gain a clear view of their sensitive data: where it is, who has access to it and how it has been used. Best-of-breed DSPM solutions can autonomously discover, categorize and remediate data -- whether it's structured or unstructured and stored in the cloud or on-premises.

Robust DSPM solutions develop a semantic understanding of data and provide a thematic category-oriented view into all sensitive data. By investing in proper data management practices and leveraging the right tools and expertise, companies can go a long way toward operationalizing their data security. By doing so, they can help accomplish the key goals around securing private data, making more informed decisions about data and threats, protecting private data and mitigating risks.


Karthik Krishnan

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Karthik Krishnan

Karthik Krishnan is founder and CEO at Concentric.

Prior to Concentric, he was VP, security products at Aruba/HPE. He was VP, products at Niara, a security analytics company.

He has a bachelors in engineering from Indian Institute of Technology and an MBA with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management, where he was an F.C. Austin scholar.

New Workers' Comp Laws for 2024

State legislative changes include a range of considerations, from COVID-19 to offering greater support for mental health issues.

Three Woman Sitting on White Chair at a Table

Over the past few years, workers' compensation benefits have been undergoing significant changes brought on by technological advancements, societal shifts and the constantly changing economic and socio-cultural landscapes of the workforce. As we head into 2024, a variety of new laws have been put in place to reshape various aspects of workers' compensation—influencing the rights and protections afforded to employees in the face of work-related injuries or illnesses. 

These legislative changes include a range of considerations, from addressing the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to offering greater support for mental health issues. Below are just a few examples of new legislation made by various states to expand and enhance workers’ rights and the compensation they receive.  

New York

Legislation to Raise Workers’ Compensation Minimum Benefit: Effective Jan. 1, 2024, New York State has increased the minimum weekly benefit rate for workers’ compensation benefits to $275 from $150. If an injured worker’s regular wages are less than the minimum weekly benefit ($275), they will receive their full, regular wages.

The new legislation, signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul, also raises the minimum weekly workers’ compensation benefit to $325 starting Jan. 1, 2025.

Legislation to Strengthen Workers’ Rights: Legislation (S. 2518/A. 836) prohibits employers from requesting or requiring usernames, login information and passwords of personal accounts as a condition of hiring, as a condition of employment or for use in a disciplinary action.

See also: How to Enhance Workers' Comp Outcomes

Oregon

Oregon Senate Bill 907 (Discrimination/Retaliation/Workplace Safety): Effective Jan. 1, 2024, this law bars employers from retaliating or discriminating against employees who refuse to do work that would expose them to serious injury or death arising from a hazardous condition, provided the employee acted “in good faith and with no reasonable alternative.”

Oregon House Bill 3307 (Discrimination & Harassment). Effective Jan. 1, 2024, this law extends civil rights, discrimination and harassment workplace protections to participants in registered apprenticeship programs and certain private-sector on-the-job training programs. 

Illinois

Paid Leave for All Workers Act: Effective Jan. 1, 2024, covered employers under the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLAWA) must provide employees with up to 40 hours of paid leave during a 12-month period. The law applies to all private-sector employers, regardless of size, but exempts seasonal workers, as well as college students working temporary jobs for their universities.  

HB 3733: Effective Jan. 1, 2024, HB 3733 amends the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, Illinois Equal Pay Act, Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, Illinois Child Labor Law and Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act by requiring employers with employees who do not regularly report to a physical workplace to distribute the mandatory notices under these laws by either email or posting the materials on the employer’s web or intranet site. 

Connecticut

Expansion of PTSD Benefits Under Workers’ Compensation Act: Effective Jan. 1, 2024, Connecticut significantly expanded the circumstances under which employees can receive workers’ compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress injuries suffered while working. The Workers’ Compensation Act now specifically defines the following traumatic events as qualifying events triggering eligibility for benefits for all employees who:

  • See the death of an individual or an accident involving their death 
  • Witness someone’s injury who dies prior to hospital admission as a result of that injury
  • Attend to an injured person who dies before hospital admission 
  • Witness an injury that results in permanent disfigurement of the victim
  • Witness the death of a minor

Under previous legislation, these benefits were available only to firefighters, police officers, parole officers and corrections officers. The new legislation drastically expands the definition of an “employee” to allow benefits to all employees.

