Survey of insurance CIOs and technology executives by Gartner, Inc. displays that the customer experience and operational excellence, rather than the “growth”, is the driving force of a majority of insurance digitalization initiatives in 2023. The survey gathered data from 2,203 CIO respondents, including 91 from the insurance industry. Insurance represents approximately $15 trillion in revenue/public-sector budgets and $322 billion in IT spending.
Creating Value is Essential
“Improving the customer experience (CX) ranked higher in the survey this year than more strategic focuses, such as growing revenue or new products/services development to support transformation. The economic stressors of the coming year are making companies refocus and shift directions to fill gaps which have existed for many years,” said Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner.
In 2023, more than half of CIOs want to increase their technology spending, with the three most popular sectors being application modernization, cybersecurity, and information security. An Insurance poll indicated that insurers need to stay ahead as they prepare for a potential economic downturn and must deliver more value to stakeholders.
According to a Gartner analysis, insurers have not adequately invested in fundamental systems like security and back-office processes. Automation will still be necessary, but insurers will have to use these technologies to assist areas that were either ignored or thought to be too difficult in the past. To enable increasingly sophisticated digitalization plans, deep and long term strategies are required.
