Australia’s insurance industry is becoming more innovative and adaptive every day but it’s still being held back by a raft of outdated processes – that’s the message from one acclaimed expert who says change needs to happen now.
“The insurance industry is largely still encumbered by legacy systems, product centric operating models, and traditional cultures,” says Ravi Malhotra, managing director of Accenture’s Insurance Strategy Practice for the Asia-Pacific region.
“Australian insurers are taking very positive steps to develop new capabilities and supplement their own through the potential of insurtech and other investments,” he continues. “However, these investments largely reflect insurers understanding of the market environment and the need to evolve to more agile, customer focused models which take advantage of the rapid advances in technology.”
Malhotra’s comments come after Accenture released a study suggesting that “living businesses” could stand to gain from the upheaval currently working its way through the insurance landscape.
“Living businesses are customer-centric and adopt fluid models and flexible platforms and talent,” Malhotra tells Insurance Business. “They have a profound understanding of their customers and adapt and innovate constantly, at speed and scale, to remain hyper-relevant.”
According to the Accenture report, insurers could increase their worldwide revenue potential by as much as $375 billion within the next five years, if they are able to become a living business.
“These living businesses will emerge as leaders while those that choose not to act may struggle to remain relevant, enabling some companies to capture customers and market share from their less responsive competitors,” says Malhotra.
“They look beyond their core business, and find new sources of value for customers and new reasons to engage meaningfully with them on a much more frequent, if not a daily basis. They strive for flexibility, adaptability and simplicity, rather than worrying about ‘being right’ 100% of the time,” he continues.
“The time to look to this model is now, when digital disruption is putting the traditional business model under pressure and simultaneously creating exciting new opportunities.”
