#TECHVISION2020 Scaling and integrating innovation Differentiation in the future will be driven by powerful The thriving insurtech landscape remains an important AXA, the multiline, multinational insurer, is driving innovation combinations of the different innovation building blocks. under the banner of a company called AXA Next. This source of innovative ideas for insurance incumbents, While leading insurance enterprises should have efforts which are keen investors in insurtech startups. Willis Towers vehicle consolidates and coordinates the group’s venture across all three spaces (maturing digital technology, Watson estimates insurtech investment reached nearly capital arm, incubators, tech labs, corporate partnership scientific advancements, DARQ), what will truly set $6.4 billion in 2019. Some of the funding rounds contributed division and parametric insurance business, with the goal of companies apart is the way they merge and combine the towards the creation of five new insurtech unicorns stretching beyond insurance and becoming a closer partner 53 56 technologies with the core competencies of their business. (privately held start-ups valued at over $1 billion). in customers’ lives. The winners will not be those that simply build innovation “petting zoos”—endless proofs of concept, red teams and Insurers are also looking to big tech for support in driving Under AXA Next, AXA is working on or investing in a insurtech partnerships that are never scaled—but those that and scaling innovation. USAA last year announced a range of ventures that could, in the future, become major also develop the capabilities to mainstream new ideas. collaboration with Google Cloud to develop machine revenue streams or disruptive industry forces—among learning models that nearly instantly predict vehicle them, a remote medical teleconsultation startup called Well-executed strategies will not only combine the damage from digital images, allowing for faster and more Qare; Happytal, which offers concierge services at French 54 different blocks, but also accelerate the discovery process cost-efficient estimates. It pairs such tech partnerships hospitals; insurtechs like Anorak Technologies; cyber-risk by forging new partnerships, fueling experimentation, with a relentless focus on internal innovation strategies. startup, Security Scorecard; and the Fizzy blockchain- and building a culture and ecosystem that will drive powered parametric travel insurance product. those efforts into disruption at scale. While insurtech USAA, which provides financial services to US military partnerships and acquisitions, innovation labs, incubators members, harvests ideas through its “Always on Ideas and venture capital investments all have a role to play, Platform,” a portal available to all employees, and leadership comes from successfully scaling innovation and encourages employees to submit innovative ideas. A telling embedding it into the wider business. point is that among 900 or so patents held by the company, 25 were authored by a single security guard during his 55 tenure at USAA. Technology Vision for Insurance 2020 | We, the Post-Digital People 55