See also: Case Study on Using AI in Workers' Comp

Pennsylvania

Workers’ Compensation Maximum Rate for 2024 Announced: Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry determined that the maximum compensation payable under the Workers Compensation Act shall be $1,325 per week for injuries and illness occurring on and after Jan. 1, 2024. For purposes of calculating the updated payments for medical treatment rendered on and after the Jan. 1 of this year, the percentage increase in the statewide average weekly wage is 4.0%.

California

SB 740 – Hazardous Materials Management, Stationary Sources and Skilled and Trained Workforce (Effective Jan. 1, 2024). When contracting for the performance of construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair or maintenance work at a stationary source that is engaged in petroleum-related activities, an owner or operator of the stationary source must require that its contractors and subcontractors use a skilled and trained workforce to perform all onsite work.

AB 521 – Toilet Facilities at Construction Jobsites (Effective Jan. 1, 2024). This law requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) to draft a rulemaking proposal to consider revising a regulation on construction jobsite toilet facilities to require at least one single-user toilet facility on all construction jobsites designated for employees who self-identify as female or nonbinary. 

SB 700 – Cannabis Use (Effective Jan. 1, 2024).Existing law makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a candidate or employee because of the person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace unless an exception applied, such as testing for only psychoactive cannabis metabolites (as opposed to non-psychoactive), federal law permitting testing for controlled substances and jobs requiring federal government background investigation or security clearance.  

Staying informed about changes to workers' compensation laws is important for both employers and employees. With many new regulations put in place in 2024, injured, sick, discriminated-against and harassed workers will find themselves better protected with greater rights and access to higher-quality care. Understanding the protections that these legislative changes bring will make it easier for workers to receive the benefits they are entitled to. 


Slawomir Platta

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Slawomir Platta

Slawomir Platta is a founding partner at the Platta Law Firm

He earned his degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He’s been trying workplace accident cases throughout the courts of New York for 20 years and has been featured as a Super Lawyer consecutively since 2015.

 

Challenges Facing Tesla Insurance

Despite the impressive technology at Tesla's disposal, the road ahead for its insurance operation is fraught with difficulty.

White Tesla Driving on the Road

In the ever-evolving landscape of the automotive industry, Tesla has carved out a unique niche not only as an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer but also as a disruptive force in areas such as autonomous driving and energy solutions. With their sights set on revolutionizing the insurance industry, Tesla Insurance aims to leverage their technological prowess to offer innovative and personalized coverage. However, despite the impressive technology at their disposal, the road ahead for Tesla Insurance is fraught with challenges.

1. Data Privacy Concerns

One of the cornerstones of Tesla's insurance strategy is the use of vast amounts of data collected from their vehicles. While this data can provide valuable insights for personalized risk assessment, it raises significant concerns about privacy. Customers may hesitate to share detailed driving habits and personal information, especially in an era where data breaches and privacy violations are at the forefront of public consciousness.

See also: Automakers Build New Insurance Future

2. Regulatory Hurdles

The insurance industry is heavily regulated, and each region has its own set of rules and requirements. Tesla Insurance must navigate complex regulatory landscapes, obtaining approvals and complying with diverse legal frameworks across different jurisdictions. Overcoming these regulatory hurdles demands a significant investment of time and resources, potentially slowing Tesla's ambitious plans.

3. Established Competition

Despite Tesla's success in disrupting various industries, the insurance sector is already populated by well-established players with decades, if not centuries, of experience. Convincing customers to switch from their current insurers to a relatively new entrant like Tesla Insurance may prove challenging. Building trust in an industry where reputation is paramount requires not just technological innovation but a nuanced understanding of customer relationships and industry dynamics.

4. Actuarial Challenges

The success of any insurance venture relies heavily on accurate risk assessment. While Tesla's vehicles are equipped with cutting-edge sensors and cameras, developing actuarial models that accurately predict and price risks associated with EVs and autonomous driving technology is no easy feat. Insufficient actuarial precision could result in financial losses for Tesla Insurance and dissatisfaction among policyholders.

