Take, for example, the distribution of life insurance, which is a highly fragmented, time-consuming and frustrating process. With no quick fix in sight, Pacific Life Re built an entirely new point of sale underwriting platform that aggregates and simplifies the process for agents and advisors to make their lives easier and help them serve more customers. The result was UnderwriteMe, a platform which synthesizes all the different carrier requirements so agents have to deal with one system, one log-in and one application. Daniel Hermansson, Pacific Re’s AVP of Corporate Strategy, said reflexive technology makes this data capture a manageable experience.

‘There are now over a dozen carriers signed up and last year 20% of UK term life insurance was processed through the UnderwriteMe platform,’ he said, adding that the focus now is to streamline applications for those who, due to age or medical requirements, can’t access the accelerated process. This will involve turning to new data sources, such as electronic health records and data from wearables.

Using data and digital technologies to remove pain points and streamline operations is essential – and not just because of costs. As younger generations, with their on-demand expectations, become major consumers of insurance, it’s clear that seamless onboarding, accelerated underwriting, personalized CX and instant decisioning are going to be table stakes in the very near future, if they’re not already. Only AI and digital technology can close this capability gap at speed.