Category: Blog

Decoding the Generative AI Buzz in Life Sciences | Blog

June 16, 2023

Advances in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) have sparked interest in its potential to drive growth and innovation in the biopharma and medical devices industries. Despite challenges and regulations, the life sciences industry is actively exploring GAI’s possibilities. Learn about the current state of Generative AI adoption, the supplier landscape, and proactive actions stakeholders should take to stay at the forefront of this technology. 

Contact us for questions or to have a discussion.

Life sciences, just like all other industries, is actively seeking to understand the intricacies of Generative AI (GAI) to gain a competitive edge. Enterprises in this industry are gearing up to embrace this generational shift in AI-enabled technology. Continue reading for the first part of our series on Generative AI adoption.

GAI is a type of machine learning that uses neural networks to learn patterns in the input data. Based on the input data it was trained on, GAI then generates the most appropriate response. GAI’s promise of delivering significant operational and tactical benefits in the short term and hyper-personalization and intelligent decision support over time is pushing life sciences enterprises to evaluate their Generative AI adoption readiness.

Although GAI can potentially disrupt the life sciences technology ecosystem in many significant ways, navigating the various risks and challenges that come with its implementation in this highly regulated industry will be critical.

Generative AI adoption outlook

Let’s take a look at the potential impact of GAI on the life sciences value chain:

  • Building on the solid AI foundations in place, GAI is expected to have the greatest impact on the areas of drug discovery and research, and sales and marketing
  • As organizations prioritize customer experience and new AI-based products emerge, the sales and marketing function is adopting GAI at a solid rate compared to the previous generation of AI applications
  • Due to its huge potential across the development lifecycle – from novel design ideation to final prototyping – GAI is expected to impact medical device design and development, in addition to impacting R&D and commercial functions
  • The biopharma and medical devices value chains have not yet fully embraced GAI because tools/GAI-based solutions trained on good quality LS-specific datasets are limited

The graphic below explores the short and long-term impact of GAI on various life sciences functions:

Picture1 5

Picture1 4

GAI can be used to model certain aspects of drug discovery. Some prominent cases include Insilico Medicine’s GAI platform Chemistry42 which generates ideas for novel chemical compounds, and AstraZeneca’s transformer-based model MegaMolBART for reaction prediction, molecular optimization, and de novo molecule creation.

As life sciences enterprises look to unlock GAI’s true value, its various stakeholders have exciting opportunities to collaborate and form next-generation partnerships to successfully drive GAI implementation. The supply ecosystem across the GAI technology stack is illustrated below:

Picture2 4

The following stakeholders have key roles in GAI’s future:

  • Pharmaceutical and medical device enterprises: Enterprises such as Pfizer and Eli Lilly are partnering with independent software vendors to co-develop GAI solutions focused on enhanced efficiency, cost optimization, faster drug discovery, and remote patient monitoring while maintaining compliance with regulations
  • Independent Software Vendors (ISVs): These firms offer highly specialized (pharma value chain element and/or technology-specific) productized GAI-enabled tools and have a wealth of domain expertise (cheminformatics, bioinformatics, genomics, etc.). Some players include Iktos, Yseop, and Huma.AI
  • Hyperscalers: Cloud vendors have built AI/Machine Learning (ML)-specific modules for highly specialized functions such as omics analysis, high-performance computing (HPC) workload optimization, and knowledge graphs. Hyperscalers also offer a comprehensive suite of connectors and services to enable pharmaceutical companies to work with complex datasets
  • IT service providers: Leveraging industry expertise and domain knowledge, these providers offer consulting services, training, and support. They also develop and deploy GAI solutions to pharmaceutical enterprises and ISVs

These stakeholder groups are uniquely positioned to act as catalysts for Generative AI adoption. The exhibit below looks at the actions each group should take to move forward with GAI and the implications:

Picture3 2

Stay tuned for the second part of this blog series, where we will examine the most promising use cases in each area of the life sciences value chain, including their potential risks. We will also present a blueprint to successfully maximize the value of GAI-enabled solutions.

To discuss the future of Generative AI in life sciences, contact Kumar Dhwanit, or Rohit K.

Keep an eye out for our LinkedIn Live, The Possibilities for Generative AI in Sourcing.

Adding Diverse Outsourcing Partners to Global Services Categories: Why Supplier Diversity Matters | Blog

June 16, 2023

Supplier diversity has become more than a compliance necessity as companies realize that intentionally including diverse outsourcing partners in their portfolios can improve business outcomes and positively impact society. Read on to learn about six benefits of supplier diversity that sourcing and procurement professionals should take advantage of.