5. Economic Sensitivity

The insurance industry is highly sensitive to economic fluctuations. During economic downturns, consumer spending on non-essential services, such as insurance, tends to decrease. As Tesla Insurance seeks to establish itself, economic headwinds could pose a significant challenge, affecting their ability to attract and retain customers.

See also: Maybe OEMs Aren't Such a Threat to Auto Insurers

6. Repair and Replacement Costs

Tesla's vehicles are renowned for their advanced technology, but this sophistication comes at a cost. Repair and replacement costs for Tesla vehicles can be substantially higher than those for traditional vehicles. This could translate to higher claim payouts for Tesla Insurance, potentially affecting the company's profitability and pricing competitiveness.

7. Scalability Issues

Tesla Insurance's success will hinge on its ability to scale rapidly. As the customer base grows, so will the demand for efficient claims processing, customer support and risk management. Ensuring scalability without compromising service quality is a significant challenge, and failure to address it could result in customer dissatisfaction and reputational damage.

Conclusion

Tesla Insurance possesses a technological arsenal that sets it apart, but the road to success in the insurance industry is laden with obstacles. Overcoming data privacy concerns, navigating complex regulatory landscapes, competing with established players, addressing actuarial challenges, weathering economic uncertainties, managing repair costs and achieving scalable growth are formidable tasks.

Tesla's journey into the insurance realm is undoubtedly ambitious, but success will require a strategic blend of technological innovation, regulatory acumen and a deep understanding of the intricacies of the insurance business. The journey may be challenging, but if Tesla can navigate these hurdles, the rewards could be transformative not only for the company but for the insurance industry as a whole.


Neeraj Kaushik

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Neeraj Kaushik

Neeraj Kaushik, principal consultant, is a product manager for the NGIN platform initiative at Infosys McCamish Systems

He is a published author and Top Insurtech voice on LinkedIn. Kaushik has driven large-scale technology projects based out of the U.S., U.K., India and China for the last 18-plus years. He has led strategic consulting and transformation initiatives across life, annuities and property & casualty.

He was previously part of Big 4 consulting firms such as PwC & Deloitte.

No, Don't Buy an Apple Vision Pro

While the "spatial computing" device has been hyped beyond belief, it's actually just another technology in search of a problem. 

Image
virtual reality

With generative AI, I've advised you to Think Big, Start Small and Learn Fast -- my mantra of going on three decades for how to approach breakthrough innovations. But don't bother with the just-introduced Apple Vision Pro headset. There's no reason to even think about it at all for now. 

Despite the best efforts from hype-meister Apple, the virtual/augmented reality device won't have a significant impact for years, certainly not on business.

The device is a technology in search of a problem. Yes, the technology is wonderful -- the improvements in the display of images are spectacular, and the ability to call up apps in space is impressive, if a bit confusing. Apple will also make the Vision Pro seem a lot cooler than the ill-fated Google Glass heads-up display of a decade ago.

But there's simply no reason to strap a 1 1/2-pound device to your face (nearly the weight of a quart of milk) and put a three-quarter-pound battery in your back pocket so you can type with your two index fingers in mid-air while strangers or officemates gawk at you. Not when some combination of today's laptops, tablets and phones will do just fine.

One reviewer says the Vision Pro does have a killer app: It makes for a great kitchen timer.

But is that enough to get you to buy a slew of them at roughly $4,500 apiece, out the door, for your business? I suspect not.

Now, Apple reportedly sold 200,000 Vision Pros before they even became available to the general public. I'm skeptical of that number. A lot of things get rumored when a hype machine is in full gear. But even if the rumor is way high, there are an awful lot of fanboys and fangirls out there who are trying to stir up enthusiasm with videos like this one of someone with a Vision Pro strapped to his face while his Tesla Cybertruck drives in fully autonomous mode. 

Here's the thing: While I'm sure that video looks like the future to some people, to me it looks like a crash waiting to happen. 

The device just isn't practical. The ability to open apps in space seems to be a big draw, because it makes the whole world your desktop. But one reviewer described having to walk around his house, looking for a document much as many of us look for lost keys. And opening a few dozen tabs on a laptop, while sometimes cumbersome, works well enough that there's little justification for switching to a whole new technology.

Typing on the Vision Pro's virtual keyboard is so awkward that every reviewer I've read said they switched to a physical keyboard, which didn't mesh smoothly with the virtual environment and which pretty much defeats the point of going virtual, anyway.

