Business automation and enhancement of the digital environment continue to be critical for insurers. The big question is how they can leverage technology for short-term projects (as bridges between legacy and modern systems) and long-term goals (for overall strategic digital transformation).

Generative AI and intelligent process automation are two such types of technologies, primarily used for short-term projects. In this blog, we will learn more about how they help streamline workflows within the insurance customer service and back-office teams.

Issues Caused by High NIGO Rates

Lowering Technical Debt with Automation

When it comes to technology, insurance companies often find themselves at a crossroads. On one hand, they need to keep up with new advancements - which is expensive! On the other hand, using outdated systems or manual approaches can result in slow document processing, poor agent, underwriter, and customer experiences, increased costs to maintain legacy technology, and major security and compliance risks.

Automation technology such as intelligent automation platforms, and gen AI help reduce this technical debt by ensuring cost-effective, speedy development without compromising on quality, scalability, and governance. Back office operations can benefit from reduced manual intervention in repetitive tasks such as data entry, document processing, data extraction, and claims handling. This minimizes errors and allows employees to focus on higher-value activities and strategic decision-making.

Similarly, service teams can deliver quicker turnaround times for customers, enhancing satisfaction and retention rates. Faster response times to inquiries and claims, better risk management strategies, and improved data integrity all contribute to increased engagement and efficiency.

Intelligent Automation and AI in the Insurance Industry

When it comes to intelligent automation, its appeal lies in its cost-effectiveness combined with the way it enhances efficiency in operations burdened by repetitive manual data entry tasks. Advances in automation technology offer scalability, flexibility, reusability, and better maintenance.

Similarly, there is growing interest in generative AI - especially large language models (LLMs), and given the global buzz around AI, it is expected to increase. Datos has reported that about 20% of life insurance companies are already using an LLM, and another 20% intend to test one this year. Initially, insurers will likely use these models for less risky tasks to make their everyday business processes (such as data extraction, data structuring, content summarization, etc.) more efficient.

This is a great time for back-office and customer service departments to significantly take advantage of intelligent automation and AI to overcome numerous operational challenges and seize opportunities for improvement.

Creating an Environment of Business Agility and Operational Excellence

Expected outcomes of adopting automation include business agility and operational excellence. Let us understand how this will work in practice:

• Workflow Visibility: Employees can get a complete view of their workflows and contextually analyze progress as well as bottlenecks, facilitating easier data handling, accuracy, and integrity. Handling inquiries, policyholder communications, and resolving complaints become more efficient and streamlined.
• Policyholder Communications: With nearly instantaneous responses to customer inquiries, speed, efficiency, and consistency are maintained in customer communications. They also benefit from personalization, round-the-clock availability, and proactive notifications regarding policy updates, claims statuses, and more.
• Information Exchange: Automation and AI make tasks like data extraction and validation from various documents easier. This enhances accuracy, reduces errors, and significantly boosts efficiency. It also accelerates processing times for tasks like claims handling and underwriting, leading to faster customer service and cost savings.
• Integration and Flexibility: Integration across multiple channels like email, SMS, and chatbots enhances flexibility for employees and customers. Data-driven insights from automated interactions empower staff to focus on resolving complex issues and providing specialized support.

Intelligent process automation and generative AI present great opportunities for insurance companies to deliver better outcomes. Neutrinos specializes in creating automation solutions that provide value to back office and customer service staff. Get in touch with us to learn how we can help you!