Insurance Practice
How top tech
trends will transform
insurance
Over the next decade, the fully tech-enabled insurer will bear little
resemblance to today’s organization. Five trends, individually and in
combination, will have a seismic impact.
September 2021
© Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images
by Krish Krishnakanthan, Doug McElhaney, Nick Milinkovich, and Adi Pradhan
A handful of accelerating technology trends are
poised to transform the very nature of insurance.
In auto insurance, risk will shift from drivers to
the artificial intelligence (AI) and software behind
self-driving cars. Satellites, drones, and real-
time data sets will give insurers unprecedented
visibility into the risk around facilities, leading to
greater accuracy. Claims processing after natural
catastrophes will be automated, infinitely scalable,
and lightning fast. The life insurance industry
will bring to market “wrapped” products that
seamlessly adjust coverage based on the evolving
needs of their customers.
These scenarios aren’t science fiction. The
technologies behind them already exist, and
innovative offerings could become mainstream in
the next decade. Our analysis explored the impact
of ten rapidly accelerating trends most relevant
to competitive advantage.¹ Of these ten, five are
poised to reshape the insurance landscape: applied
AI, distributed infrastructure, future of connectivity,
next-level automation, and trust architecture. The
prevalence of these technologies also means
insurers could face heightened competition from a
new wave of digital attackers, as evidenced by the
large number of greenfield insurers founded in the
past three to five years.
To survive, incumbents will have to adapt their
operating models, products, and core processes
to a new reality. All executives must understand
the impact of these technologies and ensure
their organizations are positioned to unlock their
potential. Leaders will need to let go of entrenched
perceptions and business models and embrace new
ways to manu