The Vision Pro is reportedly great for displaying movies -- but I don't know how relaxing it would be to sit there for a couple of hours with the equivalent of a quart of milk strapped to my face. 

Much is made of the ability to pinch two fingers together and mark an object on your Vision Pro's screen for annotation of some kind. I suppose that could be useful in some work environments... but I can't immediately think of one. Certainly, that capability doesn't fit well with the sort of knowledge work that insurance companies do.

The capability does work well for kitchen timers. As this reviewer notes, you can pinch your fingers together on a whole series of pots and pans, on the stove or in the oven, and set a timer for each. Every time you look back at the stove, you can see in an instant where each dish or sauce stands. 

In turns out that kitchen timers have been the killer app for other, supposedly breakthrough technologies. The review cites a 2023 study finding that the timer is by far the most used app on an Apple Watch and another study saying the timer is an extremely popular feature on smartwatches, in general. Another study found that the timer was the most requested use of Amazon's Echo, even ahead of "play a song."

Kitchen timers obviously aren't what Apple is going for here, but how quickly can the technology improve?

Apple has fabulous engineers and all the money in the world. The market it's after is almost boundless, so it has every incentive to keep making the product better. 

But physics is an unforgiving opponent. While electronic components keep getting smaller and lighter, displays do not, at least not quickly. Nor do batteries -- and improvements in battery density for devices like the Vision Pro are going toward making them last longer rather than reducing their weight.

So I'd say we're looking at many years where the Vision Pro is just too clunky to justify spending on what is, at best, a marginal improvement in the computing experience.

There will still be a cool factor to the Vision Pro. There always seems to be with Apple these days. But not enough to justify a real business investment.

Cheers,

Paul

Opportunities for Multimodal Mobility Insurance

In theory, we're shifting away from insuring a person in a private car and are covering their mobility in all forms, but the situation is complicated. 

Beautiful sky

In theory, mobility is shifting toward shared use, to the detriment of the private car. In the age of multimodal mobility, insurance will mechanically follow: We no longer insure a person, but their mobility in all its forms, with a single insurance contract.

But in reality...

Desperately seeking multimodal products

Ideally, I'd like to be able to take up an annual policy that covers my personal vehicle, as well as third-party liability, personal injury insurance, legal protection and assistance when I rent a bike or scooter, and personal injury insurance when I use ride-hailing services.

Does such a contract exist? I did a little analysis (without claiming to be exhaustive), and here's what I found:

  • Insurance offers covering shared mobility: Ma Mobilité AXA, launched in 2016 by AXA in France, covers personal injury, legal protection and assistance, but this product is no longer listed. MyMobility by Allianz in Italy, launched in 2019, covers shared mobility for tourists visiting the country. But in both cases, these are temporary insurances, not targeted at year-round users.
  • Products dedicated to certain types of alternative mobility: Aon supports Flee in Italy, which covers (via usage-based insurance, or UBI) the rental of a vehicle coupled with a car-sharing service with pre-designated drivers. Moonshot Insurance offers insurance dedicated to green micro-mobility in Europe (e-scooters, e-bikes, kick-scooters, etc.).
  • Extended cover for renting (or sharing) vehicles is quite common with traditional insurers or car-sharing platforms.
  • Finally, there is Swinz, in Belgium, which offers home insurance, coupled with personal liability, assistance, legal protection and green mobility comprehensive cover. We are getting closer to the multimodal concept, even if the core of the product is actually home insurance, with ancillary cover.

In short, the dream scheme doesn't seem to excite insurers... or maybe I'm the one with the twisted fantasies... or maybe the subject is more complex than it seems.

See also: A New Approach to Embedded Insurance

For insurers, is multimodal mobility insurance even a topic?

In reality, the concept of multimodal insurance faces serious insurance pitfalls, due to the very nature of the risks exposed.