Join our virtual roundtable to hear thought leaders and Everest Group experts explore the best practices that sourcing leaders follow to measure the impact of supplier diversity programs, report on key metrics, and align supplier diversity efforts with business goals, Supplier Diversity and Outsourced Services Spend: Advance Your Sourcing Strategy with Diverse Suppliers.

For many sourcing organizations, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations have become more visible criteria in selecting strategic suppliers. While supplier diversity programs have been in place for years, they have captured the spotlight recently due to rising societal awareness and investor and customer pressure. Businesses are supporting supplier diversity to advance their culture of workforce inclusivity, demonstrate social responsibility, improve brand image, and increase supply chain competitiveness.

US legislation defines supplier diversity as the practice of intentionally sourcing goods and services from businesses that are at least 51% owned and operated by individuals from traditionally underrepresented groups, such as women, people of color, veterans, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with disabilities. Let’s explore the unique attributes a diverse supplier portfolio offers, which sourcing professionals should consider to ensure greater inclusivity and a stronger supplier base.

Six benefits of supplier diversity

Drives cost savings: By expanding the group of potential suppliers and encouraging competition, an inclusive procurement strategy can increase product quality while reducing costs. Additionally, inclusiveness can strengthen supply chains’ adaptability and resiliency by presenting more sourcing choices, providing a significant benefit in these turbulent times. Also, diverse service providers that are relatively smaller can potentially have lower overhead costs compared to their peers and reduced transportation costs due to their local presence, making them more agile in their offerings.

Enhances innovation: Including diverse suppliers in an outsourcing portfolio can enhance innovation by bringing in new perspectives and ideas. For example, GEP, a minority-owned US-based procurement consultancy firm, received the 100 CPO Forum Awards 2022 from the United Arab Emirates along with GIG Gulf, one of the largest insurance groups in the Middle East. The two teams were recognized for their collaborative efforts in standardizing and transforming source-to-contract processes and operations at GIG Gulf using GEP’s unified procurement tool GEP SMART, when they received this award in Best Technology Partnership – Best Use of Digital Technology category. The 100 CPO Forum Awards honor international businesses for their creative supply chain and procurement accomplishments that improve organizational adaptability, efficiency, and resilience.

Improves corporate social responsibility: Having a diverse supplier base demonstrates a company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and can enhance its reputation. Many stakeholders are scrutinizing corporations’ diversity, equity, and inclusion results as they prioritize the good enterprises can do for the community. he supply chain, communities, and a company’s brand are strengthened when visibly working toward shared objectives of supplier diversity and CSR.

Meets customer expectations and generates market credibility: Customers are increasingly expecting companies to prioritize diversity and inclusion in their supply chain. Large companies such as Johnson & Johnson not only share how much money they spend annually in each diversity category, but they have also made supplier diversity a key component of their overall corporate mission. Among other initiatives, Toyota has a dedicated Facebook page for supplier diversity and distributes a quarterly newsletter about supplier diversity. These leaders have introduced a diverse range of suppliers as part of their businesses.

Generates employment opportunities for disadvantaged communities: The National Minority Supplier Diversity Council reports that certified minority business enterprises (MBEs) generate $400 billion in economic output, which has led to creating and preserving 2.2 million jobs and $49 billion in annual revenue for local, state, and federal tax authorities. And those numbers are steadily increasing.

Aligns with government policies: Including diverse suppliers can help companies meet government goals and requirements. According to a report by the Small Business Administration (SBA), companies that support supplier diversity are more likely to win government contracts, as federal, state, and local governments have established programs and goals to support minority-owned and women-owned businesses.

Why supplier diversity matters

Supplier diversity goes beyond meeting compliance requirements; it is a strategic imperative that offers tangible benefits. By intentionally including diverse suppliers in their outsourcing portfolio, companies can achieve multiple benefits. These include driving cost savings through increased competition and adaptability, enhancing innovation through new perspectives and ideas, and improving corporate social responsibility and reputation. Companies can also better meet customer expectations and generate market credibility, create employment opportunities for disadvantaged communities, and demonstrate their alignment with government policies.

Not only does supplier diversity reflect a company’s commitment to inclusivity, the practice also is a pathway to improved business outcomes and positive societal impact. As enterprises continue to prioritize ESG considerations, sourcing and procurement professionals should embrace diverse suppliers in outsourcing strategies.

To discuss supplier diversity further, contact Amy Fong, [email protected], Partner for Sourcing and Vendor Management.

Don’t miss the virtual roundtable as we uncover the key aspects of supplier diversity, Supplier Diversity and Outsourced Services Spend: Advance Your Sourcing Strategy with Diverse Suppliers.

