“The time is now.”
Though not the official strapline of Genasys Technologies, Andre Symes’ summation of the opportunities facing the multinational insurance software solutions provider is a fitting synopsis of the firm’s approach to strategic growth.
2023 is already proving a landmark year for Genasys which recently announced its expansion via two business units in South Africa and the rejigging of its leadership team. Touching on the restructure which has seen Symes (pictured) named group CEO and his long-term business partner Craig Olivier stepping up as chief technology officer, he noted that the move is a natural progression of the roles he and Olivier have always gravitated towards.
It's an especially timely update given Genasys’ rapid ongoing expansion which includes new customers, bigger projects, and advancements into new territories. Inevitably, he said, such growth demands greater structure and with that now in place, the focus is on leveraging that growth to the benefit of businesses and the wider insurance market alike.
“This is a progression,” he said, “but for all intents and purposes, we will still try to maintain a flat structure within our company, so that anybody in the organisation still has full access to Craig and myself. Craig and I are a package deal, we’ve been business partners for going on 15 years and we will remain that way.”
Building on this stable foundation, Genasys’ plans for the year ahead can be broadly condensed into the business doing, “more of the same, but more and better.” Symes highlighted that the firm’s success to date can be largely attributed to its approach of only partnering with fit-for-purpose customers which the team knows it can help.
“Our plan is very boring,” he said. “We simply want to sell more of our technology to customers that need it both in our existing space and in new territories. We have found that tier two, three and four carriers, and the larger MGAs, really do benefit from taking on technology like ours – which has the stability of the larger players but the agility of insurtechs.
“There are a few players that do that well and we are one of them and I think we’ve probably got one of the most comprehensive backend systems in the market from an insurance technology point of view. And the time is right for us because we’re seeing a lot more organisations zeroing in on their emerging risks and asking the big questions about how they can start really innovating.”
Those firms asking those questions are coming up against the brick wall that is backend systems that don’t have the architectural ability and flexibility to make changes quickly, effectively and cheaply. Insurance businesses want to try the “art of the possible”, Symes said, and they want to implement new ideas that don’t cost a fortune if they don’t work out but which can be scaled up effectively if they do – which is where Genasys steps in.
“This is not about digital transformation,” he said. “We’ve been saying for quite some time now that the concept of digital transformation should be out because no one transforms. What you have to do is evolve, and do that in baby steps and alongside a company like Genasys which is giving you great best practice advice as well as some of the best technology.
“[…] We enable our partners to take a shot at something innovative without having to bet the house on it. And that’s so important because once you de-risk a decision, that decision becomes easier to make and people start actually evolving.”
It’s a state of affairs that Symes, Olivier and their team are already seeing translating across the insurance ecosystem. Symes highlighted how Genasys’ clients now include more and more traditional market players which are bucking the trend of their 100-plus year histories to embrace meaningful change by moving onto its platform and launching new products.
There are several key factors behind this significant mindset shift, he said, and chief among them is the impact of the pandemic. COVID-19 opened the eyes of organisations, not just across the insurance industry, but also more broadly to the understanding that nobody knows what the next “big event” is going to be that demands wholesale change. Companies are now asking how they can position themselves to react and pivot to whatever that event may be, and are embracing the role that having the right technology will play in facilitating that.
“Partnering with a platform like Genasys where we have the ability to plug in and change your business very quickly, is effectively an insurance policy,” he said. “If you want to pivot from travel insurance in the next lockdown to selling pandemic cover, well, you can do that with Genasys in a couple of weeks. We’re able to offer customers that peace of mind, that should something terrible happen, at least they can adjust, evolve and launch new products.”
The cost-of-living crisis is another consideration, he said, as it is impacting people’s ability to pay for policies which is, in turn, leading to insurance policies coming under increased scrutiny. A grudge purchase at the best of times, the financial squeeze facing consumers and businesses alike is calling the genuine value of insurance propositions into question.
Some organisations including the likes of CFC, ManyPets, Arma Karma and Equipsme have leaned into this challenge, he said, and are going the extra mile to showcase the value ecosystem around their product offering. For other insurers, the gauntlet has been truly laid down – “if you don’t start offering your policyholders some kind of genuine value, they’re going to move somewhere else.”
For the Genasys team which has yet to find a challenge they won’t at least try to turn into an opportunity for the insurance industry, these market conditions represent an exciting time to be in business.
“I’m excited about where Genasys is and the amazing team we’ve managed to build over the last year and a half,” Symes said. “We have a team that is genuinely passionate about making changes in the insurance industry that the policyholder can benefit from and we are already seen people who are having improving experiences with insurance companies because of the technology we provide them.
“And the more people that are happier with insurance, the better it is for the insurance industry, it's a snowball effect. And the dream that we [at Genasys] share with Nigel Walsh from Google is that we do want to make insurance lovable. But to do that you have to surround it with value-added services that people actually want.”
Discover more - Genasys Technologies: Insurance technology with a difference
