Accelerating the digital transformation

Three recommendations for the European insurance sector to unlock the full potential of their digital transformation

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While some digital capabilities have been around for nearly two decades, the insurance sector has only started to adopt them in meaningful ways over the past few years. Some of the most recent disruptions to the industry include fully digital administration and contracting of insurances, intelligent recognition and processing of insurance claims, and AI supported detection of fraudulent claims.

Today, most insurers understand that digitizing the business is necessary in the near future. Overall, digital investments are on the rise. And the ongoing Covid-19 situation continues to accelerate digital transformations, clearly emphasizing the need for virtual, digitally enabled collaboration among customers, employees, and business partners.

The key question now is: What do insurance companies need to unlock their full digital potential and move beyond traditional offline channels?

This report is based on a survey with several large European insurance companies. We have identified three key findings on the sector’s overall state of digital transformation:

1. Insurers agree on the high strategic relevance of digital transformation for their company’s success, but they’ve been struggling to unlock its full potential. As Covid-19 continues acting as an accelerator, their momentum toward adopting more digital capabilities at scale is expected to increase.

2. Past investments into digital self-service platforms and robotics process automation have proven to be successful. Therefore, budgets have shifted to account for new use cases in the field of artificial intelligence and data analytics.

3. The greatest hurdle for an insurer on its way to become a digital organization is change management. Companies must make structural changes to secure the sustainable impact of their new technologies and upskill their workforce, often by closing digital skill gaps through collaborations with tech firms.

For insurers, who aim at accelerating their digital transformation, we recommend three specific actions:

  • Define your digital vision and create an overarching digital roadmap
  • Build momentum by establishing regular review processes of technologies and use agile approaches to innovate continuously
  • Prepare your workforce with the digital mindset and skills they’ll need

Contact us

Dr. Gero Matouschek

Dr. Gero Matouschek

Partner, Strategy& Germany

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