My main takeaway from ITC was the diversity of approaches to making innovation work in insurance. I moderated a fantastic panel of insurance innovators in the session “The Pathways of Innovation”. Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO, Plug and Play Tech Center, Dr. Nazim Cetin, Co-CEO, Allianz X, and Ron Kunitzky, Chief Partnership Officer, Highline BETA shared their experiences in making innovation work.
We covered multiple topics, including matching innovation with business strategy and creating effective partnerships between startups and insurers. The panel members’ diverse viewpoints were best displayed when they gave their views on driving successful innovation in incumbent insurers. One view held that this is best accomplished by exposing the insurer to organizations external to the industry. Another argued for a strong central program which serves business units and provides best practice to the organization. A final view held that the development of intrepreneurs (entrepreneurs within an established company) is the preferred tactic.
Bottom line -- the best approach is about cultural fit and it varies from organization to organization, confirming that there is not one size that fits all insurers.
This is the event that our parent company helped found with two tech entrepreneurs. They had a shared vision that the Insurance industry did not have a single place in which incumbents, insurtech entrepreneurs, venture capital firms, and regulators could come together to improve the industry.
