Pinnacol Assurance

Krista O’Rourke

As 2020 quickly approaches, the insurance industry is facing the most rapid rate of technology disruption since the advent of computing technology. We asked Krista O’Rourke, VP of Agency Relations and Safety Services at (Colorado Workers’ Comp insurer) Pinnacol Assurance, and Rob Norris, CEO of Pinnacol’s digital subsidiary, Cake Insure, to consider how emerging tech is likely to impact insurance agencies in 2020 and beyond.

What tech innovations do you think are going to most impact insurance agencies next year?

Rob: In terms of tech innovations, Artificial Intelligence (or AI) may offer the most potential both for agencies and generally across the insurance industry. Our industry is all about transferring risk. To transfer risk, we need to understand it and how to price it. AI is helpful in identifying risk-related data patterns so we can price our products more precisely and fairly.

Krista: We know that for agents, one of the biggest pain points involves the need to streamline processes so they can achieve operational efficiencies. For example, agents are seeking ways to streamline the quoting/buying experience. AI can help with this challenge. At Pinnacol and Cake Insure, we’ve been able to use AI to re-imagine the quoting and buying experience. Use of AI, for instance, allows our customers and soon our agents, to describe their businesses to us in plain English. Our AI technology correctly classifies the type of business our customers are in 96 percent of the time, versus them having to choose codes from a list of descriptions written in insurance-speak.

What about other technologies? For example, there’s been so much buzz about virtual reality.

Rob: Yes, for sure. In the workers’ comp sector, we’re excited about using VR for a variety of tasks, including allowing workers, especially workers in more dangerous industries like construction, to participate in training to avoid workplace dangers without actually being exposed to those hazards.

Krista: We’re also excited about how monitoring advancements are making people safer, at work and away from work. This is especially true for driver monitoring devices because motor vehicle accidents are aprimary driver of injuries and fatalities. There is no shortage of emerging tech, whether it’s a wearable or in-car monitoring advice. The trick will be to understand how to make the data we can collect actionable and useful in preventing future accidents and injuries.

Which tech innovations should agents be utilizing now?

Rob: There are many, including mobile-first web for customers, digital marketing, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing, but it’s important not to lead with technology but rather to consider the problems first, and then examine which technologies might be helpful.

Krista: I agree and digital connection points are where we see most agents focusing initial efforts. We also see a number of carrier and Insurtech partnerships being created to solve identified problems and agents are not going it alone.

How do agents choose when to pursue new tech innovations, given their cost?

Krista: That’s where the partnership between carriers and the agents can be powerful. We see the agents looking to the carriers for support with the new tech. They don’t just want financial support either; they also want guidance on what can help them, and how it can help.

Rob: Cost is a real issue, for sure. The key is to identify opportunities for revenue growth and operating efficiencies, and then to find technology solutions that pay for themselves in a reasonable amount of time. Also, it’s important to run simple experiments on a small scale before making big bets on technology.