Chief operating officer says that firms face an IT talent and skills shortage
Insurers need to redefine their talent acquisition and employee upskilling strategies due to greater use of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) across the industry.
That was according to Ekine Akuiyibo, chief operating officer at technology firm Socotra, who said that firms face an IT talent and skills shortage.
According to data published by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in June 2024, 83% of businesses felt AI was key to growth, while 67% said they would use it for innovation.
The study surveyed 160 senior executives from firms across banking, financial services and insurance.
However, in 2024, the London Market Group (LMG) said that the workforce across the city marketplace had only grown 2% per year between 2021 and 2023, below the premium growth average of around 7%.
Speaking from San Francisco, Akuiyibo said that increased use of technology demands new skills and approaches to attracting talent.
He continued: “The industry has to recognise there is the need for a new skills set.
“In order to attract new talent, [they] expect to be working with certain tools. Without those tools, they do not believe they can achieve what they know they can. It is a barrier, if those tools are not available.
“At grad school, questions around coverage optimisation and insurance optimisation were not discussed. We were not aware of the problems, so we did not work on them.
“With the new generation, they want to know there are interesting problems to be solved and they will be keen to work to solve them.
“We have to recognise the benefits that technology can bring in terms of the use of AI, data reporting and the use of drone technology in the claims process, for example.”
Technology implementation
However, Akuiyibo also felt that the UK was behind in its implementation of technology compared to other countries.
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“The UK is ahead so many ways but behind in the tech race,” he explained.
“The biggest issue is the Lloyd’s market and the lack of technology integrated into the market. No one has the appetite to go and displace what is there.
“The UK general insurance market is not as far behind its peers, but Lloyd’s is a major part of the UK market and therefore has an impact.”
Lloyd’s is currently rolling out Blueprint Two, which is a roadmap to modernise business models, practices and systems within the market.
It has faced delays though. For example, phase one was initially set for June 2024, but was postponed to October 2024.
Akuiyibo felt that to further increase the use of technology and attract new talent, insurers needed to partner with technology companies to access their expertise and systems.
“The current example of the benefits of such a partnership is Axa,” Akuiyibo said.
“They are collaborating with AWS, Microsoft and Google. They are integrating their thought processes, the tools and the tech and with it they are creating those interesting problems that will attract the talent.”
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