Generative AI Heralds a New Era in Cybersecurity | Blog

June 8, 2023

In today’s ever-evolving threat landscape, generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is becoming an increasingly popular technology tool to defend against sophisticated cyberattacks. Read on to learn about the latest investments in GAI-powered security products, the potential benefits and drawbacks, and the ramifications for the cybersecurity workforce and industry. 

Learn about the latest pricing trends in cyber security in our webinar, Cyber Resiliency Strategy: Key Themes and Pricing Trends for 2023.

GAI has grabbed worldwide interest with its ability to create unique and realistic images, text, audio, code, simulations, and videos that previously were not thought to be possible. Lately, GAI has been applied in many industries, such as the creative arts, healthcare, entertainment, and advertising. Let’s explore the latest cybersecurity industry trends and how GAI can help security teams stay one step ahead of the latest threats.

Cybersecurity vendors are leaving no stone unturned to deliver the power of GAI

In recent years, advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI)- and Machine Learning (ML)-based technologies have been rapidly adopted across the cyber industry, providing intelligent automation capabilities and also augmenting human talent.

The vast use cases of AI/ML in cybersecurity include proactive threat detection, prevention, intelligence, user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), anomaly detection, vulnerability management, automated incident investigation and response, and more.

With the release of ChatGPT (GPT-3.5/GPT-4), DALL-E, Midjourney AI, Stable Diffusion, and other developments, the hype around GAI is accelerating faster than ever, and vendors are racing to harness its power to develop new products and solutions leveraging this technology.

Key GAI vendor announcements

Picture1 5

Here are some examples of suppliers adopting GAI technology in the past four months alone:

  • SlashNext launched Generative HumanAI, an email security product aimed at combating business email compromise (BEC), in February
  • Microsoft introduced Security Copilot, a solution to help security professionals identify and respond to potential threats using OpenAI’s GPT-4 GAI and Microsoft’s proprietary security-specific model, in March
  • Flashpoint expanded its partnership with Google, incorporating GAI into its intelligence solutions for improved threat detection in April
  • Among other announcements last month, Recorded Future integrated OpenAI’s GPT model into its AI, Cohesity integrated with Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI for anomaly detection, and Veracode developed a tool utilizing GAI to address security code flaws

Generative AI captured massive attention at RSAC

At the recently concluded RSA Conference 2023 in San Francisco, GAI was a fascinating theme that was widely discussed and showcased in many innovative security products. These include SentinelOne’s announcement of Purple AI, which will leverage GAI and reinforcement learning capabilities to not just detect and thwart attacks but also autonomously remediate them.

Also at the event, Google Cloud launched its Security AI Workbench powered by a security-specific large language model (LLM), Sec-PaLM, aimed at addressing the top three security challenges – threat overload, toilsome tools, and the talent gap. The offering incorporates VirusTotal Code Insight and Mandiant Breach Analytics for Chronicle to augment efforts to analyze incidents and detect and respond to threats.

Foreseeable advantages stemming from GAI in the cybersecurity world

The advantages of using GAI for this industry can include:

  • Enhancing threat and vulnerability detection, response, and automated remediation

Its ability to analyze enormous amounts of data and insights from multiple sources enables GAI to detect malicious or anomalous patterns that otherwise might go unnoticed. This can lower alert fatigue and improve the mean time to detect or discover (MTTD), mean time to restore (MTTR), and threat coverage, and enhance overall risk management strategies while reducing total security operations costs. GAI can be employed for machine-speed triaging, predictive remediation, and automated response and action for low-risk incidents. Other potential applications are leveraging the technology to detect malicious URLs and websites and AI-powered phishing campaigns run against enterprises. Furthermore, it can be utilized in Infrastructure as a Code (IaaS) security for detecting and hardenings flaws and for auto-remediation of security misconfigurations and vulnerabilities in applications.

  • Bridging the cybersecurity talent gap

The cybersecurity skills shortage is widely recognized, with enterprises finding it daunting to hire and retain talent to effectively run internal programs. More than 3.4 million skilled cybersecurity professionals are currently required globally, according to the 2022 (ISC)² Cybersecurity Workforce Study.

GAI can create phishing/cyberattacks and stimulate threat environments or security awareness programs to test security professionals’ skills and knowledge, accelerating the learning curve and quickly upskilling and reskilling employees. The technology also can be applied to generate automated workflows, playbooks, use cases, and runbooks for enhanced security delivery capabilities.

