Innovation, Insurtech and Arrowhead: our recipe for growth

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How does Arrowhead approach innovation?

  • Realizing that innovation doesn’t always equal new technology, but continual improvement.
  • Arrowhead is deeply immersed in Insurtech at many levels.
  • Listen to our COO Tom Kussurelis in an Insurance Journal podcast on innovation and Insurtech

“Innovation is simply continuous improvement. It’s built into our DNA and our culture,” explained Arrowhead’s COO and Executive Vice President Tom Kussurelis, in a recent interview with Peter van Aartrijk’s On Point on Insurance Journal TV. (Listen to the podcast below.)

“Innovation isn’t just technology; it can be a business process. It can be how your organization is aligned to service the customer,” he added. In recent years, much of Arrowhead’s innovation as been directly tied to our Insurtech endeavors.

How did Arrowhead first become involved in Insurtech? It started with going to industry technology conferences, joining Plug & Play – getting exposed to what they’re doing, what various project they’re working on, he explained. Once solid candidates are found, Arrowhead’s innovation team employs proof of concept: mini tests. “We find a specific local problem that this technology may solve and test it out. We’re always looking for ways to do things better/cheaper/faster,” he said, adding that Arrowhead’s major focus is getting rid of layers and redundant steps, simplifying processes for our producers.

Arrowhead has invested or partnered on various fronts, including Plug and Play, APIs, IoT, drones and Amazon Web Services. The company has invested in innovation and Insurtech just as major carriers have done, but on a smaller scale. “We’re attacking the same real world issues as our carriers,” said Kussurelis.

As carriers continue to grow and become more sophisticated in managing their balance sheets, they’re very interested in taking on risks, managing more risks and using advanced metrics around those risks, he said. They’re not interested in the operational aspects: hiring armies of people or interfacing directly with producers and customers. They’re taking a more portfolio/enterprise risk position in marketplace, looking to folks like Arrowhead to handle those aspects of the business – those of us who can do it better/cheaper/faster.

Learn more on the podcast.