Each of our six ACT Tech Summit sessions presented its own unique insights. Panels of exceptional industry experts discussed issues and topics that affect and influence how independent agents do business in today's tech-forward environment. Read more about each of these enlightening conversations.
Things I Wish You Knew – Through The Eyes Of An Agent, Carrier, and Technology Provider
Moderator: Chris Cline
Panelists: Lou Moran III - Inter-Agency Insurance, Sarah Shear - Grange Insurance, Metod Topolnik - SimplePin
The ACT Tech Summit kicked off with an opportunity for each of our stakeholder groups to set the stage for the day with dialog about any number of things on their mind. The resounding theme of the panel, and of the day, was that all parties share a common goal of helping agencies and enhancing the health of the IA channel. As the conversation deepened, we spent a decent amount of time discussing prioritization and it became apparent how that can differ by company and stakeholder group – not due to alignment or intent, but more so by need. The audience found it insightful to hear how agencies and carriers are investing based on internal priorities and the overall prioritization processes within each company, particularly larger carriers. It is clear that there is plenty to work on, but aligning resources in terms of people and funding is a very real conversation and can be challenging. It was fascinating as the panel discussed how our greatest strength, independence, can also be an unintentional barrier in prioritization across such a diverse industry. All panelists echoed the need to focus on fundamentals, the importance of getting core systems updated and set up well for the future, and the importance of transparency and conversations.
Data and Standardization – Harnessing The Power
Moderator: Chris Cline
Panelists: Ryan Deeds - ennable, Ido Deutsch - Agentero, Nick France - ACORD, Max Smith - Synatic
In this session, an excellent panel discussed a fundamental view of what data is as it has become a very hot topic in the industry…and rightfully so. As the panelists shared, the power of data touches nearly every aspect of running an agency or any business and deserves attention and intention. We began with a conversation about standardization and how important it is to begin with a common language. The group acknowledged, similarly to our first panel, that our independence can create challenges here. But, we can all begin to educate staff, align consistent processes, set expectations around compliance, and auditing data entry. The panelists then discussed the risk and upsides of clean and consistent data in an organization. Some of the more significant risks the group cited as being tied to poor and inconsistent data quality: E&O exposure, errors in processing, the need to redo work, employee satisfaction, and overall operational efficiency loss. On the upside, focusing on data integrity and consistent processes enable a better focus on niches, more effective hiring (and firing) decisions, improved agency value, organic growth, and employee satisfaction.
Demystifying API & Integration 2.0
Moderator: Peter MacDonald-Wunderite
Panelists: Shane Foster - Applied Systems, Doug Mohr - Vertafore, Elisabeth Nelson - Liberty Mutual/Safeco, Eric Rentsch - Zywave
This session was a
follow-up to an API presentation we hosted at the April virtual ACT
meeting. Capabilities leveraging API and direct integration are becoming
more common in our industry, but there is still confusion about what is being
enabled and how to best maximize this capability. For this panel, Peter
MacDonald from Wunderwrite moderated an interactive panel. To see a great deep-dive conversation into the audience live-polling with Chris Cline and Peter MacDonald click here!
Walk A Mile In My Shoes
Moderator: Chris Cline
Panelists: Lisa Parry Becker - Parry Insurance, Mike Donner - CNA, Brenna Johnson - EZLynx, Joel Zwicker - Agency Revolution
This session was built as an iterative follow-up to our opening session and presented another opportunity for all stakeholders to discuss industry topics through each other's lens. To no surprise, the panel also quickly aligned around the overarching premise of working together to help agencies and the channel. In fact, one of the panelists noted how powerful it is that ACT brings together companies that compete through the year, but can rally for the day as “frienemies" for the greater good of our industry. Nevertheless, we all noted that prioritization and the pure number of agencies and carriers can create gaps as each executes their individual strategies (yep, there was a real theme here!). As this panel dove into their conversation, we quickly centered on how the pandemic and remote work dynamics are impacting each stakeholder group across a number of fronts. Each panelist shared meaningful examples about how their organizations are thinking about the balance of culture, productivity, staffing, and customer satisfaction in a post-pandemic environment. Shifting gears, the group ended with a conversation about how we can all stay more focused on our "why", which is to be there when policyholders need us. This requires more focus from all parties in understanding a "features vs benefits" view of how their products and offerings truly impact other stakeholders. The conversation touched on adoption, implementation, ROI, and standardization opportunities.
