I’ve always been fascinated by space exploration and have followed NASA since childhood. In 1992, to deliver results quicker, they launched an initiative called “Faster, better, cheaper”. Coincidentally, these are also the organisational benefits many associate with automation.
For a process-driven industry like insurance, automation provides a world of possibilities – streamlined workflows, faster, more accurate underwriting and a chance to improve margins while generating more revenue.
A base-level approach usually involves Robotic Process Automation (RPA), allowing companies to let technology take over some time-intensive tasks from humans. RPA is a valuable first foray into automation because quick wins (i.e., time and money saved) become readily apparent. We tell our clients that this should only be done as a last resort to meet a temporary tactical need.
However, an over-reliance on conventional automation can unknowingly become another legacy resource that makes insurers less flexible to changing variables and customer needs. A shift toward intelligent automation looks at how system design can benefit automation (and vice versa).
Here, we’ll explore how this automation outlook improves insurance workflows and how insurers can you build a finely tuned intelligent automation strategy.
The advantages of intelligent automation
Though rife with opportunities and potential for the industry, traditional automation is still an approach that gives insurers pause. Day-to-day insurance operations rely heavily on complex processes, legacy systems and accurate data to provide coverage – leaving any of those elements in the hands of automation can make decision-makers slow to embrace the technology.
Intelligent automation is designed around those mission-critical insurance needs. That way, inefficient processes aren’t automated, empowering providers to give proactive, real-time service to the end user. With a refined intelligent automation strategy, insurers can take more strategic and advantageous approaches to:
- Repeatable processes
Repetitiveness is core to insurance processes. From form filling to mid-term adjustment processing to data searches, insurance teams must conduct due diligence in these areas regularly to make sure risk is properly vetted.
Intelligent automation can sync with existing legacy systems to handle some of the more time-consuming tasks, and it does so with real-time factors in mind to remove the need for rekeying. Integrating intelligent automation into legacy workflows enables these repetitive tasks to be done in a time - and cost - effective manner while extending the shelf life of valuable legacy solutions.
- Data gathering and validation
Risk assessment thrives on high data volumes. But manually gathering and verifying all that information takes time, plus the process is vulnerable to human error. With intelligent automation, these critical steps can occur faster and with more accuracy.
First, it can gather information from unstructured text, image and video formats to better inform underwriters. Then, that information can be integrated with machine learning (ML) properties, allowing the automation to be a more relevant, actionable and compliant asset for underwriters and leaders.
- Monitoring
Insurers provide value to customers through a litany of adverse and unforeseen situations. Climate risks, weather occurrences and global issues happen, sometimes making companies more reactive in terms of the support they can provide.
Manually responding to all the trends and unplanned events can be difficult. AI and Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities provide intelligent automation with the data needed to allow providers to get out in front of developing situations that might impact policyholders. IoT sensors can provide on-the-ground readings, then connect that information with any actionable benchmarks the insurer might have.
For instance, if a pending hurricane hits a certain category, intelligent automation can provide alerts to insurers along with potential action steps. In this scenario, the automation helps insurers act accurately and in good faith to policyholders.
Intelligent automation amplifies all these insurance processes to help companies make a decision that is profitable to them and protective of the policyholder.
How to build a viable intelligent automation strategy
What’s needed to build an intelligent automation approach that scales? Consider these steps:
- Revisit processes and systems
Intelligent automation provides its most value when it works hand in hand with existing systems and processes. Before investing or committing to any technology, look at your company’s goals, targets and values and the workflows that contribute to them.
Will automation improve or worsen any current systems? Will it make any of them redundant? Ask these questions (and others) before embracing intelligent automation fully so you’re not devoting time and resources into something that is no longer relevant. - Prepare data
As you continue to build out a strategy and integrate it into your workflow explore your data repositories and determine where they best fit in the automation workflow.
Ensure the data is accurate and applicable before using it so your automation provides accurate, useful outputs that help you assess risk and provide support with more clarity. Remember that some intelligent automation solutions will require data, but others may not. - Assess infrastructure and capability needs
As you’re validating data sources and requirements, also assess your infrastructure’s capabilities. Specifically, look for potential barriers that could hinder implementing intelligent automation.
Those gaps might also reveal a need to build foundational new APIs or AI duties, such as pre-filling forms or data extraction. Log these gaps upfront so it doesn’t disrupt integrating the system down the road.
- Look for early victories
Intelligent automation is an investment in long-term insurance operations. But to make sure the technology has future viability, determine some quick wins to assess its effectiveness.
Can automation help underwriters quote customers quicker? How much manual input time can it save teams on a daily, weekly or monthly basis? Establish those targets and see where things stand after 60, 90 or 120 days. Those wins can build goodwill with stakeholders and show how automation can scale to provide support in other areas.
Automation provides insurers myriad foundational benefits. But an intelligent approach helps automation provide more human, profit-friendly and streamlined advantages to insurers.
Keen to explore the use cases and nuances of intelligent automation in more depth? Download our e-book!