Counterpart’s Hackett says lack of insurance industry AI expertise is slowing pace of adoption
(The Insurer) - Despite AI tech adoption now dominating boardroom discussions, insurance companies struggling to understand the technology are slowing the pace of its adoption, according to Tanner Hackett, CEO of management liability insurtech MGA Counterpart.
Hackett spoke to The Insurer TV in an interview at last month’s WSIA Underwriting Summit in Phoenix, Arizona, where he said it has been “encouraging” to see discussions of AI adoption at the boardroom level.
“It's become a conversation topic in every boardroom, in every underwriting summit and every claims management meeting, and they're realizing there's going to be a massive dichotomy between those businesses that are embracing the future and those that are stuck in the past,” Hackett said.
The Counterpart CEO said that “it’s safe to say (insurance buying) is an inefficient process."
“There's a lot of disgruntled stakeholders about how it's conducted, and people recognize that this adoption of technology is the path forward,” Hackett explained.
“We're called Counterpart for a reason, and this is our call to arms for the industry to step up. And we know that there's demand,” he added.
Hackett said that carriers, brokers and entrepreneurs alike have been looking “for someone to be the beacon to usher in this change."
“People want it. They just don't know how to get there. There's a lack of urgency and frankly, there's a lack of expertise on how to utilize these tools,” he commented, while acknowledging that the insurance sector “will always be” a relationship-based industry.
“So how do you attack this? Well, you partner with the people that are really smart and understand this industry,” he explained.
“You unpack what are the pain points that they're feeling, and then you're toggling with them, you're iterating in the system on how you can change. Because this is the whole misnomer of disruption. This is not what people want,” he commented.
“They don't want disruption, they want continuity, but they want us to constantly be inching up the bar of expectations for all these stakeholders,” he added.
“And so, a great insurtech company, which I think Counterpart is one of those that really stands out, are ones that are partnering with these insurance industry experts and pairing them with the technology to lead the way,” Hackett commented.
Hackett said Counterpart is launching new tools on a weekly basis across underwriting and claims, has the ability to turn around submissions two to five times faster than the general industry and has written around 13,000 accounts.
He also said that Counterpart adjudicates claims in half the time of the industry average and that the use of AI technology will accelerate his firm’s ability to scale.
“I think that's safe to say. We're more nimble, right? We can experiment faster,” he commented.
“I am sympathetic to a large carrier that has established systems, hierarchy, etc., that they're looking at ways to transform the industry or their operations,” he continued.
“It's going to take a lot of courage, in order for them to re-factor every one of their processes to try to keep pace with a company like Counterpart that's innovating at our rapid speed,” Hackett noted.