  • Powering virtual assistance, enhanced collaboration, and knowledge sharing

GAI can lessen the burden on analysts of mundane tasks by analyzing, visualizing, and summarizing complex security data into comprehensive reports and charts that previously were created manually. GAI also can help build robust assistants for coding, chat, security, or investigation. It potentially can facilitate effective communication, and serve as a centralized knowledge repository, making it easy to share and manage data from one place. This can help enterprises augment knowledge management and foster a culture of continuous learning and engagement.

Watch out for offensive capabilities of GAI in cybersecurity

Major companies, including Apple, Samsung, Amazon, Accenture, Goldman Sachs, and Verizon, have either banned or restricted employees’ use of GAI-powered utilities to safeguard data confidentiality. Data breaches are a primary risk associated with GAI. Models use massive data sets for learning, and that data could contain enterprises’ sensitive information including Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and financial data. If carelessly handled, it could lead to unauthorized access, unintended disclosure, misuse, and even IP or copyright infringement. GAI also exposes enterprises to regulatory compliance risks, especially those subject to strict data protection laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), etc.

The use of GAI for malicious practices in social engineering, spear phishing, and other scams has been on the uptick. Another potential offensive aspect is that GAI can be employed to create advanced malware strains capable of evading signature-based detection measures.

Malicious actors could use GAI to create sophisticated exploits and other invasive codes to bypass security systems and exploit vulnerabilities in touchpoints. Considering its power to generate new content, brute-force attacks for password theft can be easily facilitated via GAI.

In addition, hackers can utilize deepfake technology to impersonate individuals, leading to identity theft, financial fraud, and the proliferation of misinformation. The efficiency and accuracy of an ML-based security system can be sabotaged if a hacker automates the creation of false positives, wasting analysts’ time and resources while ignoring the real threat.

GAI – A boon or bane?

In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” GAI is doing just that. The heavy investments in GAI are a double-edged sword. While the technology can strengthen enterprises’ cyber shield arsenal, adversaries can use it to thwart their defensive attempts. GAI is here to stay and its adoption will accelerate even with security threats, making it pressing for cyber leaders to quickly determine their response and adoption strategies.

Cyber leaders may find a path to expand their roles and become protectors of enterprises by actively taking actions to address GAI’s use. These proactive initiatives can include robust data loss prevention and governance; usage guidelines, policies, and frameworks; workforce education; thorough vulnerability and risk assessments; comprehensive identity and access management; and incident detection and response plans.

Everest Group will continue to follow this growth area. To discuss cybersecurity industry trends, please contact Prabhjyot Kaur and Kumar Avijit.

Continue learning about cybersecurity industry trends in the blog, Now is the Time to Protect Operational Technology Systems from Cyber Risks.

Transforming the Game: How Consolidation is Revolutionizing the Insurance Brokerage Industry | Blog

June 7, 2023

Readily available capital and low-interest rates made the past few years ideal for the insurance brokerage industry to consolidate in response to increased competition, changing customer expectations, and other challenges. Merged insurance intermediaries can partner with business process service (BPS) providers to optimize processes, manage risks, enhance data analytics, and improve customer experience, among other benefits. Read on to learn more.    

Reach out to us directly for questions or to learn more.

The insurance brokerage industry went through an inflection point last year. A confluence of factors happening simultaneously created a perfect recipe for consolidation. These included large quantities of readily available capital, low-interest rates, highly valued broker stocks, all-time high valuation multiples, and the challenging insurance market.

The deal frenzy of 2021 slowed towards the end of 2022, with less than $2 billion of deal value announced and no large transactions in the last six months of the year. Despite this, insurance brokerage transactions trumped the activity. More than 90% of the overall insurance deals were in the brokerage space. In terms of both the volume of transactions and the multiples being paid, the consolidation rate in the re/insurance broker industry has accelerated.

Let’s take a look at the following dominant broker groups influencing the insurance brokerage industry:

  1. Global brokers – Large multinational insurance brokers who typically operate in multiple countries and offer a wide range of insurance products and services
  2. Private Equity (PE)-backed brokers – PE firms provide the necessary capital for mergers and acquisitions
  3. Family-owned brokers – Small to mid-sized insurance brokers that are family owned and operated

Drivers and challenges leading to consolidation

Picture1 2

Competition

  • Increasing competition: The insurance intermediary industry is becoming increasingly crowded, with new players entering it all the time, further fragmenting the market. These new players often can offer better services, lower prices, and more innovative solutions than traditional insurance intermediaries
  • Market share growth: Insurance intermediaries can inorganically boost market share with additional capabilities and market penetration in new geographies by consolidating with another firm. They also can benefit from customer base growth

