2016 Executive Forum: Presentation Topics

h3 class="topic-ttl">"The Future of Customer Engagement"

– Joseph Cooper, Global Technology Executive

Insurers are being challenged to develop and execute a digital strategy to allow their organizations to compete effectively in a dynamic marketplace. But what is a digital strategy and how can it be implemented to meet the rapidly changing requirements of the insurance ecosystem?

Simply put, a digital strategy defines the customer experience the business wishes to deliver in the market segments it wishes to serve.

In this interactive session, Joe will define the components of the strategy and the multi-faceted roles that executives must take in its execution. For example, technology leaders are enablers of the digital strategies. This role not only involves systems of engagement, but also requires continual improvement of back end systems to allow enterprise agility.

Relying on his deep experience developing and implementing strategies for major regional, national and international insurers, Joe will underscore key digital elements impacting insurers, and the dramatic pace of change facing the insurance community.

Joseph Cooper has a track record of building teams of hardworking, senior level collaborators who have the drive and ability to achieve their objectives and beyond. (More)

“Going Digital: Cultural Disruption”

– Ben Isotta-Riches, CIO, Aviva Canada

Becoming a digital business goes far beyond digital propositions and the technology that underpins it. Transforming into a digital organization requires a significant cultural shift inside “legacy” insurance organizations to enable them to compete like “born digital” companies. The products a company builds and the way it engages its customers and leverages technology stems from its culture. Ben will share his experiences in driving change in business results through cultural shifts, leveraging techniques like hackathons, workspace transformation and engaging directly with the startup community.

Ben Isotta-Riches is Chief Information Officer of Aviva Canada and led the development of the technology capability in Aviva's digital innovation garage. (More)

“The Voice of the Consumer”

– Daniel Shum, Partner, National Insurance Sector Leader, Deloitte

Consumer preferences and expectations are changing; driven, in no small part, by the digitalization of marketing and fulfillment across channels and product lines. So how does this impact insurance specifically? Deloitte conducted interviews with hundreds of Canadian insurance buyers to determine just that. This session will encapsulate the results and provide an impact analysis for the Canadian insurance industry.

Daniel Shum is a partner in Deloitte's Financial Services practice and the National Insurance Sector Leader. (More)

“The Digital Evolution of Healthcare”

– Michael Weber, Head of Business Development, Philips Healthcare

To meet or exceed customer expectations, insurers and brokers should look beyond the insurance border. This session will show best of breed from the healthcare supplier sector.

From designing public healthcare solutions in the developing countries to developing unique critical care services that extend life expectancies, Philips Healthcare is a leader in using digital technologies to improve patient care and leverage medical personnel and resources to reduce costs and improve outcomes. Examples include:

• Advanced physiologic monitoring and clinical informatics
• Algorithms that aggregate patient data from multiple sources
• Multi-platform, network-wide compatibility with IT infrastructure
• Tele-health technologies that assist with patient management
• Point of care imaging facilitating streamlined patient management
• Leveraging technology to address the coming frontier in healthcare cost containment – Home Based Monitoring and Management

Supported by leading edge technology, Philips, developed 'HealthSuite'. This digital platform combines the functionality and capabilities of a range of offerings to change the way consumers engage with the health care system – from the hospital to the home. Patients and caregivers can be more empowered and active participants in the management of their health.

Michael Weber of Philips Healthcare will describe his organization's digital journey to date and future plans.

Michael Weber is Head of Business Development at Philips Healthcare with more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare field. (More)

“Innovating Insurance: Lessons From The World's Leading Innovators”

– Anthony Marshall, Research Director and Strategy Leader, IBM Institute for Business Value

With high levels of protection through regulation and other factors, insurers have lacked an imperative to innovate to remain competitive. Yet shrinking premiums in a slow economic environment, rapidly changing customer expectations and behaviors, and unprecedented technological advancement are changing the game. Insurers can no longer count on barriers to entry to protect them, as emergent forces of change gnaw away at traditional business models. They need a more systematic approach for driving innovation across their organizations, culture and processes.

Anthony will highlight key innovation lessons from the world's most successful organizations and identify specific strategies that can help insurers innovate and outperform. IBV study results.

Anthony Marshall is Research Director and Strategy Leader in IBM's Institute for Business Value (IBV). (More)

“Digital Psychology: Evoking Emotion to Sell Insurance”

– Andrew Lo, Chief Operating Officer, Kanetix Ltd.
– Dr. Brian Cugelman, PhD, Senior Scientist & Director, AlterSpark

Customer experience continues to evolve rapidly. Insurance companies have brought in sophisticated tools to segment prospects and optimize their on-line experience in order to help move them through the sales funnel. This session will focus on the science of digital psychology, an emerging methodology which will improve conversion and increase sales from online channels.

