‘Many impediments’ to innovation, but ‘significant opportunities’ ahead – Earnix

There are “many impediments in terms of realising innovation” within the insurance industry, but also “significant opportunities” ahead, according to Robin Gilthorpe, chief executive at artificial intelligence (AI) driven business Earnix.

Addressing delegates during his keynote speech at the firm’s Excelerate 2024 conference on 25 September 2024, entitled Unlock your innovation compass, Gilthorpe commented that the insurance sector ”has not really fulfilled its potential”, with the majority of prior industry innovation being centred around the Lloyd’s market.

For him, barriers or “impediments” to realising greater innovation in the insurance industry include ongoing changes in the global economy and capital markets.

Gilthorpe explained: “[These factors drive] more exposure to the pricing and capacity cycle.

”It leaves you unable to deal with evolving risks. We’re seeing the compression of the pricing cycle in many markets.”

“That becomes particularly problematic for organisations that take a long time to react to market conditions, whether it is in risk selection, pricing, or making sure that regulatory obligations have been fulfilled.

“If we’re not generating returns on capital, we are not going to attract capital.”

What are the opportunities?

Despite current macroeconomic conditions potentially stifling innovation, Gilthorpe does see “significant opportunities” ahead. 

For him, these opportunities include the management of supply and demand, navigating regulation successfully, the current pace of change in the market and the ability to react to internal and external market stimuli.

Gilthorpe particularly highlighted the opportunities around AI – despite the challenge of implementing this technology in a heavily regulated environment.

He concluded: ”The superpower isn’t purely the tools alone – it is what you do with them.”