Capabilities

  • Technological advancements: The industry’s recent drive towards digital transformation by implementing new technology and platforms is forcing intermediaries to seek funds to invest in digitization or lose against better-capitalized intermediaries
  • Economies of scale: Insurance intermediary consolidation can spread fixed costs over a larger number of policies, resulting in lower average costs per policy. It also can provide intermediaries with increased bargaining power with insurers, provide cross-selling and up-selling opportunities, and help increase brand and mind share
  • Service offering diversification: Consolidation allows insurance intermediaries to expand and diversify their services and product lines. Intermediaries can attract new customers by acquiring another brokerage that provides different products or services. This keeps intermediaries relevant and competitive in a dynamic market

 Complexity

  • Regulatory pressure: Consolidation can help smaller intermediaries remain up to date on increasingly complex risk management requirements that would be difficult for them to do by themselves
  • Inefficient processes and people: By joining forces, smaller firms can improve process efficiencies and combine their talent pools. Consolidation also can help large entities better manage operations

 Customer

  • Changing customer expectations: Consumers increasingly demand customized and convenient services and anticipate an omnichannel experience. Insurance intermediaries that cannot meet shifting consumer expectations risk losing clients to rivals who can.

Impact of consolidation on stakeholders

Insurers

Picture2 3

Customers

Picture3 1

Routes to consolidation

Insurance intermediaries can take multiple paths to consolidate depending on their strategy, such as:

  1. Mergers & Acquisitions: This is the preferred route for consolidation where two or more intermediaries enter into an M&A to achieve economies of scale, expand into new markets, and gain access to the latest tools and technologies. Different forms of M&A pursued are horizontal mergers between intermediaries from the same market, vertical mergers between intermediaries with different capabilities, and cross-border M&A
  2. Strategic alliances and joint ventures: Insurance intermediaries can pursue strategic alliances or JVs under many forms, such as distribution agreements, co-marketing agreements, and shared service agreements to effectively share resources and expertise while reducing risks and increasing market power
  3. PE investments: In recent years, PE firms have increased their involvement in this industry as they look to invest in dependable, cash-generating companies with room for expansion. PE companies can assist insurance intermediaries seeking strategic acquisitions and expansions while also providing access to finance and experience

Many intermediaries also take an independent route and pursue organic growth by investing in digital transformation initiatives to achieve unparalleled scale and efficiency.

Key players in the insurance intermediary consolidation space

The insurance intermediary market is highly competitive and dynamic, with many players pursuing different strategies to achieve their growth objectives. Here are some of the active players in the consolidation space:

  • Marsh & McLennan: In 2019, the company acquired Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, a leading UK-based insurance intermediary, in a deal valued at $5.6 billion. The company also has announced the acquisition of Focus Insurance, offering tailored personal insurance programs.
  • Gallagher: Gallagher has pursued a growth strategy focused on M&A and has completed over 500 acquisitions since 1984. Gallagher started 2023 with an acquisition of Dublin-based commercial and personal lines broker First Ireland, making it one of Ireland’s largest brokers.
  • Hub International: The company also is focused on growth through M&As, and has made more than 600 acquisitions since its founding in 1998. In 2020, Hub acquired the assets of The Insurance Exchange, Inc., a leading insurance brokerage firm in California.

How intermediaries can leverage insurance service providers

Intermediaries face increasing pressure to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and deliver better customer experiences. By partnering with BPS providers, they can achieve these goals. BPS providers can deliver policy administration, claims processing, customer service, data analytics, and other services, as illustrated below:

Picture4

In selecting a BPS provider, intermediaries need to evaluate the service provider’s capabilities by carefully considering their expertise, experience, cost arbitrage, flexibility, security, business continuity, delivery footprint, talent maturity, technology, infrastructure, governance approach, and client-centricity.

Everest Group can help evaluate these capabilities through its proprietary PEAK Matrix® assessment and impartially rank service providers as leaders, major contenders, and aspirants, as well as provide expert commentary to help enterprises make better-informed decisions.

To discuss insurance brokerage industry trends, please reach out to [email protected] and [email protected], and stay updated by accessing Everest Group’s latest research on Insurance Business Processes.

Exploring the Potential of Generative AI in the Life Sciences Commercial Technology Landscape | Blog

June 7, 2023

As the life sciences industry shifts from a traditional model to a hybrid commercial model, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) can potentially be a valuable tool for commercial functions ranging from customer support to lead generation. Read on to learn about the investments providers are making in GAI and leaders’ viewpoints when it comes to embracing this technology.     

Watch the webinar, Welcoming the AI Summer: How Generative AI is Transforming Experiences, to learn more about how enterprises can leverage GAI to unlock business value.

Introduction of Generative AI in the life sciences commercial function

While Artificial Intelligence tools increasingly are being used across all industries to revolutionize customer engagement and drive business success, life sciences enterprises historically have been slow to adopt emerging technologies.

