Insurance giant MetLife explores IoT and machine learning options

Global insurer MetLife is taking the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine learning very seriously, despite still being in the early stages of implementing and exploiting the technology. Speaking to Computing at a SAS Global Forum media event in North Carolina, MetLife VP of enterprise analytics Malene Haxholdt said that the IoT has the potential to help the company develop new products, but that work in this area is still very much at an "exploratory" stage. "IoT is definitely being considered as something you have to take seriously in this business. It's not a'oh it's going to go away' type of conversation – that data is not going away, so you have to take it seriously and figure out if there is a use for it," she said. Haxholdt said she can see how IoT can play a part in the company's digital transformation efforts, enabling it to communicate better with its customers and use real-time data analytics to improve efficiency in its underwriting process.