Overview

When we talk about innovation, we usually focus on the cool things that are happening in the industry. But there are some more mundane topics that are innovative - and create operating efficiencies while reducing costs. This executive roundtable will focus on areas such as moving to the cloud, lessons learned from core system replacement, To BPO or not To BPO, and creating data strategies to drive efficiencies.

This executive roundtable will cover a variety of topics with practical applications. We’ll present some of our own thinking on these topics and bring in some senior leaders to discuss industry trends and tell their stories.

We will provide the industry insights while you and your peers will provide the real-life experiences in an informal setting where networking will be easy and comfortable. Join us in our fall executive roundtable by registering now.

Agenda

9:00 AM: Welcome and Introductions

Karlyn Carnahan, Head, The Americas, Property Casualty Insurance, Celent

9:15 AM: Innovation for Operational Efficiency – What Do the Numbers Say?

Donald Light, Research Director, Celent

Drawing on Celent’s annual survey of CIOs’ plans, this session will examine the priorities that CIOs have set for 2020; with special emphasis on initiatives promoting innovation, efficiency, or both.

10:15 AM: Networking Break

10:30 AM: Core System Replacement – Battle Scars and War Stories

Mike Fitzgerald, Senior Analyst, Celent

Jennifer Baziuk, CIO, The Commonwell

Louis Regimbal, VP, Strategy and Innovation, SSQ Insurance

Moving to a modern solution that supports digital commerce can feel like a war. Hear from practitioners who have been through a core system replacement and can speak about their strategies, tactics, staffing, and experience in making the transition.

11:30 AM: Lunch

12:30 PM: Moving to the Cloud – Come for Variable Costs, Stay for the Speed, Analytics, and Security

Donald Light, Research Director, Celent

For most insurers, it is no longer much of a question of whether they will move to the cloud. It is rather a set of questions as to what is moved, in what order, and sorting through the various value propositions offered by cloud providers.

1:30 PM: What does Customer Mean to You?

Marty Ellingsworth, Senior Analyst, Celent

Lakshmi Shalini, AVP, Analytics Translation, Guardian Life Insurance

Todd Lehmann, Vice President & Chief Actuary, Quincy Mutual Insurance Group

Customer-centricity is at the core of customer experience, yet most companies are still product-centric in how they are organized, KPI’d, and operated. Tens and hundreds of millions of dollars are in the current SPRINT cycle (SPRINT – Same Products Running In New Technology). But when all is done, will we know our customers? Can we tell is also a small business owner or serves as a vendor in our claims process? This discussion will center around using data to personalize risk advice, assessment, pricing, prevention, management, and mitigation. Carriers will describe what a customer means to them and the gaps they see in their markets today along with innovative ideas on how to close the gaps.

2:30 PM: Networking Break

2:45 PM: To BPO or Not to BPO: Assessing Prospective BPO Partners

Karen Monks, Senior Analyst, Celent

Darryl Siry, Chief Technology & Operations Officer, ProSight Specialty Insurance

Jessica A. Dowdy, Associate Vice President, Nationwide Business Solutions Group, Nationwide

“Do what you do the best and outsource the rest” – Peter Drucker. This session will test Drucker’s theory from the 1980s using a 2020 lens. Celent believes the primary motivations to partner with a BPO provider have changed. Instead of a cost play like it was in the past, a BPO relationship can play an invaluable role in customer experience and technology enablement, thus making them a vital part of business strategy. Through a discussion of the decisions that went into choosing an outsourcing partner and the results since the partnership began, Celent and two insurers will help you learn from others that went before you. And if you are already outsourcing, then we hope you will learn and share as well.

3:45 PM: Closing Thoughts

Karlyn Carnahan, Head, Property/Casualty Insurance, Celent

Celent Speakers

Speakers

Jennifer Baziuk - Vice President Transformation & Strategic Delivery at The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group

Prior to joining The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group, Jennifer spent nearly two decades working in the Property & Casualty Industry for TD Insurance in both Toronto and Montreal. Jennifer has held a variety of leadership roles over the course of her career in Claims, Operations, Sales Effectiveness, Transformation and Data Management & Data Governance.

As Vice President of Transformation & Strategic Delivery she drives and enables the organizations business strategy through integrated ownership of the Business Transformation Office (including Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO), Organizational Change Management (OCM) & Business Strategy), IT Strategy, Delivery & Operations as well as the overall Enterprise Data Strategy and Data Management practices. During her short tenure at The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group she has recently transformed their insurance core system applications over a period of 15 months having implemented Guidewire InsuranceSuite, DataHub and InfoCentre for all lines of business on AWS Cloud Platform.

