In my previous post, I outlined a key problem facing insurers today: many are investing a significant amount in innovative technologies, yet are struggling to unlock their true potential and release trapped value in their business. In this post, I'll discuss how insurers can use advanced technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent automation to reduce costs, enhance operations and improve efficiency to future-proof their organizations. In our research on "The New, New Normal: Exponential Growth", 56 percent of executives agreed that AI deployment will drive new growth and revenue opportunities by accelerating new products and services. Fifty-eight percent said that AI-enabled revenue growth will come from increased customer satisfaction and engagement; while nearly 50 percent believe it will spur a change in their business models. In the 2017 Technology Vision for Insurance survey, 76 percent of executives said AI would significantly or completely change the industry in the next three years, while 72 percent believed it would have a similar impact on their organization.

As I noted in the first post in this series, there's a clear appetite among consumers for personalized financial services. This applies equally in the insurance industry. In my last post we saw a snapshot of five insurers delighting their customers with personalized services. But what are some other directions we expect insurers to take on the road to personalization? Working with carriers around the globe, we're seeing personalized services beginning to make inroads across all lines of business.

In my blog series on how to boost your Artificial Intelligence Quotient, I looked at different ways to apply AI along the insurance value chain across the entire enterprise. In this post, I'll look at the role the future workforce will play in creating AI-driven companies, using insights gleaned from our Future Workforce Survey for Insurance . Accenture research suggests, by the year 2035, AI will grow productivity in key economies by up to 40 percent. AI offers its greatest value by augmenting the work that people do and improving the way they consume and interact with their communities. AI also presents the opportunity for business transformation by creating intelligent processes in the value chain and intelligent products and services in the market.

How do you approach customer service and policy administration within your organization? In this blog post, I'll demonstrate how artificial intelligence (AI) and a raised AIQ can help you get the most out of your data. To do this, I'll discuss how insurers can use machine learning to analyze texts. Intelligent technologies are reshaping the way insurers approach the customer service and policy administration function. AI enables more efficient administration processes.

If you're just tuning in to this series, here's a brief recap of what we've discussed so far: Insurance is ripe for disruption, and insurers must balance two measures in order to respond. They need to get the Brilliant Basics right, and they need to innovate with Cutting New Ground initiatives. Both are necessary, as Brilliant Basics enables core transformation, which in turn frees up investment capital and enables the agility needed to innovate. It's about this point in the conversation when insurance leaders start looking uneasy. And that's when the elephant in the room starts knocking over the furniture.

On Tuesday, January 23rd, the 48th World Economic Forum (WEF) got underway in Davos, Switzerland. This year, the world's top business and political leaders, economists and representatives from academia are gathering under the theme of "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World." In this context, the participants will focus on inclusive growth, sustainable development and the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The main objective of the meeting is to engage chief executives, political leaders, academia members and technology pioneers to advance multiple agendas, such as the Global, Geopolitical, Economic, Regional, Industry and Business, and the Future Agenda. In a press conference ahead of the meeting, key representatives gave an update on the World Economic Outlook.

In my first blog in this series, I talked about why insurers' use of analytics needs to shift from predictive to prescriptive models. It's quite another knowing which actions (or sets of actions) will most likely optimise a result and deliver a desired outcome. Companies in other industries (like banking and retail) recognise that data-driven, prescriptive decision-making is vital. And to make this happen, they're re-engineering their end-to-end value chains around machine learning. To illustrate the kind of breakthrough benefits insurers can realise by taking a similar approach, we've launched a new website that brings this to life for each of the five key stages of the customer journey: Win, Grow, Service, Claim, Retain.

The recent Efma-Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards 2017 offered a valuable opportunity to learn how global insurers are leveraging digital technologies to transform themselves into everyday insurers. The innovations we saw are built on exponentially expanding digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), big data, analytics, and blockchain, and are being applied across the entire insurance value chain, from product development to claims. As customers come to expect increasingly personalized, on-demand service, insurers must evolve to meet their expectations. To that end, leading insurers are embracing new technologies to shape innovative business models and client value proposition. I strongly believe that those who will innovate at scale will be in a position to weather disruption and transform into everyday insurers.

Responsible for the moment of truth in the customer-insurer relationship, the claims function has much to gain from AI. By layering these capabilities on top of each other, insurers can enable better outcomes, faster service and a better customer experience. Crucially, by using AI, claims leaders can empower and equip adjusters to add the valuable human touch to the claims process. However, that also means retraining and educating workers so they are equipped for new roles in which customer service is paramount. As outlined in the Accenture Technology Vision for Insurance 2017 report, AI isn't just relegated to back-office functions.

In 2017, we're already seeing a growing list of insurers leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to transform their customer- and distributor-facing channels, including the use of robo-advisors to support customers in their purchasing decisions. In some cases, insurers are choosing to partner with emerging players like Motif or Betterment, and in others, they are developing their own capabilities. Consider the Allstate Business Insurance Expert (ABIe)--known as Abby. This virtual assistant with an on-screen personality helps agents quote and issue commercial insurance products. It finds answers through a combination of contextual knowledge and intelligent content.