Amelia Lowe, Vice President of Operations, SquareTrade, discusses how AI is helping InsurTech providers change the game through improved customer experiences, hyper-personalised services, and optimised operations.
AI adoption is moving at pace. From assistants on our phones to washing machines that can automatically run the right loads, AI is becoming an intrinsic part of how we work, live and learn. Already worth more than £16.8 billion, the UK AI market is expected to grow to over £800 billion by 2035. Clearly, in a few years, we’ll be looking back and wondering what we ever did without AI – just as, today, we can’t quite fathom how we got by without a smartphone.
AI for better customer experience
As we go through this period of rapid AI adoption, consumer behaviours are changing, as are their demands. Quicker, slicker and more personalised. That’s the expectation for great customer service – a cumbersome, one size fits all approach won’t cut it. The bar has been set higher than it has ever been before, and businesses worldwide are working hard to keep up. They’re looking at the latest AI innovations to see how they can transform their own operations to become more streamlined, save costs and – most importantly – put customer experience at the heart of everything they do.
As they embark on these journeys, the next few years will see AI push the boundaries of what we thought was possible for customer experience. In the future, everything will be personalised to customer preference, and they’ll feel – more than ever before – that their needs are prioritised above all else.
Changing the game in InsurTech
AI will dominate all industries, but perhaps none more than InsurTech. The nature of insurance and the impact AI will have on the way brands engage customers means it’ll be a game-changer for this industry, largely due to the longer-term, closer relationships InsurTechs should be forming with their customers.
After all, insurance policies are designed to be a promise; when customers buy insurance, they’re purchasing a longer-term commitment that they will be taken care of in the future, should they need support.
Delighting customers with radical customer centricity
AI presents the industry with the single greatest opportunity to bring this to life. Which is why we’re already putting it into action.
For a while now, insurance companies have been automating data to make underwriting and pricing decisions based on existing patterns or algorithms. But we’ve gone beyond that; adding AI to data to achieve radical customer centricity.
Think of a world where representatives in call centres are empowered to have hyper-personalised conversations with customers based on an intelligent understanding of both their needs and their “sentiment.” We don’t just mean conversations which provide answers or mitigate problems – these go a step further. We’re helping agents offer solutions to customer that provide more benefit based on their needs and looking at providing resolution to issues that haven’t even happened yet. To talk to customers
AI to aid customer service training
But it’s not just what’s on the outside that counts. AI is a very powerful tool when applied to employee training and development, as well as the onboarding of new hires.
AI can create virtual, real-life insurance simulations for new and existing employees to practise and learn top notch customer service in a hands-on manner within a risk-free environment. Or perhaps a new member of the team has a question about how to help a customer on the phone? AI chatbot assistants can provide all the help they need, right when they need it.
Further to the above, AI can analyse employee performance data to recommend, or even create, personalised training programs tailored to their individual needs and learning styles. AI will assist greatly with prioritising learning gaps and opportunities for individual learners, ensuring everyone is equipped to provide the best possible support to customers. These are all propositions we’ve either kicked off already, or are working on.
Ethical and cybersecurity considerations
Of course, as with any new technology or opportunity for transformation, AI deployments do come with some considerations, particularly when it comes to the privacy and ethical use of data. In terms of ethics, it’s always important to be aware of the local legal, regulatory and compliance obligations in the markets you’re operating in. This will help you make the right decisions regarding your implementation. But we’d always advise that AI is operated with human oversight, transparency, fairness in decision making – and without bias (positive or negative discrimination).
In terms of cybersecurity, appropriate safeguards around data collection, use, accuracy and retention need to be in place. Integration of AI without appropriate surface security can leave your system more vulnerable to malicious attackers. AI systems can be targeted directly through hacking to manipulate the model, steal data or to feed systems wrong or malicious information to adversely affect the decisions the technology is making. In the EU, the GDPR itself includes detailed rules on protecting data, automated decision making with the need for human checks, controls and interventions to counter the risk of bias, and to protect data subject’s interests.
An AI-based future
It’s an exciting road ahead as AI continues to push the boundaries of what businesses and consumers think possible. But, as these boundaries are pushed, consumer expectations will be too. We’re already leading the way in embracing AI to put customers at the heart of everything they do, and if AI is going to shape the way we work live and play, we’d urge others to follow suit too.
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