The next generation is primed to meet industry challenges
Over the next 15 years, half of the current insurance workforce will retire, according to estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, less than 25 percent of employees in the insurance industry are under 35 years old. As older employees exit the workforce over the next decade, over 400,000 positions will be unfilled nationwide.
In addition to changes in the workforce, the insurance landscape is undergoing rapid changes. New technologies are changing the way insurers do business, and the risk profiles of previously understood verticals, such as home and flood insurance, have been drastically altered in the last decade.
Meanwhile, universities, insurers and brokers are working together to ensure the growth and relevance of the industry. They are creatively preparing students for the field with hands-on experience, internships, and exposure to the latest insurance technologies. Ultimately, their goal is to contribute to a more dynamic, skilled, and future-ready insurance workforce.
Here, three professionals answer questions about the future of insurance through various lenses:
- Kevin Croft is an Associate Professor of Practice and Director of the Kelly Center for Insurance Innovation at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
- Susan Kearney is Associate Director for the Maguire Academy of Insurance and Risk Management at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, PA.
- Taruja Deshmukh is the Insurtech Solutions Manager at Conner Strong & Buckelew, a top 30 U.S. insurance brokerage and a founding partner of BrokerTech Ventures.
How is your organization helping students meet modern challenges within the insurance industry?
Croft: “Our curriculum is focused on helping students graduate with the nuts and bolts they need to be successful, and the skills employers are expecting. Coursework provides room for case studies, as there is no shortfall of real-world events to discuss in class. We work with area insurers, brokers and carriers to provide meaningful internship programs. We are located in Des Moines, where 75 insurers are headquartered, so there are ample opportunities. In addition to internships, we augment learning by having industry experts join us to discuss real life examples. Insurance is just like any other business, so our program is open to all majors. In addition to actuarial science and risk management, we need people with skills in marketing, law, finance, management, accounting, and the list goes on.”
Kearney: “Our curriculum is deeply committed to preparing students to meet the modern challenges within the insurance industry. We offer a broad range of opportunities for our students, including scholarships, internships, and co-op experiences, networking with industry professionals, mentorships, student travel, and competitions, and ultimately, career placement with leading employers. In our curriculum, we offer courses on topics such as data analytics, insurtech, cyber, and enterprise risk management. These courses are designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of the industry. As part of the course work, students have the opportunity to work on solving real life industry problems by working with industry partners We have a board with over 50 insurance, reinsurance, and brokers who support our program here, so there is a lot of real-world application and learning. This strong industry connection enables us to bring that expertise into the classroom to enhance practical relevance. We're also aligning with industry designations and certifications. For example, with data analytics, the students can work toward an Associate in Insurance Data Analytics® (AIDA) designation. So, when they graduate, they have this incredible real-world experience and hold (or have parts towards) industry-recognized industry designations that set them apart.”
Deshmukh: “Conner Strong's training department has developed a robust internship program. Students work with a team to get hands on, day-to-day experience of what it's like to work in the industry, but they also have the opportunity to hear directly from many of our senior leaders about different practices areas and topics, including alternative risk programs, data and technology, and more, to get a holistic understanding of broker operations, emerging trends, and challenges.”
What kinds of partnerships, programs and hands-on experiences are students experiencing?
Croft: “Student interns work alongside insurtech start-up founders. Last year, we had the leaders of BTV and the Global Insurance Accelerator in to discuss how accelerators work. We also bring in investors and carriers that invest in startups, as well as private equity firms. We host “disruption days,” a case competition where we bring in an expert to create a case about something relating to either a disruption or an innovation in the insurance space, and then have the students work on their case presentation and share it the following day. We host the Drake Risk and Opportunity Forum, a professional level conference with a steering group of executives and chief risk officers. We discuss insurance-related topics, such as fraud, the economy, or the impact of climate change, so students have the opportunity to engage with professionals in those fields. There is so much more we could talk about. The program hits on all cylinders, and it’s really an accelerant to someone's career.”
Kearney: “Aside from internships, we are out there collaborating with the insurtech industry, bringing in insurtech startups to talk about AI-based or blockchain solutions, for example, to give our students a firsthand look at various technologies and how they are being applied in real-world scenarios. In addition to hosting the InsureTech PHL conference, our students also attend a variety of insurtech and industry conferences to provide networking and exposure on the latest trends and innovations in the industry. Our program is also unique in terms of working with external partners. In our insurance data analytics course, we work with an industry partner to provide us with large sets of anonymized data and a prompt, and our students work in the lab to solve a problem or produce insights. In our digital transformation in insurance course, we have an ongoing relationship with BTV, who provides our students an incredible opportunity to work with and analyze some of the insurtech start-ups competing in BTV’s incubator lab. Students have the unique opportunity to work closely with the start-up founders and present their findings and recommendations to BTV and its partner companies. This approach provides opportunities for the students, BTV, and the insurtech startups, so it’s a triple win. We’ve had great feedback. These students are extremely bright and ready to go when they have completed our program. We’re producing future leaders in the industry.”
Deshmukh: “Our interns have the opportunity to participate in client meetings, carrier calls, site visits, and so on. They have found the exposure to the inner workings of a broker, including interactions with various teams, carriers and clients, to be invaluable this early in their career journey. They are able to take what they learn and use that knowledge as a competitive advantage when they enter the workforce, already knowing how to effectively run a meeting, how to respond professionally to a client and how to go about navigating different challenges. Interns are paired with mentors to provide training, feedback, and guidance. Interns collaborate with carrier partners to provide additional learning opportunities. We’ve had our interns act as an underwriter and go through the process of rating accounts over a five-year period, hear networking tips and tricks, network with other interns from the area, and attend industry events.
How are you preparing students to use AI, and other new technologies, efficiently, appropriately, and ethically?
Croft: “We embrace the use of AI as long as it's properly identified as a source or as an idea generator. College is a safe place to try new tools and explore ideas. So, what do the tools show in this area of expertise? Do we agree with the AI results? Why or why not? Certainly, technology needs to be augmented by legal, humanity, and neuroscience. We’re really working on this on a holistic basis as opposed to an isolated approach of being a great programmer. So, the curriculum for an AI major includes philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and ethics classes, in addition to statistics, machine learning, and AI coursework.”
Kearney: “This whole concept of digitization, even though it's been around for a long time in our industry, will continue to evolve. Through coursework, students are learning about different technologies, including AI. They gain an understanding of the various concepts, such as machine learning, and learn the language used by data scientists and computer engineers who are developing the technology. This knowledge allows them to effectively collaborate with technical teams in their future careers. More importantly, our students are learning through real-life projects how these technologies are being used to solve real industry problems. Overall, we pride ourselves on preparing students to be future leaders.”
Deshmukh: “We encourage the student interns to utilize AI within the parameters of our company policies, as a tool to assist in daily tasks and research. In our work with BTV and St. Joe's University, where we recently concluded our second year of the student innovation project, students actually work directly with start-ups that apply to the BTV Accelerator program, with many of those start-ups utilizing AI or other emerging technologies as part of their solutions. The students perform various analyses on the start-ups from a financial and operational perspective and they get feedback on the solutions from industry members, including from the BTV broker community. They then use their research and findings to make recommendations back to the start-up with respect to strategy, product application, etc. It's an interesting and engaging way, we've found, to bring awareness to the students to that aspect of the industry and help prepare them for what they'll encounter as they enter the workforce.”
As the insurance industry continues to navigate the complexities of the modern landscape, insurance companies, brokers and universities will continue to form strategic and creative partnerships. These collaborations are vital to better train the future leaders of the industry, with an emphasis on innovation and out of the box thinking.
Monday, August 19, 2024