When you talk about insurtech innovation, many think of Silicon Valley as its natural geographic center. After all, Silicon Valley has been home to many great technology innovations dating back to World War II. To this day, it still gets a disproportionate share of VC funding and startup headlines. However, despite all the glory in Silicon Valley, the truth is the Midwest holds key advantages for an insurtech startup that many startups have yet to realize.
Topics: Inspiration, Insurtech, Commercial Insurance
Underwriters play a crucial role in the success of the insurance industry. However, it often requires a great deal of time, effort, and precision for underwriters to reach the desired results. As a seasoned specialist in the commercial insurance space, I would like to shed light on some of the catches every underwriter should look out for. Additionally, I will explain how technological advancements can augment the underwriting process by minimizing the potential complications which may arise.
Topics: Business, Underwriting, Insurtech, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Commercial Insurance, Cyber Insurance, Pitfall
The road to success is often long and turbulent. In my over 20 years of experience delivering technology solutions to the P&C insurance industry, I have seen many recurring mistakes that prevent the full value of a solution from being realized. In this post, I will cover the four most common ones, which can be easily avoided with a healthy dose of self-awareness and caution.
Topics: Inspiration, Business, Underwriting, Insurtech, Planning
As we frantically prepare for the holidays—the celebrations, gatherings and, for many, gift giving—it’s easy to forget what they are all about. End of year holidays not only provide much-needed downtime with family and friends, they also provide a time to reflect on the year and to celebrate our achievements.
Topics: Inspiration, Business, Underwriting, Insurtech
Every day there are 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created. This means that more data has been created in the last 10 years than in all of human history. By 2025, the research group IDC predicts annual data output of 163 zettabytes (that is one trillion gigabytes).
Topics: Business, Underwriting, Insurtech
On May 11, 1997, history was made. Deep Blue, the IBM Artificial Intelligence (AI) supercomputer, defeated Gary Kasparov, a world champion chess master, in a six-game match. This was the first time a machine ever defeated a world champion in chess and marked the beginning of a new era. However today, there are many cases where AI and humans are working together to achieve better results. As an example, an AI-enabled sous-chef called Chef Watson from IBM, is able to create recipes that help their human partners in the kitchen. This shows that AI and humans can work together to accomplish more. On a similar note, in the realm of commercial underwriting, until there are major changes in the modern world, human underwriters have a great opportunity to use AI to produce the best results.
Topics: Business, Underwriting, Insurtech
This was my first year attending InsureTech Connect (ITC) and it did not disappoint! Held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, the conference was an explosion of fantastic industry talent, thought leadership and ambitious ideas. It has grown from 1,500 attendees in 2016 to nearly 7,000 this year! Needless to say, I was neither able to attend nor write up every session and activity at the event, so this post will not cover all this conference had to offer, however it will give the highlights from my experience there.
Topics: Inspiration, Business, Underwriting, Insurtech
As Platform Delivery Lead for DataCubes, I find myself bridging two different worlds on a daily basis: technology and leadership. I love having a foot in each of these worlds but they are very different states of mind.
Topics: Inspiration, Business, Insurtech, Engineering
This was my first year attending the AASCIF Annual Conference and it did not disappoint! Held at the JW Marriott within the Mall of America in beautiful Minneapolis, Minnesota, the conference featured some fantastic industry talent, thought leadership and local sightseeing. DataCubes was a proud sponsor of the event. A brief disclaimer: I was neither able to attend nor write up every session and activity at the event, so this post will not cover all this conference had to offer, however it will give the highlights from my experience there.
Topics: Inspiration, Business, Underwriting, Insurtech
One of the cofounders of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, is famous for his 7 Star Design Principle. His approach starts with defining what a 5 Star customer experience looks like, then continues to push the boundaries, making it better and better, until the realm of possibility is left behind. He draws the line of what is possible at 7 Stars in his business, but his ideas go way beyond that. Take a look at how he defines each level within his part of the hospitality industry.
Topics: Inspiration, Business, Underwriting, Insurtech