  • The switch from one type of mobility to another depends on volatile patterns, such as the prevalence of public transport in a given city or part of a conurbation, existing alternative forms of mobility, the impact of weather and daily or seasonal peaks on the preference for means of transport, moral hazard in the use of means of locomotion, etc. Under these conditions, it is difficult for actuaries to model risk.
  • The data linked to these different forms of mobility is distributed among different operators; they would have to be willing to share it, and insurers would have to be able to capture and analyze it. Not to mention the regulatory obstacles that the use of this personal data may pose.
  • As alternative forms of mobility are most often billed on a pay-per-use basis, insurers need to align their pricing methods. CapGemini published a study in 2023 indicating that only 29% of the insurers they surveyed felt able to develop products adapted to new mobilities, and just 16% had the talents to do so.

Next come the challenges posed by the business model for insurers

  • The development costs of unbridled multimodal insurance are disproportionate to the youth and size of the potential market. Hence the current vertical solutions, which only cover one segment of mobility.
  • The stability of the mobility offer can be an issue, as numerous examples show that shared mobility operators can disappear because they are unable to find their business model, when it's not the public authorities who change the rules of the game without warning. Insurers need a stable ecosystem in which to assess risk.
  • Obviously, the market for mobility insurance is largely covered by traditional products or by cover, embedded or not, in shared services. We are not in a situation where an obvious protection gap would lead to a flood of specific insurance offers.
  • Speaking of business models, we obviously have to reckon with users' willingness to pay for insurance, which brings us to the next point.

Is there a demand for multimodal insurance?

At the outset, potential customers are faced with the challenge of understanding the risk and its need for coverage.

  • I've done the test for myself: With ride-hailing services, where passenger injuries are covered by the driver's professional liability insurance; my shared bike subscription, where there is no personal injury or liability insurance included; and e-bike or e-scooter platforms, where insurance can be embedded, I need to put forth significant effort to understand what is and isn't covered.
  • Empirically, I think users of mobility services fall into three categories: those who don't even understand that insurance is an issue, those who ask and try to answer (and struggle to make up their minds) and the residual minority of dangerous perverts who will model everything in Excel.
  • And when this last category anticipates who to insure with, who to turn to in the event of a claim, depending on the different coverages and providers, I'm afraid the best intentions won't be enough.

And of course, there is the question of value for money.

  • For the general public, buying insurance is often associated with an obligation (e.g. motor third-party liability, or MTPL) or a tangible risk (e.g. theft or fire). For an occasional service, it's more difficult to be palpable. "I don't buy insurance to take the bus, so why should I buy it for other occasional transport?"
  • Secondly, you have to consider that the cost of this pay-as-you-go insurance is in addition to the insurance paid for by the year. If all insurances were charged per use, we could find an attractive pricing model for users, but that's not the case. Without incentive, it's hard to generate interest.

See also: Embedded Insurance and the Gig Economy

What's the trajectory for multimodal mobility insurance?

Clearly, this famous "mobility of the future," as the title suggests, is not yet here.

  • McKinsey has evaluated the revenues of global mobility to 2030, and its message is clear, even if the figures must be taken with a grain of salt: Ride-hailing mobility will drive future mobility revenue (from $120 billion in 2019 to $450 billion in 2030), while micro-mobility would be at $50 billion in 2030). While these projections are based on the rise of robo-taxis and robo-shuttles, micro-mobility remains a niche market.
  • With the digitization of cities, we're hearing more and more about multimodal mobility platforms (mobility-as-a-service). To date, however, this remains a little-implemented concept. Whatever assumptions are made about their development, public transport will remain the backbone of mobility. In this scenario, one question will guide future developments: Do public operators have the will to federate alternative forms of mobility and thus promote competition and its procession of despicable startups?
  • In fact, public operators that deploy digital platforms dedicated to mobility are opening up to third-party services to a greater or lesser extent and are facing stiff competition from technological players such as Uber and Citymapper.

In this context, the opportunity for insurers is not necessarily where we think it is.

  • CapGemini estimates that, by 2030, the individual car insurance market will only experience organic growth, whereas insurance for alternative forms of mobility (electric, connected, autonomous, shared) should increase eight-fold and reach 40% of the total volume.
  • This growth in insurable volume will be driven by coverage for fleets (including leasing contracts), product liability (autonomous vehicles), professional liability (ride-hailing services) and embedded insurance (micro-mobility, hailed mobility).

This brings us back to my initial observations on the state of the insurance offer for multimodal mobility.

