American National Insurance Company, which was acquired by Brookfield Reinsurance last year, has been investing in new tech for its agents and policyholders. It's already an anchor partner of Plug and Play's Insurtech initiative, a collection of insurers working to advance applications in fraud detection, process automation, data analytics, and customer experience. In line with this commitment, the company recently implemented iGo, a digital app designed by finance and insurance app maker iPipeline to help agents streamline the policy application and management process.

"We want to always stay ahead of change to better support our clients and our distribution partners," says Scott Campbell, senior vice president of American National.

"We believe in regular iterative innovation and that is to improve the efficiency of the operation, to provide better service for clients and distribution partners, to position the company to stay strong as the market and the world changes."

Technology and the Insurance Industry

Any contemporary business will talk about the importance of staying ahead of technological advancements but this is particularly important in the insurance industry, which provides services like annuities and life insurance that are cornerstones of individuals' and families' financial futures. 

To this end, Plug and Play, a network that connects companies with thinkers from university and entrepreneurship backgrounds, as well as government agencies and venture capital firms, established the Insurtech initiative. American National Insurance is one of over 60 current Insurtech members, joining as an anchor partner that includes insurers of a variety of sizes from around the world. The initiative is designed to help insurers become more efficient, ultimately lowering costs for policyholders. However, given the financial importance of insurance for these policyholders, the key for the industry is to identify uses of new technology, such as automation and artificial intelligence, that don't sacrifice quality of service. 

"We're making a lot of investments in the digital experience for our clients and distribution partners because we really believe that we want to serve clients how and where and when they want to be served," says Campbell. 

"In today's world, you have to be agile, you have to be fast, you have to be adaptable. We're definitely working on that in our businesses so that we can stay on top of things and better serve clients. We want to get better at product development so we're bringing the services that they need. It's all part of our mission of being a source of certainty for clients. That's what drives us."

Transformative Trends: AI, Automation, the Cloud, and the Internet of Things

The areas identified by Insurtech as focus areas are already leading to efficiency gains.

Generative AI, the much-buzzed-about technology behind AI chatbots like ChatGPT, is increasingly involved in insurance fraud detection due to its ability to process and analyze vast amounts of data more efficiently than traditional methods. These AI algorithms can identify patterns and anomalies in data that might indicate fraudulent activity, synthesizing large datasets to detect complex fraud schemes that might be missed by conventional methods. 

Additionally, generative AI can help create models that predict the likelihood of fraud, thereby proactively preventing fraudulent activities before they occur. These advancements significantly enhance the accuracy and speed of fraud detection, leading to faster claim processing and potentially reducing fraudulent claim payouts.

Another fast-evolving technology, the Internet of Things—or smart devices, such as sensors and interconnected devices—provides insurers with real-time data about various risk factors. For instance, in the automotive insurance sector, IoT-enabled devices can use telematics, which combines telecommunications and informatics to collect and transmit data from remote sources to track driving behaviors, enabling insurers to assess risk more accurately and personalize policies based on individual driving patterns.

Similarly, in property insurance, smart sensors can monitor home conditions, detecting risks like water leaks or electrical issues early potentially preventing major damages. This wealth of real-time data allows insurers to tailor policies more closely to the specific risk profiles of their customers, offering more personalized and potentially cost-effective insurance solutions.

In addition, over 90% of insurers are utilizing cloud technologies to various extents, significantly impacting their IT and data strategies and operations​​. The cloud is vital in managing the immense datasets necessary for advanced technologies like AI and IoT. Insurers are integrating the cloud as part of long-term data strategies for using AI and IoT to support better underwriting, efficient claims handling, and improved fraud detection. 

American National, iGO, and Technology for Agents

American National Insurance implemented iGO to leverage technologies such as automation and the cloud to support their insurance agents and brokerage general agencies.

While insurance agents guide clients through selecting coverage based on their needs and financial situations, BGAs operate at a higher level, primarily working with agents or financial advisors rather than directly with individual policyholders. BGAs provide specialized underwriting services, product expertise, and additional resources to assist agents in placing complex or high-value insurance policies, particularly in the life insurance and annuity sectors. Because of the complexity of this process, tools that automate time-intensive components or that improve organization and accuracy can be extremely beneficial. 

"At American National, we are dedicated to serving our distributors and BGAs," said Traie Franklin, vice president of marketing operations, in a press release announcing the partnership. "Through the collaboration with iPipeline, we believe we can further streamline our business processes and create a much better experience for them."

According to the press release, iGO is a digital tool that can help agents and BGAs do tasks like help a client remotely complete an online application, ensure the proper and most current applications and forms are used, use automated data gathering to simplify the process of completing forms and determine whether applications are in good order.

The partnership is another example of how advancements in technology are changing the insurance industry. Policyholders and agents are increasingly expected to complete applications and process information quickly, and tools that facilitate remote application processing, automation, and data gathering are now the industry standard.