Driving Your Organization Forward with Advanced Analytics

A recap of AgentSync Co-Founder Jenn Knight’s panel at the 2023 Insurtech Insights Conference

With the insurtech landscape becoming increasingly competitive, insurers are feeling the pressure to step up their game and use cutting-edge analytics, such as AI and machine learning, to stay ahead.

In June of this year, AgentSync co-founder and CTO, Jenn Knight, joined a panel of industry experts at Insurtech Insights America in New York to explore the best practices and challenges of investing in advanced analytics in the insurance industry. What follows is a summary of Knight’s main points from the discussion: “Driving Your Organization Forward with Advanced Analytics”. 

How SaaS companies can bridge the business data gap 

The conversation started with panelists discussing leading practices in analytics and to what extent they’re currently ‌employed in the insurance space. Knight was quick to point out an area where she sees organizations fail to make the case for data-driven analytics to their customers. 

Advanced technology like this can be scary, especially to an outsider who doesn’t speak the language of data analytics. Rather than placing big, complex technology in front of your customer and asking “What do you think?”, Knight urged SaaS businesses to create a more thoughtful bridge between the customer’s problem and their solution. 

Building that bridge can be a long process, but for insurance clients to get on board with a solution, they need to understand its value. Once both parties are on the same page, you can begin offering support and building trust with your customer. 

“We’ve found that, as our customers get more familiar with the data, they ask more thoughtful questions and we can provide more interesting answers,” said Knight. A customer who doesn’t have at least a basic understanding of how the technology works might miss key capabilities and feel unsatisfied with the product. 

Your customers should feel empowered and knowledgable about how to use your solution to drive better results for their business. 

Data-driven analysis requires an environment of learning, not fear

As the conversation turned to the challenges facing organizations trying to become data-driven, Knight emphasized the importance of fostering a culture of curiosity rather than fear. 

Speaking from personal experience, Knight recalled an advantage she was afforded during her time working for LinkedIn that sticks with her to this day. A data analyst at the company offered a multi-week course to anyone at the company who wished to attend. The course was aimed at helping the entire organization become more data literate, have more access, and feel empowered to answer data-related questions. 

Not only have the skills Knight learned in that course ‌served her throughout her entire career, she said, it also showed her the importance of data accessibility. 

Limiting access to advanced data models can limit ‌the people closest to the problem from feeling like they have the knowledge and ability to do their job. Like LinkedIn did when it offered a data course to its entire staff, organizations should foster a culture of curiosity and accessibility around data rather than one of fear and restriction.

When an error occurs, instead of saying “you shouldn’t have touched that, you should have sent it to someone else,” companies should create a space and support mechanism that encourages learning and asking for help when you reach a stopping point.

How tech vendors can create a successful partnership

The panelists discussed the logistics of outsourcing certain functions of analytics. Knight pointed out that, as a vendor, a lot of AgentSync’s success has to do with who is on the other side and what expertise and support they bring to the table. 

There’s a lower chance of success when a business is sold the idea that a tool is going to come in and solve all their problems with absolutely no support from the business itself. In fact, that’s rarely the case. When a business purchases a data-driven solution, it should be an extension of a team or department rather than a full replacement. 

Knight noted the most successful interactions for AgentSync are when businesses have someone on the inside with a deep expertise of the problem they are trying to solve, they’re just lacking the solutions they need to answer it. 

When the customer understands how AgentSync can be that solution, the lightbulb clicks on and the conversation really starts to take off. Having that level of understanding empowers the customer to ask deeper questions and obtain higher value from the solution. 

Remaining successful as your company grows

As the discussion came to an end, panelists shared their advice for successfully remaining data driven as your company grows and scales. 

Knight’s advice: Never skirt the foundations. It’s easy for company standards around things like data quality and data governance to erode over time, especially as they begin to scale up. It’s important to think about what you need to do today so that as the data gets more complex, whether it be six, eight, or twelve months down the line, you can maintain trust and confidence in it. 

In the insurance industry, you can’t discuss foundations without compliance management. To see how AgentSync can help you scale your agency, carrier, or MGA/MGU without also increasing your compliance costs, schedule a demo today.