  • B2C opportunities are likely to be fairly limited, essentially linked to micro-mobility.
  • It is with mobility-as-a-service platforms -- i.e., around a single orchestrator carrying embedded insurance -- that true insurance for multimodal mobility has the best chance of developing.
  • Before such platforms expand, an entry strategy would be to partner up with shared mobility operators, via embedded insurance, a subject already tackled by certain players, both traditional and insurtech.
  • When the multimodal mobility market really takes off, insurers that are already in the market will benefit from their experience, particularly in the use of data. Perhaps this will enable them to respond to some of the insurance challenges mentioned above. But when? All bets are off!

In my opinion, the prospects for multimodal mobility insurance show a complementary dynamic to the one I've already mentioned, which means that the distribution of car insurance will -- in time -- increasingly escape traditional distributors.


Bertrand Robert

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Bertrand Robert

Bertrand Robert is an independent consultant, senior adviser and board member for several insurtechs, with a focus on execution and operations.

With 30-plus years in the insurance industry, Robert served as first eBusiness VP for AXA France in the 2000s, paving the way for tied agents' "phygital" distribution. Then, as COO for Mercer France, he transformed health and disability digital claims delivery for about 1.5 million members.

Robert switched to the dark side of the insurtech force in 2016 as the first employee of health insurance French unicorn ALAN, leading operations for France, then Belgium and Spain. He recently served as COO scalability for Wakam, the Europe-leading carrier for embedded insurance.

Can AI Solve Underlying Data Problems?

Forward-thinking insurance agencies are ready to put AI to work, but for many, the data just isn’t up to the challenge.

An artist’s illustration of artificial intelligence (AI)

The adage, “garbage in, garbage out,” is as true today as it was 20 years ago.  As Thomas Redman writes in Harvard Business Review, “Poor data quality is enemy number one to the widespread, profitable use of machine learning.”

Just because you can teach computers to help normalize data does NOT mean they can do the cleanup from years of bad habits. Whether your team is supposed to be logging information in two systems but only does so in one, whether you want to connect two disparate systems or whether you need to simply make up for a lack of data, there is work to be done before AI can take over.  

Think of where you’ve seen AI in action, like the craze for images created by AI. Sometimes they turn out well, yet sometimes they are comically bad. And nothing is funny when you’re trusting AI to help grow your business. Missing out on key pieces of information could lead to disaster. 

AI generated photo with many odd features

When we trust AI to do the work: This is an AI-generated image of an insurance agent issuing a policy to a local business owner. 

How does this translate to insurance? 

Imagine you have one system that records all customer interactions from a marketing standpoint – interactions on social media, website engagement and email tracking. You have a different system that tells you how many times they logged into your self-service customer portal (and what they did there). And of course, the customer could also be interacting directly with their carrier without your knowledge, perhaps buying additional insurance or researching whether their current insurance is good enough for them. 

Your main system may also be disconnected from the system that logs the number of policy change requests, questions about their policy, requests for certificate of insurance or auto ID cards and even when claims are made.

Your marketing engine may paint certain customers or prospects as highly engaged customers likely to buy, when, in fact, the customers who are truly likely to buy are barely being touched from an education or upsell/cross-sell opportunity standpoint.

See also: The Risks of AI and Machine Learning

Why does this happen? 

For AI to be successful, you need a data set that is normalized and “taught” with certain objectives in place. And you must have ALL required data in the data set to test your hypothesis.

You must also recognize that “AI is inherently probabilistic,” as Forrester suggests in a recent article on Bridging the Trust Gap Between AI and Impact.  

Your marketing team may assume that the most active customers/prospects on social media are the most likely to buy more insurance from your agency. However, many agencies have found that those that are the most “taken care of” during the policy change/question interaction are the ones most likely to buy additional insurance. Why? Insurance is still very personal, and in these cases the agent has created a bond of trust with that customer. Without a complete data set, you may get a distorted picture.

“But we are extracting our data and dumping it all into a data lake.”

Another tenet of AI best practices is iteration – systems need to be taught and learn through continuous feedback loops. Andrew Johnson shares more details if you’d like to dig deeper into how these work. If your data is disparate, even if you are extracting it, normalizing it and dumping it into a database, the feedback loop remains manual. At best, you are guided by the observations of your firm’s management team, not complex analysis of actual user behavior. 