Consider: You've done everything possible to offer your web users accurate insurance quotes with the fewest number of clicks. However, in a market where corporate websites are seen more like generic commodities, your best shot at standing out is by leveraging digital psychology in order to build stronger bonds with your customers and increase your digital sales effectiveness.

In this interactive session, Dr. Brian Cugelman of AlterSpark and Andrew Lo, COO, Kanetix Ltd., will introduce you to the science of digital psychology; discuss the neurochemistry of evoking user emotion and motivation; show you how your organization can use incentives and risk-aversion techniques; and share insights from an industry audit of psychological best practices used to sell insurance.

Dr. Brian Cugelman has built his reputation on teaching professionals how to use behavior science to build higher impact digital marketing campaigns, websites, and apps. (More)

Andrew Lo leads all marketing and corporate development initiatives for Kanetix Ltd., Canada's largest online marketplace for insurance and financial services. (More)

“Digital and CX: Setting the Strategy and the Stage” (Panel)

– Mike Fitzgerald, Senior Analyst - Insurance, Celent
– Daniel Shum, Partner, National Insurance Sector Leader, Deloitte
– Joseph Cooper, Global Technology Executive
– Avi Greenfield, Manager - Product Strategy, OpenText Exstream
– Patrick Vice, Partner, Insurance-Canada.ca

Customer experience and digital transformation are becoming increasingly joined as insures and brokers position themselves for the future. This panel will explore how technology and business strategies are being aligned to support mid- to long-term competitive advantage.

Mike Fitzgerald is a senior analyst with Celent's insurance practice. His research focuses on billing, business process and operations, social media use in insurance, and distribution management. (More)

Daniel Shum is a partner in Deloitte's Financial Services practice and the National Insurance Sector Leader. (More)

Joseph Cooper has a track record of building teams of hardworking, senior level collaborators who have the drive and ability to achieve their objectives and beyond. (More)

Patrick Vice has more than 25 years of experience enabling technology and electronic commerce in the insurance and risk management communities. (More)

“Digital Transformation For Insurers: Tackling Omnichannel Communications For Seamless Customer Experiences”

– Avi Greenfield, Manager of Product Strategy, OpenText Exstream

Digital transformation is a term bubbling up everywhere. You already know it is important to your business and that it is a critical part of customer engagement. In fact, Gartner reports that 89% of companies will compete primarily on the basis of customer experience.

As an insurer, how do you evolve your customer communications strategy to appeal to the changing consumer landscape? A key part of digital transformation is recognizing that customers and partners may have a variety of ways they want to interact with your business. Content management tools and strategies are needed to allow processes to be initiated in multiple formats and channels, then move them seamlessly to digital methods for onboarding and servicing. This session will focus on technologies and best practices for automating, tracking, and managing communications processes to make them consistent and effective. Solutions should orchestrate workflows and generate compelling multichannel communications that can help grow business and improve customer satisfaction and retention.

Avi Greenfield has 20 years of experience in using technology solutions to build business value, with a main focus on customer communications and content management strategy. (More)

“Bridging the Digital Gap: Gathering Insights and Engaging Consumers”

– Michael Shostak, SVP & CMO, Economical Insurance
– Alice Keung, SVP & CIO, Economical Insurance

From its conception, Sonnet, Economical's first direct offering, was intended to be much more than an on-line experience. Using first- and third-party data, analytics, and modern technology, Sonnet is designed to provide personally customized insurance coverage with a minimum of effort by the customer. This session will describe the path taken, challenges encountered, and the outlook for the future.

Michael Shostak is Chief Marketing Officer and has leadership accountability for Economical's brand, marketing programs, corporate communications, and public relations, helping Economical discover creative new ways to meet the needs of the company's broker partners and customers. (More)

Alice Keung is Chief Information Officer, leading Economical's IT organization through the policy administration system (PAS) implementation and other strategic projects. (More)

“Insuring the Sharing Economy”

– Tim Attia, CEO, Slice
– Michael Fitzgibbon, VP & Chief Underwriting Officer, Slice
– Mike Fitzgerald, Senior Analyst - Insurance, Celent

The sharing economy is driving new business models and processes. It may also introduce risks that fall between the cracks in existing coverages.

This session will review the consequences and opportunities. It will also detail an innovative insurance response – Slice – which provides on-demand insurance for the on-demand economy.

