Industry lags behind when it comes to digital, says Duperreault

The insurance industry has been an analogue laggard rather than a digital leader, according to Brian Duperreault, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Hamilton Insurance Group.  Duperreault was speaking at AM Best's 23rd annual conference in Scottsdale, Arizona.  He said that the clock is ticking on responding to the needs of a digital world and that the industry is doing business in an age that’s profoundly different from anything its ever experienced. “Virtually every industry has been redefined by an increasingly demanding customer and it’s doing the same to ours,” he said. “And for many companies, there’s not much time left to figure out how to stay in the game. It just a shift in market forces. The market has always been changing, and we’re used to that. This is something entirely different.” He added: “Given the digital world we’re living in and the impact of real-time communication through social media, the market’s voice is much more crystallised. There’s an immediacy, an intimacy that we’ve never had to deal with before. This is a voice that’s loud, clear and specific.” Duperreault said that there is a generation of 80 million Americans who see the world through a digital lens and said that they’re going to be the buyers and sellers of the industry’s products.  He added: “They’re going to run our companies. As the largest voting bloc in the US, they’re going to elect our governments.” The CEO said companies need to focus on how to build a sustainable company, how to be smart about data, and how to strip waste out of the industry in order to remain competitive.  In regards to data, he said that understanding it, finding correlations and eliminating bias can help the industry develop policies that are better written, more comprehensive and more relevant. He also said being smart about data also helps firms come to grips with emerging risks, particularly cyber.