Guidewire Connections 2024, one of the world's leading conferences focused on innovation and technology in the global property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry, took place in Nashville, Tennessee, in mid-November. More than 3,200 attendees from over 30 countries gathered to discuss digital transformation, technological innovation, and forward-thinking strategies. In this blog post, I would like to highlight five key topics that stood out to me, particularly regarding their relevance to the insurance industry in the Nordic countries.
Agility in Action: SaaS as the operating model of the future
The insurance industry is characterised by stability and resilience; however, it faces dynamic challenges such as rising claims inflation, climate change, and talent shortage. In this context, the core message of the Guidewire Connections keynote was clear: modernising core systems is essential for enabling future innovation.
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) offers insurers the agility, scalability, and efficiency needed to adapt to changing market conditions. Guidewire has supported this perspective with several real-life examples:
- RSA UK reduced manual claims filing by 30% while increasing claims handler efficiency by 17%. This shows how automation and modern technology can improve the daily lives of employees and customers alike.
- P&V Belgium has achieved an automation ratio exceeding 80%. This significant level of process automation has allowed the company to grow 1.5 times faster than the industry average.
Impressive cloud adoption:
More than half (51%) of Guidewire customers have now selected Guidewire Cloud. Among these customers, 97% utilise the latest version or one of the last two releases. The platform's global presence is equally impressive, available in 13 regions. Key metrics include over 2,000 productive environments, over 280,000 deployments, and over 140 updates, demonstrating the platform's stability and innovative capabilities.
Continuous further development:
Since the initial cloud release in May 2020, more than 1,300 new features and 2,300 functional enhancements have been introduced. These ongoing updates, delivered every three months, allow customers to integrate new innovations easily and remain at the cutting edge of the latest insurance technology. The most recent release, Las Leñas, significantly enhances reporting, claims processing, and underwriting efficiency.
Guidewire Customers are powering insurance innovation in the Nordics
The Nordic countries were well represented at Guidewire Connection this year not only by the number of attendees from that region but also through Guidewire solution partners and, in particular, two customers who presented how they leverage Guidewire to power insurance innovation in their markets in the Nordics.
I had the privilege to support those customers on their presentations, which showcased some key achievements for them on their respective innovation journey:
- Tryg from Denmark presented on their next evolution of claims management, leveraging the power of Generative AI and the Guidewire Jutro Digital Platform for a customer-centric claims experience. They improved their claims cost ratio to below 80%. Additionally, customer satisfaction increased from 4.3 to 4.5 points. During this time, claims leakage was reduced from 4.7% to 1.7%, and 80% of claims are now processed digitally.
- OP Group Finland presented a global premiere: In addition to successfully transforming its property insurance business to the cloud and a SaaS operating model, OP is the first insurer worldwide to run its term life business on Guidewire Cloud. Both projects achieved benefits in customer value, profitable growth, efficient and high-quality operations, employee experience and satisfaction, and sustainable and responsible business operations.
The Nordic countries have always been at the forefront of insurance innovation, and we are grateful for the close and trustful partnerships we have formed with our customers on this journey.
(Gen)AI and humans: an ideal symbiosis for intelligent insurance solutions of the future
Artificial intelligence, particularly GenAI, is certainly a key concern for insurers right now, as was evident at the recent event in Nashville.
I found Karlyn Carnahan from Celent's insights about whether GenAI is over- or underrated in the insurance industry quite interesting. She referenced a study by Celent that highlighted where insurers focus their investments in GenAI. According to her, the top areas include code generation and testing in IT and development, using AI as an assistant and content creator to support employees, providing general back-office assistance in claims and underwriting, and enhancing customer support through information retrieval and research.
The conversations with insurers regarding GenAI have evolved significantly from 2023 to 2024. Initially, the main questions revolved around understanding GenAI, what others are doing with it, and whether it is just another hype like blockchain. By 2024, the discussions had shifted to how to scale GenAI use cases, which technology and solution partners are suitable, integrate the insights and outcomes from GenAI into existing systems, processes, and workflows, and how to create value for the entire organisation.
