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Insurance Industry

From the I.I.I. Daily: Our most popular content, February 15 to February 21

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Here are the 5 most clicked on articles from this week’s I.I.I. Daily newsletter.

 

To subscribe to the I.I.I. Daily email daily@iii.org.

 

Insurance Industry

FROM THE I.I.I. DAILY: OUR MOST POPULAR CONTENT, FEBRUARY 1 TO FEBRUARY 7

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Here are the 5 most clicked on articles from this week’s I.I.I. Daily newsletter.

To subscribe to the I.I.I. Daily email daily@iii.org

 

Insurance Industry

FROM THE I.I.I. DAILY: OUR MOST POPULAR CONTENT, JANUARY 28 TO JANUARY 31

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Here are the 5 most clicked on articles from this week’s I.I.I. Daily newsletter.

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Insurance Industry, Technology

Much Ado About AI at I.I.I. Joint Industry Forum

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By Lucian McMahon

You’re familiar with the buzzwords by now. Internet of things. Blockchain. Artificial intelligence.

At the 2019 I.I.I. Joint Industry Forum, a panel on artificial intelligence and insurance cut through the buzz. How can AI be used to help build resilient communities? And how can the insurance industry leverage AI to better help customers address risk?

Pictured left to right: Andrew Robinson, Sean Ringsted, Ahmad Wani, Kyle Schmitt, James Roche

New products, more resilience

Regarding resilience, Ahmad Wani, CEO and co-founder of One Concern, said that AI is being used to harness vast troves of data to identify, on a “hyperlocal level,” the impact of a whole range of hazards. His company is already doing just that, partnering with local governments and insurance companies to better plan for future losses. “We don’t need to wait for disasters to happen to prioritize the response, we need to make changes and to act now before the disaster,” Wani said.

Sean Ringsted, executive vice president, chief digital officer and chief risk officer at the Chubb Group, also pointed out that insurers are already expanding their product offerings thanks to AI and big data. Contingent business interruption, for example: the sheer volume of data can now allow insurers to effectively analyze supply chain risks and price them accordingly.

Transparency and fairness are top of mind

But as Ringsted said, “it’s not all good news and roses.” What sorts of concerns should insurers and the public have about using AI?

Kyle Schmitt, managing direct of the global insurance practice at J.D. Power cited consumer concerns with the data and algorithms used for AI-enabled products. Consumers are deeply concerned with the security and privacy of any data they share with insurers. Per Schmitt, consumers also worry about the fairness of AI products, when algorithms instead of people are making decisions in an opaque way.

This is the so-called “black box problem” of AI, in which complex algorithms will arrive at answers or decisions without anyone being able to explain how they did so. Ringsted stressed that, for AI to be a viable tool, its mechanisms will need to be explainable to regulators and the public.

James Roche, vice president, personal lines product development at ISO, echoed this sentiment: social responsibility requires both robust data stewardship and strict control over AI outputs to ensure that outcomes are fair and within ethical standards.

From a consumer perspective, ensuring ethical use of AI is critical. Schmitt said that at the end of the day consumers are open-minded, “but they just want some ground rules.”

Insurance Industry

FROM THE I.I.I. DAILY: OUR MOST POPULAR CONTENT, JANUARY 18 TO JANUARY 24

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Here are the 5 most clicked on articles from this week’s I.I.I. Daily newsletter.

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Insurance Industry

I.I.I. Joint Industry Forum: CEO Conversations

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Pictured left to right: Sampson, McChrystal, Parrillo, Watkins

 

One of the most interesting parts of I.I.I.’s Joint Industry Forum conference was the CEO Conversations, a panel discussion moderated by David Sampson, President and CEO of American Property Casualty Insurance Association. The panelists were: Sandy Parrillo, President and CEO, Providence Mutual; Hank Watkins, President, Lloyd’s America and four-star General Stanley McChrystal who was also the event’s  keynote speaker.

