Customer and collaboration key to surviving digital disruption

13 March 2018

Embracing technology and disruption will be key to staying relevant in an increasingly evolving insurance industry.

This was the advice given by Allianz Australia Chief Operating Officer, David Krawitz at last week’s Future of Insurance conference in Sydney.

Krawitz warned that insurers must continually adapt how they do business to ensure they remain competitive with more nimble organisations with lower operating costs.

Citing blockchain as an example, he went on to stress the importance of industry collaboration to achieve the best technology outcomes for insurers and customers.

“Blockchain is not just another buzzword: it presents an incredible opportunity for our industry to transform how we work together in areas such as reinsurance, recoveries, quota share and claims. It’s critical that we continue to ask ourselves how we can use industry technology to make things easier for all of us.”

In addition to collaboration, Krawitz outlined three key principles for navigating digital change:

  • Fundamental changes to the way organisations work – This includes increasing collaboration with third parties, who can perform certain tasks faster and more efficiently than global corporates can.
  • Look at people practices – Focus on helping employees be more innovative and nimble – underpinned by business structures which support that.
  • Data strategy – Develop and execute a data strategy that transforms the way insurers do business, and which addresses customer experience.

Underpinning those principles, however, Krawitz stressed the importance of ensuring that any change aligns to the customer.

“There is a lot that we are, and could be, doing. But before diving in head-first and testing the technology, we should always look at how it stacks up in terms of value for customers, service for customers and operating costs,” he said.

In closing, Krawitz proposed two questions that insurers should be asking themselves, as a way of determining what needs to be done:

  1. Does our technology build upon our strengths?
  2. Are we continually adapting how our business works to ensure better outcomes?
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Allianz Australia has been securing the future of our customers in Australia since 1914. We deliver a wide range of personal and commercial insurance products and services to more than 4 million policyholders. We also provide support for workers' compensation insurance to around 25% of the top 200 ASX companies, making us one of the leading workers' compensation insurers in Australia.

Allianz Australia Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the worldwide Allianz Group. The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with corporate customers in more than 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life, and health insurance to assistance services, credit insurance and global business insurance. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we are among the leaders in the insurance industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
This article has been prepared by Allianz Australia Insurance Limited ABN 15 000 122 850 AFSL234708 (“Allianz”). In some cases, information has been provided to us by third parties and while that information is believed to be accurate and reliable, its accuracy is not guaranteed in any way.

Any opinions expressed constitute our views at the time of issue and are subject to change. Neither Allianz, nor its employees or directors give any warranty of accuracy or accept responsibility for any loss or liability incurred by you in respect of any error, omission or misrepresentation in this article.
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