Guidewire introduced a new core service of its platform for realising and embedding AI-driven insurance solutions in Nashville and demonstrated two GenAI-based solutions in underwriting and claims management.
- An underwriting assistant analyses risks and provides accurate recommendations to enhance efficiency and risk selection.
- A claims management solution that offers claims handlers prioritised case overviews and intelligent recommendations. This reduces processing times, enhances customer satisfaction, and lightens the workload for claims handlers.
Additional customer presentations in Nashville highlighted the potential and results already achieved.
- Ascot Insurance, a winner of the Guidewire Innovation Awards, reduced the time required for gathering claims information by 86% and can now assess risks in just two minutes.
- Mountain West Farm Bureau received another Guidewire Innovation Award for achieving near-real-time analyses through over 100 dashboards. They increased the automation rate to over 80%, which reduced claims resolution time by 50%.
GenAI, in combination with human capabilities and empathy, will lead to a new era in developing intelligent and innovative insurance solutions that benefit both customers and insurers.
The power of the ecosystem with insurance innovation made in Finland
One of the key highlights of every Guidewire Connections is the scale and innovation within the Guidewire ecosystem. Since the first cloud release, the Guidewire developer community has expanded by 368%, making it the largest in the property and casualty (P&C) industry.
The Guidewire consulting community comprises over 25,000 experts working across more than 40 consulting firms globally. These partners play a crucial role in the successful execution of Guidewire projects.
More than 220 technology companies provide solutions through the Guidewire Marketplace. 93 partners are located in the EMEA region, while 90 are based in the APAC region. With over 17,000 downloads, the Marketplace demonstrates its solutions' high demand and significant value.
The Partner Pavilion offered a detailed overview of recent advancements and applications in insurance innovation. It showcased innovations and solutions around core processes, digitalisation, customer centricity, data science, and automation and provided a wealth of inspiration.
One of the many solution partners that stands out to me is ICEYE Oy from Finland. ICEYE provides Property and Casualty (P&C) insurers with advanced natural catastrophe monitoring solutions, leveraging its proprietary synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation. This technology enables persistent, all-weather, day-and-night monitoring of any location on Earth.
By leveraging ICEYE's satellite data, insurers can enhance their catastrophe simulations and implement effective loss prevention and mitigation measures. This ultimately leads to innovative, resilient, and responsive insurance solutions that become increasingly important now and in the future.
Personalisation and UBI: new approaches for motor insurance
Mobility and motor insurance have long been areas of innovation, particularly in the Nordic countries. Some insurers emphasise sustainable solutions, such as utilising used vehicle parts. This approach reduces costs, lowers premiums, and helps alleviate supply bottlenecks.
Another strategy involves leveraging new technologies and product models, such as personalised and usage-based insurance (UBI). This is especially prominent in the motor insurance sector.
I was inspired by the story of the Alberta Motor Association (AMA) in Canada, which received one of three Guidewire Innovation Awards this year.
Using the Guidewire UBI solution, AMA launched its first pay-as-you-drive product, MyPace. The results and benefits achieved underline their successful innovation:
- Up to 55% lower insurance premiums for customers.
- 5,000 policies were taken out in the first year.
- The claims ratio was reduced by 50 points compared to the standard product.
- A 90 % increase in customer loyalty.
These impressive figures demonstrate the potential of usage-based insurance models for motor insurance. As an enthusiastic telematics customer myself, I see significant potential in exploring new innovative solutions.
Conclusion
As in previous years, Guidewire Connections 2024 offered an outstanding platform for sharing ideas, fostering innovation, and encouraging exchange. The key topics I focused on during the event—SaaS, cloud solutions, personalisation, generative AI, and the strength of ecosystems—will continue to influence the insurance industry's future in the Nordic countries.
I am excited about the next Connections event in Las Vegas, scheduled for October 27 to 30, 2025. Until then, it remains clear that innovation and collaboration are essential for overcoming our industry's challenges and seizing new opportunities.