Updated March 14, 2019   

From blockchain to big data to autonomous vehicles, the last decade has introduced an onslaught of new issues that have disrupted the traditional approach to insurance. Companies are racing to find solutions that make sense in today’s technological, cultural, and economic climate.

According to Ernst & Young’s Global Insurance Trends Analysis 2018, the insurance industry not only showed steady growth in 2018, but also is estimated to increase by another three to four percent by the end of 2019. Insurers looking to capitalize on this financial trend and update systems are adopting strategies to ensure business operations are as streamlined and efficient as possible.

Industry experts have for years been warning of an eminent employee-shortage as baby boomers retire en masse. Loss of highly experienced workers, coupled with the fact most new graduates rarely consider an insurance career, means many companies are losing more workers than they can replace. Insurance Business Magazine refers to the problem a “talent crisis.”

According to a recent study conducted by Novarica, the number of insurance organizations using cloud computing as part of their technology architecture has tripled, growing from less than 20% just a few years ago to more than 70% today. And while the early adoption of cloud computing may have been slow pulling out of the starting gate, it is now more commonplace, becoming a necessary tool for property and casualty insurers looking to make real-time connections between people, services, devices, data, etc.

Over the past year, concerns have been made regarding artificial intelligence replacing many human jobs in the insurance industry, particularly with positions cited as having the highest potential for automation such as underwriting and claims. However, as this advanced technology makes its way into the mass market, new research shows that the collaboration of machines and humans is actually complementary, enhancing current business capabilities in a variety of ways.