Ten innovators to watch in the re/insurance industry

Marc Archambault

Chief executive officer of Life & Health, PartnerRe

Marc Archambault, chief executive officer of Life & Health at PartnerRe, is responsible for pioneering projects that offer clients greater insights and growth and that leverage technology to better underwrite risk.

In 2021, the company launched DUET Edge, a digital underwriting solution for life insurers that is designed to help drive growth for PartnerRe’s clients.

Under Archambault’s leadership, the business developed this digital underwriting solution so its life reinsurance clients can automate their risk underwriting. It means that medical underwriting and vocational, sports and international travel risks are all handled through an interactive online path, which is seamlessly linked to predictive algorithms.

In 2019, PartnerRe launched a wearables pilot with Dacadoo, a pioneer in the digital health space. This pilot banked valuable knowledge about wearables technology. Further work, using PartnerRe’s advanced data analytics capability, enabled the group to share insights with life and health clients.

Archambault is a member of PartnerRe’s Executive Leadership Team and has worked in the industry for three decades.

Mark Budd

Head of innovation, Zurich Insurance

As UK head of innovation at Zurich Insurance, Mark Budd leads the team of Innovation Foundry, an initiative that focuses on working with long-time partners from scratch rather than looking to merge with or acquire them at a later date.

He is also an advocate of sustainability and in June this year, supported Zurich UK’s launch of a new smart building product, called Zurich Insite. This is designed to help businesses cut property losses and boost sustainability. It uses self-installed smart sensors that monitor the real-time ‘health’ of buildings to support operational efficiency, risk reduction and optimised energy use. The tech analyses operational and environmental data flowing around buildings and can collect up to 26,000 data points every hour ranging from building temperature and air quality to occupancy levels and lighting.

Budd said that unlocking the power of data is the key to achieving safer, smarter and more sustainable buildings.

“By providing more effective controls over energy usage, this technology can help businesses to enhance their efficiency, reduce utility costs and promote a greener workplace. This is even more critical as firms adapt to changing occupancy levels brought on by agile working,” he said.

Ryan Cole

Vice president, head of eIQ Innovation Team, Everest Insurance

As the head of Everest’s eIQ Innovation Team, Ryan Cole works across the insurtech ecosystem of startups, venture capital firms and trading partners championing leading edge technologies. He prides himself on eIQ being a trusted partner for each business unit and measures success by delivering impactful innovation that solves meaningful problems rather than just bringing in shiny new initiatives.

Cole is clear that getting the change management process right is fundamental to the success of tech innovation. To ensure an engaged change management process, his eIQ team works directly with business units across a division to drive thoughtful and practical change rather than resorting to the traditional approach where innovation is the responsibility of one team or it happens in silos in a business.

As part of the collaborative process, Cole focuses on laying the groundwork for successful engagement. He ensures that the team defines change management upfront, provides transparency around what artificial intelligence technologies can actually do and offers a reality check on what and how much work needs to be done.

He recognises the importance of identifying a project champion/early adopter to drive adoption and ensures that there’s a keen focus on the biggest solvable pain point in the initial plan. Cole also advocates for keeping the bigger picture in mind in terms of the potential future value and ability to expand on the project.

Mónica García Cristobal

Head of transformation, Mapfre

Mónica García Cristobal recognises that while the pandemic has been a traumatic catalyst for the transformation of customer service it has also reinforced the use of new technologies that have clear benefits now and in the future.

García Cristobal has flagged telemedicine as one such example and acknowledges that while it might appear to be mainly active in developed countries, the technology has the potential to democratise access to health care in developing countries. This is particularly significant as 3G continues to connect ever more remote areas.

Mapfre’s head of transformation is known for being strategically committed to innovation and understanding that technology is an accelerator in the face of changing customer needs. “Innovation is one of the necessary steps towards transformation. And, like transformation, it must involve the entire company. That’s why it’s important for it to be organised and reinforced through corporate strategies,” she said, speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2021.

Commenting on Mapfre’s partnership with Amazon, she said: “After the situation we have been through with the pandemic, we are more emotional and seek more simplicity. We need to respond to customers in real time, in a personalised way, and be more timely and also more relevant. We need to microsegment. Artificial intelligence can help us better understand and serve customer needs.

“We care about families and young people. We must identify their tastes and preferences, and find out what they need. That’s why we’ll be on the channels where they are, such as Amazon and Twitch.”

Georges Desvaux

Chief strategy and business development officer, AXA

Georges Desvaux believes that digital innovation is at the heart of driving progress and recognises that traditional insurance is no longer the answer to evolving client risks.

His stated ambition is to help shape and execute the global transformation of AXA from payor to partner for all the company’s clients, particularly in commercial lines and in health and protection. To achieve this, he said, will mean redefining the value insurance can add.

Desvaux joined AXA in 2019 as chief strategy and business development officer and is part of the company’s Management Committee. Before this he enjoyed a 30-year career at McKinsey & Company where he held a number of senior roles in the US, Germany, Belgium, France, China, Japan and Africa. He held the post of senior partner in McKinsey’s Hong Kong office, where he co-led the Insurance and Private Equity Practice in North Asia and served on McKinsey’s global governing body, the Shareholders’ Council and chaired its Governance Committee.

He is an advocate of developing senior talent and is a keen mentor and sponsor of younger colleagues. He also champions gender diversity and initiated the “Women Matter” McKinsey’s research series on the role of women in corporations.