However, the life sciences industry is evaluating the potential impact of GAI for commercial functions. Let’s explore whether it will reshape the commercial technology landscape or if GAI will succumb to the inherent risks and challenges present in the life sciences industry.

The latest evolution in AI technology, GAI can create unique content in the form of text, images, audio, graphics, code, and more, in response to given prompts within seconds. Its versatile applications have captured widespread attention, with venture capitalists investing US $2.6 billion in 110 GAI-focused startups in the US last year alone.

One of the noteworthy demonstrations of GAI is the Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT), launched by OpenAI, which has gained significant attention and received substantial investments, including a recent funding round of US$ 2 billion in January 2023.

The pandemic has transformed the life sciences industry’s commercial model, shifting from traditional in-person interactions to a hybrid approach that combines traditional and digital channels.

To attain a competitive edge, life sciences enterprises are prioritizing delivering hyper-personalized experiences to the end user. As a result, enterprises are prioritizing investments in data analytics and AI tools and are seeking domain-centric solutions over industry-agnostic solutions.

The commercial function serves as the customer-facing function for enterprises by engaging customers across multiple channels, potentially making GAI a highly valuable tool across the commercial value chain with a diverse range of applications and use cases.

Potential use cases of Generative AI in the life sciences commercial function

Enterprises’ primary focus is optimizing their commercial processes by leveraging AI tools to analyze large amounts of data, identify patterns, and generate actionable insights for the commercial function, thus driving business growth. However, given the strict industry regulations, human intervention/oversight remains essential for the overall usage of GAI.

Exhibit 1 illustrates the key use cases that enterprises are striving to unlock in the near term.

Picture1 3

Voice of the life sciences industry in adopting GAI tools in the commercial function

As enterprises explore the range of capabilities offered by GAI, the industry reaction is mixed. Some leaders express skepticism about the accuracy of the information generated, while others are optimistic about leveraging GAI tools to revolutionize customer engagement.

Most leaders believe the current state of GAI tools is not fully ready for adoption. But they anticipate it will play a pivotal role in the future in delivering a seamless omnichannel experience (integrating tools on chat, email, social media channels, etc.) and delivering personalized content (relevant content to customer persona). This will make GAI an integral tool to ease the ongoing transition to a hybrid commercial model.

Exhibit 2 highlights the various perspectives shared by industry leaders about using GAI tools in the commercial function of the life sciences industry.

 

Picture3

Please note: As ChatGPT is the most utilized GAI tool, we observe enterprises discussing it more, and over time, we will see a clear distinction between GAI tools and ChatGPT.

Recent activities fostering the adoption of Generative AI in the life sciences

Despite concerns raised by industry leaders, GAI-based tools hold significant potential for delivering compelling commercial benefits in the near term. With continuous technological advancements and extensive training of tools on diverse and reliable life sciences data models, these tools can provide enhanced support for the commercial function.

Life science commercial technology providers and services providers have made the following investments to kick off their GAI journeys:

  • Salesforce launched Einstein GPT, a GAI Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that delivers AI-generated content across various interactions, including sales and marketing functions at large scale
  • Veeva has integrated a new AI tool specifically tailored for pharmaceutical sales representatives into its platform. This tool enables sales reps to obtain precise information about physicians or hospital practices, empowering them to personalize their pitches
  • Axtria integrated GPT models into its proprietary products. For example, Axtria DataMAx, a cloud-based commercial life sciences data management product, leverages GPT to drive efficiency and productivity
  • Doximity, an online networking service for medical professionals, introduced DocsGPT, which leverages GAI to streamline healthcare personnel’s communication by addressing product-related inquiries, aiming to reduce reliance on sales representatives
  • ZoomRx, a strategic healthcare consulting company, has developed the Ferma platform adopting GAI to analyze data from medical conferences, benefiting pharmaceutical companies’ medical affairs functions. Some of its clients include Amgen, AstraZeneca, Biogen, and Merck
  • Microsoft has integrated ChatGPT into Azure to develop new GAI-based tools. In this collaboration, Microsoft brings its expertise in areas such as natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, and reinforcement learning
  • Cognizant launched the Cognizant Neuro®️ AI platform to assist enterprises in deploying GAI at enterprise scale

Enterprises are widely adopting GAI tools with ongoing efforts to address and resolve concerns related to privacy, potential racial bias in training data, and regulatory compliance.

Stay tuned for the second part of this series on generative AI in life sciences, where we will delve into the challenges enterprises face in adopting GAI tools, analyze the supply landscape, and share Everest Group’s perspectives on the roadmap for tool adoption.

