A Time for a Redo?

By: Dr. Gary Anderberg

February 9, 2024 — Now that we've survived the holidays, put the decorations away and started on our "eat better and go to the gym every day" resolutions, what comes next? Well, here at the Gallagher Bassett Journal Galactic HQ, we're reading the dozens of predictions about the coming big deals of 2024. Everyone has a list, and each list seems to us to have a few hits and a few misses, so we've been cherry-picking to compile our own best guesses for your delectation. Here's our pick of the litter:

1. What part of 2024 don't you understand? Insurers (and by extension, all of us in risk management) must move beyond the legacy and internal mindset of "this is how insurance is done," to one that recognizes the world has shifted, and we must as well.
2. Get your AI in gear. The rapid adoption of AI/ML models and now the emergence of generative AI (GAI) has turned data and analytics from a long-term strategy of incremental investment into a near-term reality and a must-have that is upending and accelerating the focus and adoption of advanced data analytics. In other words, stop talking about AI and start showing useful results.
3. The Boomers have left the building. With the combination of retirements and loss of institutional knowledge along with the arrival of Millennial and Gen Z employees and their expectations, insurers and other risk professionals are seeing firsthand the impact of legacy technology within the business. The new workforce is expecting better tools. And they are loud about it.
4. What about the machinery? To meet the digital demands of both today and tomorrow, embracing a next-gen IT architecture is essential. Ya got yer APIs, yer clouds, yer AIs, yer embedded analytics and so forth. Patching up the antiques in the basement won't cut it. Whole new architectures are the order of the day.
5. And what about the people? This is the year when all risk and insurance pros must become technologists. If you're not actually building sophisticated systems, you're using them for everything except getting dressed in the morning. Managing and insuring risk is all about two things: information and communication — and both of those are electronic. We all have to wrap our minds around new systems and sometimes radically new ways of getting our work done.
6. The hackers are always with us. All you need to know: The number of serious cyber extortion cases in the first three quarters of 2023 was 33% higher than all of 2022.

You get the idea. 2024 doesn't look like a major departure from 2023, but it does look even more intense. Risk factors that nudged us last year will shove us this year. Urgency seems less optional.

Keep in mind the old story about the man who traveled so many miles to ask Siddhartha Gautama — the Buddha or "enlightened one" — one big question. When he got in front of the Buddha, he asked, "Oh master, what is the greatest mistake men make in this life?" The Buddha replied, "We think we have time."

What further wisdom do we require?