8SEPTEMBER 2017number of baby boomers working in insurance that will retire at staggering rates starting in 2018 (with some predicting as much as 25 percent). Technologists are faced with timeworn legacy systems that require increased maintenance, which drives up costs, while specialist operating knowledge is at risk of being lost as the workforce ages retire. So it is that CIOs like Mary Kotch, at Insurance/Reinsurance company Validus Holdings, strive to boot up company growth with innovation through Digitization and Automation, Data Analytics and an innovative way of managing talent. The history of mankind has been marked by the use of tools. Digitization and Automation takes the relatively new concept of RPA or Robotic Process Automation. RPA essentially entails programming software to trigger decisions on multi-step tasks, using software, or server-based robots. These robots can mimic humans to access systems, processing claims or administering policies in a fraction of the time. RPA technology is not meant to replace human labor but rather to liberate it from the Some industries are known as "bleeding edge." These industries are willing to take large risks with new technology in order to gain small but decisive advantage. But the insurance industry represents the opposite of this idea. In insurance, stability is the order of the day while radical innovation or risk taking is an anathema. But over the long run, avoidance of risk can represent its own form of risk. Critical aspects of the insurance world are stuck in the 1960s. Aged Cobol and VSAM mainframe technology are widely used but are deteriorating rapidly along with a large Building Towards Tomorrow: Driving Change in InsuranceBy Mary Kotch, EVP & Global CIO, Validus ReinsuranceIN MY OPINION
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