ACCORDING TO DANIELE, MOST INSURANCE CARRIERS In the longer term, insurance companies will need to reconfigure WORLDWIDE INITIALLY RESPONDED TO RISING COVID-19 for a new normal way of working. Insurers will have no option but INFECTIONS AND THE LOCKDOWNS THAT FOLLOWED IN to embrace full omni-channel relationships and digital channel THREE WAYS: orchestration. They will also accelerate the restructuring of their products, with a view to scaling their protection offerings. • They mobilized their resources to help customers by, for example, donating to communities, extending insurance Other steps insurers will take include leveraging new strategic coverage for existing policies and educating customers about sourcing options, accelerating the move to the cloud, and COVID-19 prevention and their policies. building a smart and resilient remote workforce that embraces data-driven insights. Daniele concluded that many insurance • They worked with agents to ensure continuous distribution. companies are already taking the right actions to prevail in the • They enabled their organizations for remote work to ensure ‘new normal’. business continuity while keeping employees safe. DANIELE OUTLINED TWO NEXT STEPS INSURANCE COMPANIES CAN TAKE IN THE NEAR TERM TO STABILIZE THEIR BUSINESSES AND ADJUST TO A NEW WAY OF WORKING: • Transforming the cost curve by restructuring the workforce for agility and modernizing technology with new digital capabilities. • Planning for the recovery by scaling digital platforms and using data to power customer lifecycle strategies. AN INNOVATION AGENDA FOR THE COVID-19 ERA 04