AI, blockchain, analytics, BI, automation & emerging technologies will fundamentally change how risk is assessed, how products are developed & how customers interact with insurers. Value chains will be adjusted to accommodate, and insurers and brokers that are not only able to integrate these advances into their current value chains but also develop entirely new ways of doing business will be the leaders in the industry in the coming decades. However, even as the industry moves in this direction, the role of humans will not diminish. Instead, it will take on a more analytic, consultative and advisory role, evolving beyond pure risk evaluation. New technologies, from enhanced data capture, particularly in the personal insurance space, to risk analytics and machine learning to digital enablement and automation are expected to fundamentally change how insurance is distributed, how risk is assessed, how products are developed, and how customers interact with insurers for servicing.

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.

Who will be doing the industry's work in the months and years ahead? It can't all be done by AI systems and robots. If anything, there will be more people working in the industry than ever before. That's why insurers are increasingly relying on contingent workers and services as they move forward into the digital world. That's the word from the authors of a recent study of 800 organizations conducted by SAP Fieldglass, in conjunction with Oxford Economics.