BLOG: Robots threaten insurance jobs. Seriously?

Yes, a lot of people are scared they may lose their job to a robot someday, but don’t panic just yeat, writes NDOI’s Lynne Wallace

A colleague shoots over an article to check out. The title: "Your Next Insurance Agent Will Be A Robot." Two seconds in I'm thinking...of course the target is personal auto, the most commoditize-able insurance product. And it's a good target...auto insurance represents $220 billion of the $3 trillion-a-year US insurance industry. But are they again trivializing the professional insurance agent?

The new start-up will use smart software (aka the robot). "Snap a photo of your license plate, text it (and you'll be asked) a few questions via text and (the start-up) will scour 82 insurance carriers' plans to find you the best one for the money...The software is just like your old insurance agent, except faster, smarter, and cheaper."
 
Yes, a lot of people are scared they may lose their job to a robot someday. We have no idea what that will look like but it's a threat nevertheless. How will we live in the jobless society of the future? Well, don't panic just yet. This robot appears to be a comparative rater on steroids...a tool for the new generation of insurance agent. This robot will not eliminate the need for insurance professionals... it will, however, make a smaller number of insurance people able to satisfy infinitely more consumers. That's valuable and more value means more money for the agents who have the "robot" edge.
 
This week during a lunch conversation with a group of non-insurance people, someone at the table asked, "Why does the insurance industry talk about tech so much? Other industries just use it and create new tech as they need it? Why is it such a big deal in insurance?" I thought back to earlier that morning when I received an insurance industry supply catalog in the mail offering state-of-the-art, circa 1972, paper, color coded, file folders and selling three-part direct billing paper invoice sets. Who uses this handwritten and typewriter driven stuff?...and it was not cheap. The invoices were going for about $120 for 200 sets.
 
So, the answer to why we talk so much about tech in the insurance industry must be related to our aging agent population (25% of the insurance agent community is expected to age out by 2018). Older agents, who provide a lot of the brain trust when it comes to coverage and risk, often just don't know where to begin when it comes to using tech to serve clients in today's world. Interestingly enough, most of the tech community, void of deep insurance understanding, tend to hover around auto insurance as the low hanging fruit when it comes to monetization. What an opportunity for agents and brokers who are well-rounded insurance and risk experts and who prioritize technology in every aspect of what they do both internally and for clients.
 
Am I afraid of losing my job to a robot? Well, I spent the afternoon working though lease contract wording and pollution policy language to help a landlord whose high tech client wants to bring mobile gas pump trucks onto their site as a perk for employees (similar to food truck catering only for gasoline). As I'm working through the details with lawyers, underwriters and the gas truck vendor, I'm thinking, someone bring on the robots...please!

Lynne Wallace is the CEO and president of VANTREO Insurance Brokerage and co-founder of NDOI, the National Directory of Insurance.
 

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