Insurance Business, Australia: Co-Director of Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work Says Robots Will Change the Insurance Broker and Advice Model for the Better

Ben Pring says that brokers can look at automation in the insurance industry as a threat or an opportunity, as it could allow them to better service clients.

“Automation is certainly changing the industry, but to imagine that the entire profession of insurance broking will disappear to robots is to over-extrapolate how fast technology changes things in the real world,” he says. “Automation can eliminate tasks, but all this means is that the day-to-day responsibilities of some broking jobs will change, not disappear.”

While this may seem like science fiction, Pring notes that we already live in the “robotic age” and in order to future-proof themselves, brokers need to embrace robotics and automation. If brokers are able to use these technologies as tools to improve their businesses they will be able to leverage efficiencies to attract new customers and retain those they already have, Pring notes.

“Robots will certainly change the insurance broker and advice model, but hopefully for the better, rather than threatening its existence,” Pring notes. Some clients may be comfortable buying products based on automated advice, but others will look warily on technology they don’t understand. Pring says that balancing human advice with automated services will be a key next step for the industry.

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