Jennifer holds a Post Baccalaureate Diploma in Management, Business Management and Marketing in addition to a Masters of Business Administration from Athabasca University. She is also a Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Insurance Professional (CIP) who has volunteered her services to the Insurance Institute of Ontario to review academic programs in an effort to improve the quality of education for students and insurance professionals alike.

Darryl Siry - Chief Technology & Operations Officer, ProSight Specialty Insurance

Darryl leads IT, Digital, Customer Experience, UW Operations and Quality for ProSight. Over the last 8 years, Darryl has held various roles at ProSight, including CMO, CIO, Chief Digital Officer, and President of the ProSight Direct business. Previously, Darryl held various executive roles at Tesla Motors and Fireman’s Fund/Allianz and started his career at Mercer Management Consulting in New York City after receiving a B.A. in Economics from Brown University.

Lakshmi Shalini - AVP, Analytics Translation, Guardian Life Insurance

Lakshmi has over 15 years of experience in data analytics and product innovation for the insurance industry. At Guardian, Lakshmi works with senior executive stakeholders to develop strategy and apply best in class machine learning and analytical capabilities to enhance Guardian’s product offering and increase customer satisfaction.

She has led the development of several analytic offerings across P&C value chain including actuarial pricing, underwriting, claims managements and marketing at Liberty Mutual, Deloitte Consulting and Verisk Analytics. Prior to joining Guardian, as Associate director at S&P ratings, Lakshmi oversaw a portfolio of Catastrophe Bonds, US Mortgage and Life Insurers. Lakshmi holds an MBA from Boston College and a Masters in Physics from Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai.

Jessica A. Dowdy - Associate Vice President, Nationwide Business Solutions Group, Nationwide

Jessica Dowdy joined Nationwide nearly 22 years ago, originally in the Annuity area. At Nationwide, she has experience in Individual Life, Retirement Plans, Finance and currently serves as a leader in Nationwide’s Corporate Solutions group overseeing Underwriting, Product & Business Development, Retention and Operations for the Company Owned/Bank Owned Life Insurance business. She is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University with a BS in Finance. She also has committed her learning to this industry by obtaining her CLU, FLMI, FFSI, AIRC, ACS and RCC as well as her series 6 & 26 licenses.

Todd Lehmann - Vice President & Chief Actuary, Quincy Mutual Insurance Group

Todd is the Vice President & Chief Actuary at Quincy Mutual Insurance Group, a leading US regional P&C insurance carrier founded in 1851. He is responsible for Personal and Commercial pricing, reserving, product development, state filings, and project implementation development and deployment testing. He has over 25 years of experience in casualty actuarial pricing and reserving, predictive analytics, and product management. Todd is a frequent speaker at predictive analytics conferences, and enjoys collaborating with business leaders, underwriters, actuaries and data scientists to solve business issues.

In 2019 Todd was elected to the Board of Directors of the Casualty Actuarial Society. He previously served as Chair of the CAS Ratemaking Committee and as a leader on the CAS Examination and Syllabus Committee. Todd volunteers for the CAS Institute, serving on the iCAS Executive Committee. Todd led the expert panel who developed and directed the launch of the Certified Specialist in Predictive Analytics (CSPA) credential offered by the CAS Institute.

Louis Regimbal - Vice President, Strategy and Innovation, SSQ Insurance

Louis joined SSQ Insurance in the role of Vice-President of Strategy and Innovation in 2016. In this role he is responsible for developing the strategic plan for the organization. He oversees the implementation of components of the strategy, which includes leading an effort to develop and launch new business models. He is also responsible for setting the tone in terms of innovation within SSQ.

Prior to joining SSQ Insurance, Louis held leadership roles in various organizations including KPMG, SECOR and IBM. Over a 20 year consulting career, Louis has worked with many of the leading Life and Health companies and Property & Casualty companies in Canada, the U.K. and France, providing strategic advice on growth opportunities and operational issues. Over the years he has contributed to multiple publications and thought leadership pieces on issues of strategy and governance.

Registration

This exclusive, invitation only event is part of a series of targeted roundtables offered by Celent's insurance practice. Capitalizing on Celent’s position as thought leader, these private, closed-door sessions provide a confidential environment to allow participants to engage openly.

Pre-registration is required and is client only. Please make sure you are logged into a current client Celent account to access registration link. Any troubles registering or if you have any questions, please contact Chuck Smith at csmith@celent.com or Kate Higgins at khiggins@celent.com.

The 2013 Life Insurance Conference