Majesco, a provider of AI-native and cloud-native software for the insurance industry, has published its latest research examining the growing gap between insurer priorities and customer protection needs.
The findings are detailed in Majesco’s latest thought leadership report, The Insurance Alignment Gap: Where Insurer Priorities and Customer Protection Needs Converge…and Diverge. The report explores how insurers are approaching transformation while customers face increasing concerns around affordability, financial resilience, preparedness and trust.
According to Majesco, insurers are concentrating on improving operational efficiency, profitability and competitiveness, alongside modernising core systems, adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and developing more intelligent operating models. Customers, by comparison, are placing greater importance on affordability, financial vulnerability, relevant protection and having confidence that their insurance will support them when circumstances change.
Majesco says the research highlights a difference in perspective rather than entirely separate priorities. Insurers and customers are often responding to the same pressures, but from different positions. The company argues that insurers will need to connect technology and operational investment more directly to benefits that customers can recognise.
“The insurance industry is at a pivotal moment where enterprise transformation and customer expectations and reality can no longer evolve on separate tracks,” commented Denise Garth, Chief Strategy Officer at Majesco. “Insurers are modernising to improve efficiency, competitiveness, and agility, while customers are looking for protection that feels affordable, understandable, and relevant to the risks they face every day. The result is a strategic alignment challenge, but also a powerful growth opportunity. Insurers most likely to outperform in the years ahead will be those that connect internal business transformation agendas directly to external customer value.”
Majesco’s research identifies areas of common ground, including pressure on costs, the relevance of insurance products, personalisation, digital engagement, AI and the development of more proactive approaches to protection.
At the same time, the report points to differences in emphasis and expectations. Majesco says insurers frequently view transformation through measures such as efficiency, productivity and operational performance, whereas customers are more likely to judge its success by whether insurance is affordable, easy to understand, relevant to their circumstances and capable of helping them prepare for financial uncertainty.
The company identifies cost pressure as one of the key areas where these perspectives intersect. Insurers are looking for greater efficiency across their businesses, while customers are increasingly concerned about the affordability of insurance and other essential expenses.
Majesco also highlights financial vulnerability as a significant protection issue. Inflation, healthcare costs, retirement planning and pressure on household savings are contributing to concerns about whether customers have sufficient financial protection when unexpected events occur.
Customer experience is another area where Majesco sees an opportunity for insurers to strengthen their relationship with policyholders. The company says customers increasingly expect more than convenient digital interactions, instead looking for greater clarity, relevance and trust throughout their relationship with an insurer.
Preparedness is also becoming an important part of the value insurers can provide, according to Majesco. Rather than focusing solely on responding to claims after an event, insurers could play a greater role in helping customers understand potential risks, take preventative measures and prepare for uncertainty.
Majesco also identifies AI as an important part of this shift. The company says AI is likely to have the greatest customer impact when it provides practical benefits, such as helping people understand their insurance options, identify potential gaps in cover and make decisions with greater confidence.
For insurers, Majesco says responding to these changing expectations may require a move away from policy-centric operations and towards more solution-focused models of engagement. This could mean changes to operating models and technology infrastructure, as well as the way products, services and customer journeys are designed.
The company suggests that greater emphasis could also be placed on education and preparedness rather than focusing primarily on the point at which a customer purchases a policy. Insurance could increasingly form part of a wider approach to financial resilience, rather than being viewed solely as an individual transaction.
Majesco notes that this shift may also require insurers to reconsider the language they use with customers, the measures used to assess performance and the way value is communicated.
The company concludes that insurers combining cloud and AI-native technology with changes to their operating models and a stronger focus on relevance, preparedness and trust could be better positioned to respond to changing customer expectations. Majesco says aligning internal transformation with customer outcomes could help insurers strengthen relationships, support competitiveness and respond to the changing role customers expect insurance to play.
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