From October 23 – 26, 2022, Guidewire hosted its 18th annual Connections user conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The atmosphere at this year’s event was phenomenal, with more than 2,770 people attending in person, compared to 1,341 people last year. Another 2,069 people joined virtually via live streaming. It was great to see the Guidewire community — customers, partners, and Guidewire employees — coming together to learn, collaborate, and network both face to face and on our virtual platform.
Here’s a recap of this year’s event.
Innovation
Prior to Connections, we unveiled our latest release, Flaine. At the conference, Mike and the Guidewire executive team discussed the release in more detail, including product feature highlights, a special solution demo presented by Chief Evangelist Laura Drabik and the Guidewire demo team, and exciting examples of customer and partner innovations.
There was a wealth of other content for attendees to be inspired by and learn from, including:
USAA Senior Vice President for Corporate and Insurance Technology and Chief Information Officer Mary-Beth Eckert talked about how USAA was led by evolving member needs, industry dynamics, and technological advancement to launch the largest transformation in the company’s history.
Tryg Group Chief Operations Officer Lars Bonde explained how the company achieved its radical transformation journey for a profitable core business and became the largest P&C insurance company in Scandinavia, and what lies ahead in its journey.
Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Company New Zealand Limited Chief Executive Officer Simone Labady shared the company’s successful transformation story and how Guidewire Cloud has enabled it to be agile, introduce new brands and products with ease, and have a bright future aided by the fantastic support from its technology partners.
Around-the-World yachtswoman and subject of the film Maiden Tracy Edwards led us through her amazing journey and explored what it means to keep the ultimate destination front and center while having the courage to take radical detours to get there without the loss of integrity.
Comedian Martin Short chatted with Mike about his amazing career while focusing on the importance of innovation and risk taking — and how that plays into developing memorable characters that resonate with audiences worldwide.
Guidewire Global Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Brandi Riggins led an insightful panel discussion with several customer executives to explore the business benefits of gender diversity in technology and what inclusion can mean to the bottom line.
130 hands-on workshops, Guidewire and partner product demonstrations, expert panels, and informative breakout sessions — many involving or led by Guidewire customers — featured experiences, lessons learned, and best practices.
Congratulations
We received many compelling submissions to consider for year 16 of our annual Innovation Awards, showcasing how customers have adapted to an accelerating pace of industry change and evolving needs in innovative ways The judging process was difficult again, but in the end, congratulations to this year’s winners: E.design, Hollard Insurance, and Mountain West Farm Bureau and its subsidiary, 360 Insurance Company!
Thank You
Connections again could not happen without the support of our 86 sponsoring Guidewire PartnerConnect Consulting and Solution partners and all the attending customers who continue to inspire conference goers with their stories every year. Thank you!
Watch On-Demand and See You Next Year
If you missed seeing them live or want to continue learning, you can watch all the Connections 2022 keynotes and breakout sessions on-demand on the Connections website. And join us November 12 ‒ 15, 2023 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee for our next Connections!
