Perspectives

Shift Seminar Tokyo: Providing Answers to the Questions on the Minds of Japanese Insurers

Written by Shift Technology | Nov 7, 2019 11:00:00 PM

Recently, Shift Japan hosted more than 120 insurance-industry professionals at its inaugural Shift Seminar Tokyo event. Covering the theme “AI strategies to accelerate innovation in the insurance business,” the seminar addressed the increasing interest among Japanese insurers in how the global InsurTech ecosystem can benefit their businesses. And among the InsurTechs getting the most attention from Japanese insurance companies, those using artificial intelligence (AI) are at the top of the list. AI is clearly seen as a key technology able to not only support, but also drive, strategic innovation.

Over the course of the day, it became apparent that attendees had two key issues on their mind: How can AI help deliver an exceptional customer experience and how can AI be used to thwart network fraud such as money laundering, corporate internal risks, and collusion, especially in the life insurance space? Not surprisingly, the Shift team had some answers.

Japanese insurers are not unfamiliar with adopting advanced technology solutions to help evolve the policy holder experience to be better aligned with other digital consumer services. And the good news is that this trend shows no sign of stopping. Quite the contrary, it’s becoming even more active with the advent of a robust InsurTech scene.

As such, it’s no surprise that one of the most talked about sessions of the day was Shift’s demonstration of its claims automation solution, Luke. Attendees were able to see firsthand how AI can drive a “hands off” claims process, from first notice of loss straight through to payment without the intervention of a human claims handler. The ability to shrink the claims process from days or even weeks, to mere minutes can dramatically change for the better how customers perceive how they’re treated by their insurance carrier.

In recent years, eliminating the impact of organized crime has been a high-profile goal of both the Japanese government and the financial services industry, including insurance companies. As important, reducing the internal risk of malfeasance has been drawing lots of attention from Japanese insurance companies. Attendees of the seminar were able to see the role technology solutions powered by AI can play in addressing these challenges. In a session geared toward anti-money laundering and internal risk countermeasures, Shift showed how AI can help insurers see the “big picture” of how individual events and people are connected, helping them more clearly separate legitimate from suspicious activities.

The insurance industry is changing. Every day, it faces new challenges and new opportunities. At Shift, we believe we have exceptional technology solutions that can help our clients address these challenges and take advantage of these opportunities with the power of AI. We were excited to be able to share these capabilities at Shift Seminar Tokyo.