Cyber and Information Security – Existential Threat or Opportunity?
Moderator: Ryan Smith - Rigid Bits/Adar IT
Panelists: Bill Haber - TEKRiSQ, Tanner Rudolph - Applied Systems, Cindi Tullos - SouthGroup Insurance
In this session, guest moderator Ryan Smith from AdarIT/RigidBits facilitated an educational (and a little scary) conversation about the state of Cyber. The session began with a broader dialog about cyber risk and how it impacts all of us as individuals and business owners. We then did a deeper dive into how it all impacts our industry and agencies. They discussed examples of how Cyber exposures create E&O risk for agencies if they do not understand the risk and address it appropriately with customers. The panelists then acknowledged the complexity agencies face as they navigate cyber and privacy obligations from a variety of sources and in a changing environment. Each state has its own requirements and can impact agencies with even incidental business in non-domiciled states. Carriers are increasing obligations for agencies around breach disclosure, system access controls, and cyber insurance. The same things are also happening with E&O providers and even networks and aggregators. The panel concluded with a healthy conversation about mitigation strategies and ideas as to how agencies can minimize their risk. They shared how important culture is in an agency (another common theme of the day), specifically around discussing cyber/privacy and the risks facing an agency. It is critical to set clear expectations, audit them, and model behaviors from the top of the organization. All of this, when coupled with consistent anti-phishing training, formal employee cyber/privacy guidelines, having a written incident response plan, and talking about it consistently can reduce risk and exposure for agencies. The panel wrapped with a conversation about how cyber can actually become an opportunity for agencies if they become experts in cyber risk management. Every business has an exposure and would likely benefit from cyber loss control support. This could be a great differentiator for proactive agencies.
People, Process…and Technology
Moderator: Chris Cline
Panelists: Dina Buxton - Crane Agency, Joseph D'Souza - ProNavigator, Matthew Smith - Rocket Referrals, James Sullivan - Encova
Perhaps counterintuitive at a technology-themed conference, the day concluded with a session intended to bring all of the day's content together into a final conversation about how people, process, and technology are integral to any business's success. Kicking off the discussion, each panelist was asked to simply react to the title of the session as it relates to their business. It became immediately clear how passionate each of them is about the people in their organizations and the people their firms serve. There were multiple references to Simon Sinek's “Start With Why" as the panel discussed how technology alone rarely solves a business problem and can, without a focus on people and processes, potentially make things worse. The concept of why also extended into communication, transparency, and overall change management as we discussed how critical it is the let your teams know what's in it for them and to truly share why the organization is making the specific change. They emphasized that this is not intended to be an excuse not to change or to underdo the change, but to simply be clear on the business need and the benefits to impacted stakeholders. This point facilitated a transition into the power of feedback and continuous improvement. Not only is this critical to evolving processes, but also to maintaining employee engagement and buy-in through change… also, and not to forget customers in the feedback loop. The panel gave lessons learned from their experiences. Two noteworthy examples involve proper sequencing and, for example, making certain to recognize all impacted parties. Another lesson shared involved consistency and remaining intentional through any change – that the change is clearly and actively supported and modeled by the most appropriate senior leader. The session ended on an even broader note as the panelists discussed how technology, accelerated through the pandemic, has opened their companies up to more diverse hiring practices and working arrangements than they had considered before. They have embraced the opportunity to extend their employee searches into more locations and from broader backgrounds, not only supporting their growth initiatives but also their company diversity and inclusion initiatives. This was a powerful and inspirational way to wrap the day.
In Conclusion:
We are very proud of the event and even more thankful for all the companies that support ACT. Our event survey results, while incredibly positive, have also given us things to think about as we consider other ways ACT can bring the industry together in the future. Until then, please reach out to Chris (chris.cline@iiaba.net) or Ginny (ginny.winkworth@iiaba.net) with any ideas you have, feel welcome to join a workgroup, touch base on ideas to collaborate on content, or just to say hey.