With quality data, AI can begin making well-informed suggestions. Going back to our example, a system might recommend upsell opportunities based on complete information, better understanding customer sentiment. This hypothesis can be tested and refined through multiple iterations of conditions based on real-life relationships with the customer.

So, can AI solve our underlying data problem? The unfortunate truth is that you can’t even begin to use predictive analytics without good data.

But there’s so much you can do… once the data is right. If garbage in is garbage out, just imagine what the output could be when you start with good data.

For an agency ready to take on the future of technology and allow AI to work for its business, you must make sure the initial data set is clean, complete and housed in the same environment where your users interact with your business. Then, you can really start making progress.


Jennifer Carroll

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Jennifer Carroll

Jennifer Carroll is the CEO of Veruna, an agency management solution for independent insurance.

She brings over 15 years’ experience in leadership roles in the B2B startup software space in a broad range of industries including insurance, law, finance and big data and analytics. 

Cyber Trends, Risks and Opportunities in 2024

Pressure from threat actors will increase, but innovations will provide tailored coverage options and services to curtail threats. 

Blue and White Mesh Net

As we step into 2024, the landscape of the cyber insurance industry is poised for significant evolution. The global market is expected to continue its upward trajectory, driven by increased pressure from threat actors and insurtech innovations geared toward providing both tailored coverage options and services to curtail emerging cyber threats like ransomware assaults and data breaches. 

Catastrophic cyber events are likely to become a major topic of conversation for both insurance providers and their customers. The recent decision made by the Federal Insurance Office regarding the potential expansion of the federal program for cyber catastrophic events will also influence and shape the industry. Insurers are preparing for coverage changes, too, potentially addressing specific areas such as coverage for cloud outages, significant software vulnerabilities and other widespread cyber events.

Moreover, modifications to the "acts of war" exclusions may significantly alter the value of cyber insurance policies. Catastrophe bonds are expected to expand and play a crucial role in risk transfer, with the participation of multiple new entrants.

See also: Cyber Insurance at Inflection Point

In parallel, several trends continue to shape the landscape of cyber insurance, which holds the crown as the newest specialty P&C product on the market. While the product initially entered the market out of necessity, particularly due to businesses grappling with cyber events within their business insurance, its evolution is still underway. The most important trends that will shape our world this year are:

  • Growth: a growing demand spurred by the escalating sophistication of cyber-criminal activities and increased exposure to geopolitical conflicts.
  • Stabilization of market rates: selective increases and decreases for specific market segments.
  • Expansion: the global cyber insurance market continues to expand, despite experiencing a softening trend in the first half of 2023.
  • Increase in data collection and use of AI: leading to potentially longer questionnaires for agents and policyholders. Sophisticated cyber providers will be able to collect this data without questions. AI’s rapid expansion will affect both exposures and how insurance will react.
  • Reinsurance rate dynamics and how the property market and cyber market affect each other on large portfolios of risk.
  • Further trends to monitor include:
    • Improved pricing structures.
    • Heightened cybersecurity requirements.
    • The growing impact of cyber insurance on a company’s initiatives to strengthen its cyber resilience.

The most prominent risks in the cyber insurance landscape include geopolitical cyber risks, ransomware threats, supply chain vulnerabilities, data breaches leading to liability issues and emerging technological trends. Conversely, the opportunities within this sector encompass the growing need for cyber insurance across a broad spectrum of businesses, emphasizing cyber risk management, the development of cyber risk modeling and the formulation of strategies for cyber risk mitigation and planning.

See also: Risks, Trends, Challenges for Cyber Insurance

The landscape of the cyber insurance industry is undergoing a dynamic shift as it navigates the complexities of emerging cyber threats and the evolving global market. The coming years will undoubtedly demand a dynamic approach to address the multifaceted challenges and opportunities within the cyber insurance industry. Despite these risks, promising opportunities are being driven by increased demand, highlighting the crucial role of cyber risk management and measures to address these evolving threats. 


Trent Cooksley

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Trent Cooksley

Trent Cooksley is co-founder and chief operating officer at Cowbell.

He previously served for a decade at Markel as managing director. Cooksley came to Markel through an acquisition of FirstComp Insurance in 2010. He started his career in underwriting.