In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL interviews Mark McLaughlin a respected figure in IBM and its insurance division to discuss the future of customer experience within a fast-evolving world.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• You must improve the way you engage with your customers whether this is through distribution channels (e.g., brokers or affinity partnerships) or directly. Your customers are demanding digital frictionless engagements and experiences. They are seeking transparent and optimum convenience in the way they access insurance products and services. They also want transparency in the way their data is being used. In the end, this is the way you earn customer trust.
• When data, intelligence, automation, and insights are combined as one, they augment decision-making among stakeholders but also require changes in skills, processes, technology, and cultures. Think about the “reconfiguration” of the internal fabric of the enterprise to deliver the required personalized experiences.
• InsurTechs are doing well. Over $47 billion have been invested in InsurTechs. Over 30 have become unicorns and more are expected to become unicorns in the years to come.
• Today, to realize such a vision and upgrade legacy systems and global delivery presence, IBM works with the top 100 carriers worldwide, bringing capabilities such as blockchain, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and cloud for flexibility and innovation as well as industry expertise to deliver unique capabilities able to yield differentiated experiences.

BEST MOMENT
‘To elevate customer experiences and achieve customer-centricity and unlock new growth opportunities, insurers must identify innovative opportunities internally and external partnerships to reinvent the core of their business.’
‘We are in the days of “Risk experiences”.’
‘If insurers think about repackaging old format analog processes into digitised options, they are going to fail. Customers are asking for more. They want products and services aligned with their needs.’
‘We know that insurers are better placed at focusing on “risk” (e.g., algorithmic underwriting) while InsurTechs are great at building unique customer experiences (e.g., lemonade, Hippo, etc.).’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Mark McLaughlin is IBM’s Global Insurance Director, leading IBM’s Global Insurance strategy, solutions, and partnerships. Mark’s teams analyse trends in the insurance business and in technology, predict strategies for insurers, and build IBM insurance solutions to meet insurer needs. He also shares IBM’s point-of-view on insurance with business leaders, regulators, and conference audiences worldwide.
Mark is a 25-year veteran of the insurance industry. He has previously led business units in insurance distribution and analytics, technology infrastructure, CRM, and insurance business process. Mark has personally led implementations in strategy, program management, analytics, data warehousing, expert systems, commercial claims, and underwriting for multiple top 20 US insurers.
Titter: @mclmark
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mclmark 

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. 

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