Reviving Life Insurance Through Technology and Cultural Change
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How can growth be achieved within the insurance industry?
A lack of innovation with insurance has stagnated growth for a number of years. But, with emerging FinTech opportunities, the insurance field has been refreshed–providing a more integrated experience for the customer and avenues to take strategic calculated risks.
Jasmine Jirele, Chief Growth Officer at Allianz, discusses the future of insurance and how customer demands are pushing the change:
Jasmine’s Career Journey
Financial Services & Technology
Culture & Innovation
Advice to Others
This post is based on an interview on the Digital Insurance Innovator Podcast. To hear more, listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform.
The Transition from Chief Growth Officer to CEO
Creating change within a company and meeting advisor and customer needs requires a wide breadth of knowledge to be successful.
Jasmine credits her current and future success to the variety of experiences across financial services, an excellent supporting team, and the time taken outside of the industry.
“What I've done is really build a collection of experiences working across the customer value chain.” -Jasmine Jirele
While Jasmine describes the time as Chief Growth Officer as the best job she’s ever had, she is enthusiastic about her next step and helping the industry grow with the help of new technologies.
Financial Services & Technology
How do you keep life insurance relevant to new customers?
Despite the outer appearance that life insurance is less important in the world today, most still recognize how essential it is. The roadblock, however, is that the process of insurance can take a long time. Customers are starting to expect a faster process when compared with other financial systems.
“What that user interface does is pulls it together in a way that's very customer centric, and helps the customer interact with the data they need when they need it and how they need it.” — Jasmine Jirele
Demand by customers for a streamlined experience paired with improvements made before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Financial technologies (FinTech) like Electronic Health Records (EHR) have breathed life back into the insurance industry.
Culture & Innovation
Investing in FinTech has been essential to overall growth according to Jasmine. By taking these calculated risks, the company can be more strategic about what benefits to look for and stay relevant.
Alongside investing, the structure of company culture must adopt new ways of thinking; and while the process is typically slow, it is essential to growth.
“Doing things that are really outside of a company's core or trying really, you know, fundamentally new capabilities does require a dedicated focus for sure.” — Jasmine Jirele
One of the ways Jasmine has improved the culture is by creating two separate teams: one to challenge the way the company operates and the other to handle the day-to-day business. By having two teams, it drives motivation but eliminates competition within the company.
Advice to Others
As 2021 shapes up to best best year for growth for Allianz, Jasmine offers advice to those looking to follow in her footsteps:
Find a mentor you can trust: they can be an invaluable resource to help navigate your career aspirations and give you experience as you’re growing.
Be willing to take risks: as with most senior leaders, the road to the top can be different for everyone.
Jasmine’s path took her through the finance industry, out of the industry, and then back again. The important thing is to always say yes to opportunity.
Check out these resources mentioned during the podcast:
