Sabine L.B VanderLinden - The insurTECH book: the insurance technology handbook for investors, entrepreneurs and change-makers

The insurance industry talks a good game about InsurTech but the follow up or delivery isnt always there. But it needs to be as this great profession of ours is facing a genuine existential crisis. Our traditional ways of working and servicing our customers are becoming increasingly irrelevant. The insurer that will survive in the long term is the one that behaves more like a retail business; pre-empts consumer demand; interacts with customers in the way they want; and views innovation and tech as an opportunity rather than a threat. So it is encouraging to see so many people engaging with the necessity for change in this book. There are many views, opinions and priorities laid out here and it is that debate that we need to bring out of print and into our daily conversations and thinking.

Amanda Blanc, Group CEO, Axa UK

InsurTech is on the brink of changing our industry, from the inside and the outside. Never before has it been more important to understand the ideas, trends and drivers behind the insurance digital revolution. The InsurTech Book has a big role to play in helping us build our knowledge base and expand our sense of the possible. So much of the future is already with us in some shape or form and this book will help us build our understanding of our fast-changing insurance world.

Huw Evans, Director General, Association of British Insurers

In a sector with intense pressure on turnover and margins, and with hungry new players capitalised and circling ready to seize new opportunities, legacy insurance sector players are more oil tanker than yacht. Insurance is an industry where players must get fit or fail, but fitness cannot be surface deep an oil tanker cant simply morph into a yacht by attaching a sail to its funnel. The industry must seek, embrace and absorb change. Opportunities for competitive advantage can be brought to life by blending data from otherwise unthinkable sources which can be collectively massaged to provide underwriters with a richness of knowledge only dreamed of before. Predictive analytics can fuel predictive risk control and, in turn, predictive underwriting calling the fire brigade before the fire has started, allowing insurers to manage risks proactively as never before. This book will challenge, and make you think.

Julia Graham, FBCI, FCII, Chartered Insurance Risk Manager;
Deputy CEO and Technical Director, AIRMIC

Insurance has finally woken up! Its been 2 decades since the birth of the Internet and yet the one industry the global economy could not operate without is still so last century. But InsurTech is changing that. Shifting the focus away from legacy operations, Insurers are adopting new tech and innovative ways to engage digitally with customers and their ecosystems. The InsurTech Book is the first, definitive compendium of the rapid evolution that is touching every aspect of this global insurance industry. Its a must read for anyone remotely interested in technology enabled insurance.

Rick Huckstep, Chairman, The Digital Insurer

This book is a much awaited cornerstone to holistically connecting insurance and technology. The bar is raised and a cogent precedent is set for all the existing and upcoming professionals globally, that this era is the era of InsurTech. A must read.

Nameer Khan, Digital Strategist

The wealth of ideas, the creativity, the new ways of working that entrepreneurs bring to the table, whether they come from the world of Tech or Insurance, is truly inspiring. Over the last few years, I have been in the front seat to witness how such partnerships can transform the industry and it has been an exciting journey though it is only just starting. To keep moving forward and lead change, we have to publicise the work InsurTech experts are doing, along with insurers. We need to tell their stories and that of their ideas. We cant possibly talk enough about whats currently happening in our industry and this is why I welcome this book, a set of articles from the very minds that are making it all happen. This book will interest some, inspire others and undoubtedly will scare more!

Paul Jardine, Chief Experience Officer, XL Catlin

This fantastic InsurTech book brings together some of the brightest global insurance and InsurTech minds to share some of their best thought-provoking ideas and proposals. If you allow those ideas and proposals to open your imagination, these authors can magically bring great new thoughts to infiltrate your company positively and help take it to the next level. My recommendation is to let change and new ideas happen because the insurance industry is about to transform in a way that will render it unrecognizable in a few years time. These great InsurTech authors can help guide and inspire you through these fantastic times to come; they certainly inspired me to think further into the future.

Spiros Margaris, Venture Capitalist and Advisor

This important book explores InsurTech, from its definition and its current status to its future impacts. While many have predicted a digital revolution, new programming routes such as blockchain (supporting and enhancing trust and the ability to fully use and apply data) have transformed the financial services sector in ways that most people are unaware of. The insurance industry has embarked on a process of radical transformation through creativity and sustained digital innovation, with great potential for rapid business growth or for company failure. Only those able to grasp new opportunities will be able to reshape their mission and business model to take advantage of InsurTech innovations. That is why this book is an essential read for those leading, managing and working in the industry and those studying to enter it, if they are going not only to understand these far-reaching industry changes but also to be part of them.

Professor Lynn Martin, Entrepreneurship and Innovation,
Anglia Ruskin University and Founder, HRI

By 2020 we estimate that the percentage of insurance customers interacting with carriers through digital platforms will double to 80%. Clearly, insurers must embrace digitization to extend capabilities and address this future inevitability. I strongly encourage you to read this book and prepare for the future digital inevitability. It will give you insight into strategy, process, organization and technology imperatives to support improved positioning.

William Pieroni, President and CEO, ACORD

I had the pleasure of partnering with the Startupbootcamp InsurTech Accelerator and to run a number of mentorship programmes and events. Theres something truly rewarding about having tech folks and insurance experts around the table. This book takes you through the journey of some of the projects that are currently shaping the InsurTech scene and I am certain that you will, while reading it, experience that excitement and feel inspired to innovate.

Hlne Stanway, Digital Leader, XL Catlin

For many years, the insurance industry has remained at a standstill. InsurTechs have appeared out of the blue and are revolutionizing the way insurance companies work. The rationale behind such a change is based on major drivers, including the advent of new technologies and evolving consumption patterns and customers needs; requesting real-time and on-demand ways of doing things. Insurance learns very fast and will certainly, in the near future, reshape and transform itself as the new standard of InsurTech. This book guides you, in a very smart way, through different aspects of InsurTech and prepares you for the future trends.

Sylvain Theveniaud, Allianz Accelerator, Founder and MD