Tim Attia is the CEO of Slice Labs, a technology company addressing challenges facing the on-demand economy. (More)

Michael Fitzgibbon is Chief Underwriting Officer of Slice Labs Inc., an on-demand insurance platform designed exclusively for the on-demand economy (More)

Mike Fitzgerald is a senior analyst with Celent's insurance practice. His research focuses on billing, business process and operations, social media use in insurance, and distribution management. (More)

“Preparing Insurers for the Digital Century”

– Mike Key, VP Global Insurance, Business Development, SAP

This session examines the “insurer of the future” and how digital trends and new business scenarios like the connected car, connected home and connected health are transforming the insurance landscape. Mike will cover 4 key elements that are critical considerations for the "insurer of the future" including; Digital Product, Omnichannel, Predictive Analytics and Automated Operations. This informative session will also cover the impact of market entrants/InsurTechs and the relevance of a new ecosystem for insurance carriers, and a view of the future target operating model and the potential of a fast transformation.

Mike Key has 25 years of insurance industry experience at SAP, where he has global responsibilities for Insurance Solutions Go-To-Market. (More)

“Digital & Engagement: Critical Success Factors” (Panel)

– Joan Baron, Program Director, Co-operators Life Insurance
– Neil Pengelly, Partner, Advisory Services, EY
– Alice Keung, SVP & CIO, Economical Insurance
– Mary Ellen Power, VP - Marketing, eSignLive by VASCO
– Doug Grant, Partner, Insurance-Canada.ca

Digital transformation provides unique opportunities to engage employees and partners while delighting customers. However, there are lots of moving parts that have to be aligned. This panel of experts will draw on direct experience to identify the critical success factors in digital initiatives.

Joan Baron works for Co-operators Life Insurance Company, reporting to the VP Individual Insurance and Chief Actuary. (More)

Alice Keung is Chief Information Officer, leading Economical's IT organization through the policy administration system (PAS) implementation and other strategic projects. (More)

Neil Pengelly is a Partner in the Advisory Services practice of Ernst & Young LLP and leads a team focused on insurance technology transformation. (More)

Mary Ellen Power is eSignLive's VP of Marketing and has over 25 years of experience in marketing for technology companies. (More)

Doug Grant has been helping the insurance industry in Canada make effective use of technology for many years. (More)

“Why Blockchains For Insurance?”

– Nolan Bauerle, Founder, Borderless Blockchain
– Greg Purdy, Managing Partner, Pathway Partners, Ltd.; getClarity, Inc.

Blockchain technology is best known for enabling Bitcoin and has mostnly been a concern of the banking industry. As the underlying technology becomes better understood, applications in other industries are being explored, with insurance leading the way. Research and development by start-ups and industry incumbents are showing uses-cases that both compliment and/or disrupt insurance products. This session will describe the capabilities of blockchains for insurance, provide examples, and describe future scenarios based on today's real-world examples.

Nolan Bauerle writes CoinDesk's industry research reports while pursuing opportunities in the blockchain revolution. (More)

Greg Purdy co-founded Pathway Partners Ltd. in 2008 and played a key role in the launch of getClarity Inc in 2011. He is founder of the Canadian Insurance Strategy Group. (More)

“Your Millennial Customers Don't Want To Talk To You”
(but they are willing to make an exception just this once)

– Nadia Linklater, Talent Acquisition Partner, DGA Careers
– Daisy Chan, Manager - Transaction Advisory Services, Ernst & Young LLP
– Paul Clement, Sales Executive, Firmex
– Carly Silberstein, Co-founder & CEO, Redstone Agency
– Diane Taylor, Insurance Advisor, Sonnet
– Sarah Tutty, Content Performance Analyst, Kobo Inc.

How will you engage the largest and fastest-growing segment of the population? Our panellists – millennial professionals who have searched for insurance solutions, purchased your products, and encountered your service methods – are ready to tell you about their experiences. Bring your questions and be prepared to listen carefully to the next generation of your customers.

Nadia Linklater is a talent acquisition partner at DGA Careers with years of experience as an insurance specialist, business development manager and broker. (More)

Paul Clement is a sales executive at Firmex and focuses on providing secure data room technology to a wide range of customers. (More)

Daisy Chan is manager of transaction advisory services at Ernst & Young LLP. (More)

Carly Silberstein is the co-founder and CEO of Redstone Agency, a full-service event and association management company. (More)

Diane Taylor has worked for several well-known brokerages across the GTA and has successfully bound hundreds of clients resulting in lasting relationships. (More)

Sarah Tutty is a content performance analyst for Kobo Inc. (More)