.jpg)
The newly appointed chief information officer of Farmers Insurance believes artificial intelligence (AI) can help the company achieve even greater heights.
Paul Wilson has been tapped to serve as Farmers’ newest CIO, succeeding Ron Guerrier (who left to serve Express Scripts Holding as its CIO). Wilson was most recently CIO and group IT leader at Westfield Insurance, and prior to that he served in a number of technology and business roles at Progressive Casualty Insurance for nearly three decades.
One of Wilson’s responsibilities is the utilization of technologies to improve customer experiences. Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, he said that AI and data analytics can be employed to not only enhance the claims process, but also to improve the jobs of Farmers’ employees.
Wilson explained that because consumers these days have become accustomed to the convenience and personalization of e-commerce, insurance companies should aim to make the claims process as quick and easy to accomplish as possible.
For instance, he said that he would not buy from a website that does not provide as many reviews as possible on a product, nor would he purchase from a store that does not let him quickly place and closely track an order for a product. Wilson envisions the insurance purchasing experience achieving the same level of convenience as an online store like Amazon or eBay.
“Level of effort matters in today’s world, and I want to build and support anything we can that’s focused on delivering that kind of experience for folks and to accelerate delivery of new products and features,” he told WSJ. “I strongly believe that is a competitive advantage for an organization.”
He also believes that insurers should leverage AI to automate routine processes, allowing employees to spend more time on more complex problems.
