OVERVIEW

Celent Model Insurer is the premier award available in the insurance industry globally.  Celent awards this honor to insurers, reinsurers and MGAs who demonstrate extraordinary results for best practices in technology usage across a variety of areas critical to success in insurance.  It is an annual program, celebrating its 17th anniversary in 2023.

For 2023, we will be accepting nominations in five categories: Data, Analytics and AI, Digital and Emerging Technologies, Innovation Execution, Customer Experience Transformation, and Legacy and Ecosystem Transformation.

The nomination window for our 2023 program is now closed. Submissions for our 2024 program will open June 28, 2023 and close October 13, 2023.

NOMINATION CATEGORIES AND WINNERS

Data, Analytics and AI

Data is now a key source of competitive advantage for identifying profitable niches, managing risk, and improving service. External data sources, data derived from devices, and new techniques for interpreting data are pushing the competitive boundaries for insurers at an accelerated rate. This theme recognizes projects such as:

• Predictive analytics (claims fraud, underwriting, pricing, climate analysis)
• Prescriptive analytics (triage, sales automation, “next best action”)
• Virtualization (dashboards and heat maps, catastrophe management, network analysis, geopolitical risk analysis)
• Innovative functionality enhancements for consumer digital platforms (e.g. mobile apps, online)
• Artificial intelligence techniques used to achieve the next level of benefits (in underwriting, claims processing, fraud identification, propensity modeling)

Digital and Emerging Technologies

Digital transformation is moving from person-to-person interaction toward person-to-machine or machine-to-machine. Emerging technologies are those whose development, practical applications, or both are still largely unrealized and that are often perceived as capable of changing the status quo. Often, emerging technologies are the basis for achieving groundbreaking digital transformations. This theme recognizes projects such as:

• The industrialization of processes
• Integration with business partners
• The leveraging of social networks
• IoT based value propositions
• Emerging technology PoCs, pilots and MVPs
• The use of mobile-based technology

Innovation Execution

Celent defines innovation as fundamental changes to products, services, or business models that break existing tradeoffs and provide value to the customer. New hardware, software, and network technologies feed insurance innovation. This theme focuses on how insurers implement innovation and recognizes projects such as:

• Innovation labs implementation
• Programs aiming at innovation idea generation and prioritization
• Partnerships or investment in innovation accelerators or incubators
• Development of an innovation culture within an IT organization
• Change management program to foster innovation

Customer Experience Transformation

Transforming the customer experience is increasingly important to insurers who are looking to differentiate themselves and drive sustainable growth. This category looks at the work insurers are doing to improve the experience for prospects, policyholders, distributors, vendors and other constituents. This theme recognizes initiatives such as:

• Simplification of the new business application process – e,g. data prefill, new UI, computer vision etc.
• Implementation of new technologies to improve the customer experience – e.g. video communication, augmented reality for claims natural language processing, etc.
• Implementation of new tools or services to provide new capabilities for customers e.g. connected home solutions, advice engines, social pay, etc.
• Other initiatives that transform the customer experience.

Legacy and Ecosystem Transformation

Legacy technology can hinder innovation, since insurers must typically offer backward compatibility. Insurers must not only modernize, but also transform their internal systems and how they interact with customers, counterparties, and regulators. This theme recognizes projects related to core system replacement or transformation that leverages new technology and methods (i.e. cloud, APIs, Agile, DevOps). This theme includes all aspects of the application architecture such as:

• Core systems - policy admin, billing, claims, rating, reinsurance, illustrations, new business etc. 
• Enterprise level systems – CCM, Document management, financial systems, ERP, reporting
• Customer facing systems – agent, policyholder or vendor portals, customer relationship management, integration with agency management systems
• Other point solutions – loss control, premium audit, medical bill review, litigation management