Insights on embracing deep and broad digital strategies
The Berne Union's recent Digitalisation Specialist Meeting fostered in-depth discussion of technological advancements in trade, investment, and insurance. Vantage Risk's Charles Busch explores organisations’ digital strategies, challenges, and future outlooks.
In March, the Berne Union organised the Digitalisation Specialist Meeting in Warsaw, Poland, bringing together industry specialists to discuss ongoing technological transformation and innovation in trade, investment, and insurance. As the moderator for the “Looking into the Future” panel, I had the privilege of engaging in insightful discussions with C-level executives, exploring their organisations’ digital strategies, challenges, and future outlooks.
Ensuring digital strategy finds its place
Technological innovation is crucial as an enabler of greater efficiency and growth. Aligning digital initiatives with organisational goals and effectively communicating these strategies across all levels is incredibly important to avoid falling behind the curve. The people responsible for deploying new digital strategies are also tasked with fostering a culture of innovation, ensuring these strategies and the uptake of new technologies are well integrated with the existing company culture, and cultivating a sense of ownership among all employees and stakeholders.
At Vantage, we’ve established a culture that embraces technology to support the efficacy of our decision making, boosts the speed at which we make those decisions, and unlocks opportunities for growth. There is also tremendous value in approaching digitalisation not simply as a standalone department but as a component of all of our jobs, and a key to our success in enabling trade and investment around the world.
Challenges faced by C-level executives
Digitalisation presents significant challenges for leaders, who are tasked with cultivating a mindset within their organisations that embraces new digital strategies. Overcoming resistance to change, incorporating or transitioning away from legacy systems, and improving digital literacy are significant hurdles. It takes strong leadership at the top, effective vertical and horizontal communication, and the creation of a supportive environment for experimentation and learning to overcome these challenges. We are organisations made up of people, so helping our colleagues and peers to embrace digital transformation will ensure that innovation finds its way into all facets of our workplaces.
Strategies for successful implementation
There are many ways to go about successfully implementing digital initiatives, and the best approach is a comprehensive one. Leading by example and championing digital transformation from the top down, while welcoming ideas and solutions that develop from the bottom up, can ensure that innovation and development of best practices are organisation-wide phenomena.
This principle extends beyond the individual organisation: it is equally important to foster strong collaboration and partnerships within the (re)insurance industry and with external technology providers. At Vantage, we invest in recruiting talent to build technology, data and analytics solutions for diverse businesses and functions. Having these colleagues’ ongoing support after the system launch has been invaluable to iron out any bugs while also continuing to tweak and enhance technology solutions. Additionally, investment in employee training and upskilling is crucial. It equips the workforce with the necessary digital skills to understand the context in which these solutions are developed and empowers them to use the new tools to which they have access.
On the horizon of digital innovation
The possibilities and new avenues for growth opened by the emerging digital landscape represent an exciting prospect for Berne Union members. We continue to see the value technology adds to how we all work on a daily basis. Further, we can imagine and see the implications of a likely near-future scenario of a fully integrated ecosystem where advanced technologies such as generative artificial intelligence and machine learning streamline many costly or time-consuming processes, support risk analyses, and enhance customer experiences. At Vantage, we are embracing exploration in the direction of such scenarios: we want to be sure we can provide our brokers and clients with the highest level of service while supporting our underwriters with more granular insights into the risks they are reviewing.
Participating in the Digitalisation Specialist Meeting provided valuable insights into digital transition strategies among Berne Union members. It is evident that successful digital transformation requires a comprehensive approach that encompasses leadership, organisation-wide communication and collaboration, employee development, and a customer-centred approach. As the industry continues to evolve, embracing digitalisation and fostering a culture of innovation will create the conditions for Berne Union members to thrive in the rapidly changing global trade landscape. We look forward to helping move the discussion forward and using technology to advance global trade and investment.
(Left to Right: Charles Busch, Vantage Risk; Minna Kaarto, Finnvera; Janusz Władyczak, KUKE; Heribert Knittlmayer, SERV - Photo published by SERV)
