There is a great long piece at Carrier Management on how two of the most pressing challenges on insurance are related. Those two challenges are the ubiquitous, dreaded legacy systems (i.e. old technology) and the lack of young talented people entering the industry. The following quote from Michael LaRocco, CEO of State Auto Insurance Companies, sums it up perfectly, and vividly:
The reality of our crappy technology and our old legacy systems and the old way we do business is part of that problem. It’s not going to be attractive for someone to come to a company and work on a green screen. That’s not going to do it for them.
When stated so well, it’s obvious. Insurance has historically struggled with technological innovation, and that struggle has made aging demographics a problem. The essay goes deeper into that crux, but really, these two sentences are all they needed to publish – it’s a proper money quote, and impossible to disagree with.
