LONDON: Senior insurance executives confirmed to the newly-formed Insurance Nexus Advisory Board (INAB), Insurance Nexus have just announced.

Set up to provide direction to an industry tackling enormous technological disruption, the Insurance Nexus Advisory Board is intended to enhance Insurance Nexus’ stated aim of providing a platform for the insurance industry to grow, develop, network and learn. Through close consultation and research, the Board will advice Insurance Nexus on the future direction of their European events and thought-leadership content, as well as provide a vehicle for the industry’s leading minds to share their insights with the market.

Statistical and anecdotal evidence suggest the global insurance industry is in an unparalleled state of flux; new technology has entered the market at the same time as a focus on customer-centricity has pervaded virtually every industry. Is it up to the incumbents to either adapt to these new conditions, collaborate with new market players (who have technology and the customer experience at the core of their business models), or else become irrelevant in the new digital economy. However, there is clearly a dissonance regarding how best to implement advanced technologies, and the extent to which they are integral to the future success of insurance companies.

According to a recent survey by Insurance Nexus, 54% of European insurance companies believe AI will transform job roles in the long-term, while 36% disagree. When addressing which department will see the biggest impact from AI overall, 53% of respondents cited ‘claims’, 52% ‘underwriting’, 37% ‘fraud’ and ‘36% ‘customer service’.  Not only does this suggest disagreement around the efficacy of implementing advanced technology, there is also little consensus on where the impact will be felt most strongly.

“I’ve been involved in the Insurance Nexus events in US and Europe since 2015, when IoT was an exotic topic followed by a few insurance geeks,” said board member Matteo Carbone, Founder and Director, IoT Insurance Observatory. “It has been impressive to see the evolution of the contents and the engagement of the attendees, conference by conference.”

The experts currently confirmed to the Insurance Nexus Advisory Board, and their areas of expertise, are as follows: 

  • ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE: Craig Beattie, Senior Analyst, Celent

  • INSURTECH: Matteo Carbone, Founder & Director, IoT Insurance Observatory

  • INSURTECH: Minh Tran, Managing Partner, Odysseus Alternative Ventures

  • HEALTH: Somesh Chandra, Chief Health Officer European Markets, AXA Group

  • DIGITAL: Dr. Evangelos Avramakis, Head Digital Ecosystems R&D, Swiss Re Institute

  • MACHINE LEARNING: Oyvind Indrebo, Technical Director, Sparebank1

  • BIG PICTURE ANALYSIS: Greg Donaldson, Senior Analyst, Aite Group

  • DATA: Romain Creteur, Head of Data, Groupama

  • CUSTOMER: Line Dahle, Chief Customer Officer, Gard AS

  • MOTOR: Simon Gallimore, Head of Casualty, Motor Claims, AIG

  • HOME/IOT: Kevin Meagher, MD, EAS Consulting

  • MARKETING: Monika Schulze, Global CMO, Zurich

  • AI: Alessandra Chiuderi, Group Head of Analytics, Generali

“Today, in the insurance world, it is essential to have a passion for technology and innovation. Having said that, focusing on customer needs and experiences is what makes the difference,” said Monika Schulze, Global CMO, Zurich and Marketing subject-matter expert on the Board. “Increasingly, companies are recognizing the importance of delivering an experience that makes them stand out from their competition. There is tremendous opportunity to disrupt a competitor or gain market share in an industry if you get the customer experience right. To further develop insights, ideas and exchange best practice cases, Insurance Nexus provides an excellent platform for executives to come together and shape the future of the industry.”

In establishing the Advisory Board, Insurance Nexus intend to produce events and content that address the market’s needs and concerns as closely as possible, as well as bringing the opinions of renowned thought-leaders into play. The Board will be consulted for research into the events and in-house content that Insurance Nexus produce; whitepapers, webinars, podcasts, exclusive interviews, and more. These are produced throughout the year and can be found on the Insurance Nexus website: https://www.reutersevents.com/insurance/