The panel discussed some of the top challenges and opportunities facing the insurance industry today. It’s well known that insurers are concentrating on recruiting new talent, but Sandy Parrillo also pointed out the value of keeping “vintage workers” engaged and helping them adapt to different styles of work. Parrillo also spoke about the need to involve and get buy-in from all levels of employees when rolling out a new product.

Hank Watkins spoke about the insurance gap which poses a significant threat to global prosperity, especially in developing nations such as earthquake-prone Ecuador, as one of the top challenges to our industry. And on the positive side, Watkins gave Jumpstart Recovery’s earthquake coverage as an example of an innovative new product. Jumpstart is a surplus lines insurance broker using Lloyd’s capacity. It offers earthquake insurance in California with payment that’s triggered by an earthquake of a pre-specified intensity without the traditional claims handling process.

General McChrystal brought the conversation back to leadership. He recalled the characteristics of one of the most important leaders in his career – a tough commander who did not have much positive feedback to give when his subordinates did a good job. However, when McCrystal failed at a task, the commander surprised him by saying “I thought you did great!” Being given the freedom to fail means you can try different things and ultimately succeed.

Careers and Employment, Insurance Industry

I.I.I. Joint Industry Forum: Talent and leadership keynote

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Gen. McChrystal delivers JIF keynote speech

Each year the I.I.I. hosts a conference called the Property/Casualty Joint Industry Forum. This unique event assembles key figures from the business, policymaking and media spheres to explore topics of vital interest to our industry.

This year we were fortunate to have four-star General Stanley McChrystal as keynote speaker. General McChrystal was the commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and International Security Assistance Force.  He shared crucial lessons on leadership which he acquired while leading the effort against Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Al Qaeda used smartphones and the internet to coordinate attacks; they were “lightning fast and constantly changing.” The elite JSOC was daunted by the terror group; “we were losing” said McChrystal. In order to beat Al Qaeda some of the old rules had to be thrown out, and radical new leadership techniques had to take root. Here are some of the lessons corporate leaders can take away:

  • Violate the chain of command. Giving everyone in your organization the information you normally only give the C-suite leads to “empowered execution”. In our fast-paced world there is not always time to let everything trickle down a long chain of command.
  • Give employees the freedom to use their own judgement. “Execute the order, but if the order is wrong, execute the order we should have given you.” Don’t allow “just following procedure” to be an excuse for actions that are wildly inappropriate for the situation.
  • Think of the role of leader as akin to that of a gardener. A gardener does not grow plants, only plants can do that. Instead, a gardener feeds, weeds and protects the plants thereby allowing them to do what they do best. By enabling the organization you will be sure to see a positive outcome, concluded McChrystal.
Insurance Industry, Workers Compensation

WCRI Annual Issues and Research Conference

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The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) is holding its 35th Annual Issues and Research Conference on February 28th at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown in Phoenix, AZ. Anyone working to improve workers’ compensation systems or seeking to manage a changing environment would benefit from attending.

Some of the highlights from the conference agenda include:

  • A keynote address by world-renowned economist Alan Krueger on the future of work, the impact of technology on the economy, and how the opioid epidemic has affected the labor force participation rate
  • The latest research on opioid prescribing to injured workers
  • A panel discussion of Washington State’s community-based program that brings together medical providers, employers, and injured workers to help ensure timely, effective, and coordinated services
  • The challenges and opportunities of telemedicine
  • A discussion of some of the latest findings and trends seen across WCRI’s core benchmark studies, including WCRI’s 18-State CompScope™ Benchmarks reports, a multistate benchmarking program that measures the performance of a growing number of state workers’ compensation systems

Past attendees have said that the WCRI’s is the one conference that offers an “independent point of view that covers the entire spectrum of works compensation” and that it is “a great place to learn and a great place to network.”

Click here to learn more about the conference agenda or to register.

 

Insurance Industry

From the I.I.I. Daily: Our most popular content, January 4 to January 10

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Here are the 5 most clicked on articles from this week’s I.I.I. Daily newsletter.

To subscribe to the I.I.I. Daily email daily@iii.org.