Late August is one of my favorite seasons. In Minnesota the weeks before Labor Day mean the State Fair, our great state get-together—12 days of corn dogs, cheese curds, butter sculptures, and crop art. Time slows down for a deep breath before the ramp-up to autumn, the season of change: kids are going back to school (a year older already!), autumn is on the way, and conference season is around the corner.
By conference season (our own great insurance industry get-togethers), the rate at which things change seems faster every year. Celent ourselves will be kicking off September with our GenAI symposium in Chicago next week, on Thursday 9/4, and we’re already looking ahead to our annual program for ITC 2025.
Our ITC theme for this year, “The Future Hits Fast” reflects that sense we’re all feeling in insurance technology—not just that things are changing, but that the rate of change is accelerating.
That idea of accelerating transformation is reflected in our capstone session on agentic AI, hosted by my colleague Keith Raymond. Insurers have only had about three years to understand and begin to implement generative AI, and we’re already on the cusp of another paradigm shift, with autonomous agents that can take actions and reshape workflows already a reality.
AI is transforming underwriting too, as my colleague Fabio Sarrico will analyze in his session. Insurers are using new tools to assess hazards, highlight risks, and streamline workflows as they work to grow profitably in tight market with thin margins.
The level of competition insurers face in turn raises the stakes for distributor and customer experience, obliging insurers to seek out new capabilities to meet partner expectations for speed and convenience. Karen Monks will cover the agent experience, while I’ll be joined by insurers and by One, Inc. CEO Ian Drysdale to talk about how fast payments and clear communication shape policyholder loyalty during auto claim events, based on research Celent conducted earlier this year.
As technology is transforming insurance, the changing climate is transforming the world itself, putting how insurers rate and respond to catastrophe risk front-and-center. Juan Mazzini will proctor a panel on how advanced geospatial analytics, portfolio optimization, and claims triage can help insurers navigate this new normal.
And as insurers respond to these changes, their Insurtech partners are as well. With insurer IT departments under pressure to both enable growth and deliver efficiency, their work with Insurtechs is changing to focus more on short-term projects with clear ROI and a quick path to value. Nate Golia will kick off Celent’s program with a session on how insurers and Insuretechs are managing this new playbook.
The session is open to all ITC attendees, and we hope you’ll join us—not just because great get-togethers are a good time, but because in a changing world, one of the best ways to learn is from each other.
To that end, if you haven’t yet registered for ITC, we can help with that, and extend a discount for the conference if you need one.
None of us can know everything, and most of us can’t get direct experience in more than a small slice of the overall scope of technological change. We’re excited to be hosting the session to present our research and showcase our panelists’ expertise and would be delighted if you’d bring your own perspective to the conversation.
