Like many people, I'm too focused on the here and now to see beyond the pile of work blocking me from a fast exit from the office, but there comes a time when people need to look ahead and prepare for all the possibilities—even ones that stretch the limit of your imagination.

That's what insurance is all about, right? W encourage customers to plan for the future, yet wedon't always follow our own good advice.

Planning for the future is supposed to make us feel good inside, but if you read the article I wrote on the recent Celent report (A Scenario: The End of Auto Insurance) you could come away scared for the future of personal auto insurance over the next 15 years.

Could there be a point in time that automobile travel is so safe that people won't need auto insurance? Sure, it sounds a little far fetched, but 15 years ago bookstores, travel agencies and publishing companies were all thriving businesses.

Companies operating in those industries had to learn to adapt or find a new line of work. The need to travel, buy a book, or find information didn't disappear, but the business models changed drastically.

Donald Light, who authored the report for Celent, wants to make it perfectly clear that this is a scenario and not a prediction, but any way you look at it the question keeps popping up: What are you doing to prepare for the future?

The technology that Light discusses in his report is generally available today—which is what gives an eeriness to his report—but not to the general level that would make it such a game-changer for the industry in the next few years.

While writing this article I noticed that at the upcoming IASA Educational Conference and Business Show, the CIO Roundtable will featureThorntonMay, executive director of the ITLeadershipAcademy. He will be encouraging the CIOs in attendance to stage an insurance technology revolution.

The industry is always moving and technology leaders need to be a step ahead of the business leaders to help bring the future into focus. Hopefully it doesn't mean such a drastic change as laid out in the Celent scenario, but we'd all be wise not to discount anything that could possibly happen in 2027.

Special Reports /

Looking into the Future: Insurance Technology Leaders Need Vision

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