Entries by Mark O'Brien

What’s the Difference?

Depending on the studies you cite or the reports you favor, the average cost of a failed system implementation in the insurance industry can vary significantly depending on the size of the company, the complexity of the system being implemented, the amount of money spent on the system, the number of people involved in and […]

The Art in Artificial Intelligence

In the December edition of Best’s Review, we came across an article titled, “Underwriting AI: Is It Aligned With Insurance Industry’s Best Interests?” It’s fair to say it left us feeling a little queasy, especially this part: The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is eliciting a wide range of predictions for its impact, from solutions […]

That’s Shocking: Part Two

In the first installment in this series, we wrote: We’re not necessarily in a hurry to return to horses and buggies. But we have to admit, those were certainly more simple times with more obvious risks and fewer technologies to master. On the other hand, more of us live better lives than ever before … […]

The Wisdom of Wonder

We heard someone say a long time ago, “You become what you count.” The comment was made in the context of a business discussion. It was offered in response to an inquiry that went something like this: “You’re a very successful, highly profitable company. But I don’t see any of that on your website or […]

Got Me Under Pressure

No. We’re not talking about the ZZ Top song. We’re talking about the pressure insurers are feeling from a very difficult reinsurance market. According to an article in beinsure.com, “Global Reinsurance Market 2023: Challenging Renewals & Realignment“: Mounting pressures in the reinsurance market … were exacerbated significantly by Hurricane Ian … reinforcing one of the […]

Weathering Storms

The September edition of Best’s Review ran an article called, “Slow and Steady”, about the resilience of mutual insurance companies. While the article covered life and health companies, too, it had this to say, in part, about property/casualty insurers: In 2022, property/casualty mutuals posted a net loss while stock carriers had a profit … With […]

In the Pocket

When we think of pockets, we think of three things: The first is dentition. Perhaps you’ve been to the dentist for an oral exam. And perhaps in the course of the exam, the hygienist has asked another person to come into the room. That other person is carrying a scorecard and a pen. As the […]

Trouble Brewing?

An old corporate adage goes like this: “There’s never time to do it right, but there’s always time to do it over.” Needless to say, that applies to systems implementations, among other things. And it’s pretty funny if: You’re laboring in the belly of the beast, and the money isn’t coming out of your pocket. […]

That’s Shocking

The classic model of technology adopters outlined in Geoffrey A. Moore’s book, Crossing the Chasm, comprises the psychographic categories innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. Based on an article in the July edition of Best’s Review — “Fires, Hacking Are Just 2 Hazards at Electric Vehicle Charging Stations” — perhaps two other psychographic […]

Mastering the Approach Shot

The March/April edition of Claims Magazine included an article entitled, “The Top 10 Risks for P&C Insurers in 2023“. If our golf game were better, we might think about it more. But it isn’t. So, we don’t. Nevertheless, key risk factor #1 was digital exhaustion. That made us think about why our golf game isn’t […]