"There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen".
I'm not in the habit of quoting Vladimir Lenin. However, this Lenin quote feels very appropriate in 2025. Decades are happening in weeks.
It feels like everything is changing and evolving all around us.
In the world of insurance, some existential events loom over the entire industry. Catastrophic events like the Los Angeles wildfires, New Zealand flood and landslip events, more frequently devastating storm events causing widespread wind and water damage - the list is global and seemingly endless. The effect on communities is profound - insurance coverage if you can get it at all gets more expensive. Providers of insurance leave markets entirely, and new providers and options show up.
Throw in geo-political instability - wars, threats of tariffs, changes to multi-lateral structures and inter-country relationships - natural disaster uncertainty is augmented by geopolitical and societal uncertainly. It makes it pretty hard to price an insurance offering that covers a wide range of perils.
For consumers, costs of everything feel like they are escalating faster than their paychecks. So they are looking for ways to manage that in their lives. Insurance is part of that equation - can health insurance help me manage the ceiling of costs for my family's health-related expenses? Am I ready to assume more financial risk on my car insurance by having a higher deductible to reduce my premium? Can my insurance provider somehow help me save money instead of just giving them money? Can I lower my spending in other ways, like joining a community scheme rather than doing it myself? Insurance remains a grudge purchase in a world where consumers and businesses have less share of their wallet for things they don't consider absolutely necessary.
People covered by insurance products expect a convenient, clear and understandable service experience, whether they are buying a product, paying for it, using it, making changes to it, and especially when they are making claims on it.
What insurance is, what it does, what it costs and who it is for is evolving faster than at any time in the industry's history.
When companies like Salesforce are reportedly paying Matthew McConaughey $10 million to make global TV ads touting the benefits of AI powered "agents" to deliver customer service, you know that some serious money and effort is going into the development of new AI-assisted service delivery capability.
The insurance industry is a notoriously slow adopter of new technology in their core business processes. However, McKinsey and virtually every other industry analyst assess that the insurance industry will be massively impacted by AI, especially in areas like sales and marketing and customer service.
Corporates are already asking themselves the question - rather than outsource customer service to a lower cost offshore destination - can we outsource it to an AI-powered process?
The hype and promise is still ahead of the actual reality, but the trend is very clear. Technology-enabled customer service delivery will only accelerate over time. Technology-assisted software development is also accelerating.
Insurers operate in highly regulated environments - they have to navigate the tension between innovating quickly, and demonstrating safety and prudence to regulators and the general public. But the general public will not stand still, and if traditional insurers and insurance products don't meet their needs, new solutions will come onto the playing field.
Here are a few things we keep reminding ourselves at Sentro - as we are part of this change ourselves.
Times of change can be exciting and frightening at the same time. For a slow-to-change industry like insurance, the turbulent times of 2025 will almost certainly be a catalyst for change in the way the industry works.