To discuss generative AI in life sciences, contact [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected].

Continue learning about GAI in the webinar, Welcoming the AI Summer: How Generative AI is Transforming Experiences.

Cognizant Conveys its Commitment to Growth to Analysts at Inaugural Event with New Leadership Team | Blog

June 6, 2023

At its first analyst event under the leadership of CEO Ravi Kumar, Cognizant openly discussed the company’s past problems, emphasized its renewed focus on relationship management, shared clients’ success stories, and previewed new products. Read on for reflections based on the Everest Group team’s interactions with Cognizant leaders at the event.  

Contact us directly for questions and or more information.

After a challenging past six years, the recent Cognizant event highlighted the company’s commitment to growth and improvement. The new leadership team demonstrated its awareness of issues that need repair and reinforced the company’s strong focus on bringing its core differentiator, relationship management, to the forefront. Compelling client success stories with renowned organizations like US Bank and Bristol Myers Squibb also were shared with the analysts and advisors who attended the event.

The context for the event was significant given the company’s struggles in recent years involving an activist investor followed by a slow growth period precipitated by misaligned priorities. Despite these issues, Cognizant ranked sixth in Everest Group’s latest version of the flagship leaderboard of global IT organizations – PEAK Matrix Service Provider of the Year 2023.

Picture2 e1686080818819

Even with the remaining issues that need to be fixed, the company has sound fundamentals. Here are our takeaways from the main points we heard from Cognizant’s leadership at the event:

  • Self-awareness and commitment to improvement

The company’s self-awareness of the challenges it faced and its commitment to addressing them was a key theme that emerged from Cognizant’s analyst event. The provider acknowledged how several issues had impacted its performance and reputation in recent years. Rather than shying away from these concerns, it displayed a refreshingly transparent approach, recognizing the need for change and outlining specific actions to address the identified areas for improvement. This commitment to self-improvement demonstrates Cognizant’s dedication to delivering exceptional client experiences and driving sustainable growth.

  • Bringing relationship management to the forefront

Cognizant has long been recognized for its deep client relationships, which have been instrumental to its success over the years. The company emphasized the importance of relationship management as its core differentiator. Cognizant showcased a renewed focus on nurturing and strengthening these relationships, leveraging its vast expertise, industry knowledge, and client-centric approach. By reinforcing the significance of strong client partnerships, Cognizant appears to be picking the right battles.

  • Compelling client stories: US Bank and Bristol Myers Squibb

Cognizant shared inspiring client success stories that showcased its ability to drive innovation and create value for its clients. One notable example was its collaboration with US Bank, where Cognizant leveraged its digital transformation expertise to help the bank enhance its customer experience, streamline operations, and drive cost efficiencies. Cognizant’s partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb was another example shared. Cognizant supported the global biopharmaceutical company in leveraging advanced analytics and data-driven insights to accelerate drug discovery and development, leading to improved patient outcomes. These successes served as compelling examples of Cognizant’s ability to deliver tangible business results through technology-driven solutions.

  • Stability in leadership

A crucial factor contributing to the sense of stability and confidence at the analyst event was Cognizant’s leadership team. Along with Kumar, the other executives speaking at the event included Surya Gummadi, Prasad Sankaran, and Ganesh Ayyar. The leadership team’s steady guidance has played a pivotal role in steering Cognizant through transformation and growth. Analysts and attendees noted leadership’s openness in addressing concerns and the confidence they exuded in their ability to guide Cognizant.

Lastly, Cognizant gave the community a preview of recent offerings such as Cognizant Neuro AI, its new, enterprise-wide platform designed to provide enterprises with a comprehensive approach to accelerate the adoption of generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) technology.

By acknowledging areas for improvement and demonstrating a transparent and determined approach, Cognizant conveyed its commitment to growth and delivering exceptional client experiences. The emphasis on relationship management as its key strength reinforced the company’s focus. As analysts, we will closely scrutinize Cognizant’s progress in these areas and offer insights to buyers and investors in IT and Business Process Services.

Everest Group was represented at this event by CEO Peter Bendor-Samuel, and Partners Abhishek Singh, Achint Arora, Manu Agarwal, Ronak Doshi, and Shirley Hung. Contact this team with questions about IT and BP services markets, enterprise buying trends, and the role of vendors. Reach out to contact us.

Picture3

From left, Ronak Doshi, Shirley Hung, Abhishek Singh, Ravi Kumar, Achint Arora, Peter Bendor-Samuel, and Manu Aggarwal

Watch our webinar, Welcoming the AI Summer: How Generative AI is Transforming Experiences, to learn why leading providers are entering the market with significant investments.

