In conversation with...Dan Fiehn, group chief operating officer, Markerstudy

What will you be addressing to the audience Insurance 2025 audience and why?

In my presentation, 50 Shades of Data, I’ll be looking at some of the elements that we’re utilising, contributing to better underwriting and pricing.

I will cover IHR, machine learning and IoT – specifically showing what we’ve achieved and how this can be applied to other businesses, regardless of infrastructure.

What insights will you be sharing with delegates during your session?

In this session, I will share Markerstudy’s digital journey over the last two years and explain how Big Data and AI has helped shape the business and drive operational efficiency, covering:

• How focusing on delivering a spectacular experience for internal staff and automating the IT organisation led to a huge cultural shift, which in turn laid the foundations for future digital transformation.
• How using data analytics to inform competitive insurance quotes led to embracing machine learning to progress intelligent product, service and process innovation.
• Leveraging video telematics and IoT data to improve customer understanding and driving behaviour.
• How fully utilising existing talent and creating the necessary culture made the seemingly impossible possible.

What is your background in establishing machine learning within the insurance industry?

I’ve spent over 25 years in the Insurance Industry, and I’m absolutely passionate about transforming insurance through delivering of innovative digital projects.

In the last 7 years at Markerstudy my team have won countless awards for innovation and I’m extremely proud to have been listed in the UK’s Top 100 CIO’s for the last two years in a row.

Since joining Markerstudy in 2010, I have revolutionised the daily operations of the IT department, enabling the rapid growth of the business, increasing from 500 in 2011 to over 3500 staff in 2017, based all over the UK. My role at Markerstudy Group, as a leader and strategist, puts me at the cutting edge of driving transformational change in order to make a positive lasting difference, underpinning the growth of the Group. I have recently taken on the role of Markerstudy COO.

What impact has machine learning already had on the industry?

The insurance industry is going through its biggest technological transformation in history. Anything seems possible, however, the true reality is that today insurers face a large technology gap and are struggling with the harsh challenge of maintaining ageing systems to run their operation. Through data led innovation, Markerstudy set out to implement end to end digital solutions to deliver exceptional experience to both our internal staff and external customers. We have already led the way in connected devices, data analytics, machine learning, and operational excellence and have won numerous awards from Gartner and Celent Model Insurer.

What impact could machine learning have on improving underwriting decisions?

The results from our machine learnt algorithms for renewal scenarios have led to improvements in the way we can create multiple pricing simulations. What we’ve found is that through machine learning we’re finding the ‘sweet spot’ where customers are more likely to renew and what they will pay. This in turn has had a significant impact on the way business users now work in a more data-driven environment to make improvements across other areas such as data exploration and visualisation.