Generative AI in Healthcare – A Game Changer or Another Fad? | Blog

May 31, 2023

Generative AI (GAI) has disrupted numerous industries, and the healthcare industry is eager to join in and explore the applications of GAI in healthcare research. However, the healthcare sector must be cautious due to the potential risks. Read on to learn more about Generative AI in healthcare, including adoption, usage, and risks.

Reach out to us directly for questions or further details.

Generative AI, an advanced technology that employs deep learning models, can create images, videos, text, codes, simulations, and other high-quality content by responding to given prompts within seconds.

While GAI has been shaking up almost every industry with its easy-to-use interface and instant responses, the healthcare sector is typically slower to adopt new technology, and the risks of inappropriately deploying the technology are huge.

Nevertheless, technology giants and healthcare startups are racing to test the potential for large language models (LLMs) and GAI tools in healthcare research. Understanding the adoption, usage, and potential risks of GAI in the healthcare setting is crucial.

With its vast applications, it is important to carefully select the use cases that can positively impact patients with minimal regulatory, compliance, cost, and health risks. Let’s explore this further.

By using the below framework, healthcare organizations can prioritize use cases for observation, exploration, and future investment:

Screenshot 2023 05 31 100315

Screenshot 2023 05 31 110302

Based on our analysis, GAI offers the greatest immediate potential in the area of clinical documentation. The technology can be used to free scarce clinical resources from time-consuming administrative tasks, allowing them to instead focus on delivering quality care to patients. For example, simplifying clinical documents and creating easy-to-review clinical patient summaries are some areas where GAI can have the greatest short-term impact in healthcare.

Looking beyond these basic applications, healthcare stakeholders need to cautiously consider using GAI for diagnosing patients or directly providing medical care. The technology’s tendency to sometimes invent a response when it lacks sufficient information makes it too risky for care delivery. Significant long-term investments will be needed before GAI can be used for delivering patient care.

Will Generative AI in healthcare lead to job loss?

GAI is expected to considerably alleviate the administrative burden of healthcare professionals. The nature of jobs will shift and healthcare professionals will have to adapt as demand grows for GAI. Certain healthcare professions such as medical transcriptionists, medical record keepers, medical coders, call center executives, and home healthcare executives will need to upskill as GAI automates some manual processes.

The other big question in everyone’s mind is whether GAI will completely replace physicians. This is unlikely to happen anytime soon. GAI should be viewed as a tool to augment healthcare professionals’ capabilities and not replace them entirely. Physicians, surgeons, radiologists, and nutritionists will leverage GAI to enhance care delivery.

Challenges to future adoption

Generative AI in healthcare is a disruptive opportunity that both excites and concerns healthcare professionals. While it offers significant potential, the industry needs to overcome obstacles to commercial adoption.

Some of the risks include:

  • Ethical concerns and biases – Healthcare professionals must be wary of the ethical concerns and limitations related to using sensitive member/patient information. Moreover, limitations of datasets also can lead to biases in results or outcomes suggested by GAI
  • Training data limitations – Generative AI models require high-quality training data to improve the accuracy of output, which can be difficult to source. The model’s efficiency also depends on the breadth of training data, which can be both time-consuming and expensive to label
  • Integration issues – Integrating GAI into existing healthcare systems and workflows can be challenging, especially with legacy systems that are not designed to work with AI
  • High costs – The technology costs of building and deploying GAI models can be expensive

Adopting Generative AI in healthcare can be a game changer. While it offers many potential benefits, the industry needs to fully understand the associated risks of GAI before implementing use cases and adopting the technology at scale.

To discuss the future of Generative AI in healthcare, contact Kaushik Sundar, [email protected], or Priya Sahni, [email protected].

Continue learning about the healthcare industry in our webinar, How Technology Can Help Healthcare Overcome the $30 Billion RCM Spend.

Googling Growth: How the Google Cloud Specialization Strategy Enables Enterprises to Innovate and Differentiate | Blog

May 31, 2023

Google Cloud continues to differentiate itself from other cloud providers by emphasizing specialized services, tools, and a partner-oriented strategy that enables businesses to achieve better flexibility, scalability, and security. Learn how the Google Cloud specialization strategy can help enterprises large to small generate greater value from cloud implementation.

To learn more about this topic, reach out to us directly with questions and for more information.

How have enterprise cloud adoption trends evolved post-pandemic?

The pandemic years profoundly impacted enterprises worldwide, and hyperscalers are no exception. A shift began when cloud gained popularity as a go-to tool to transform the enterprise landscape. As more enterprises moved online, the demand for cloud services skyrocketed, and cloud adoption topped enterprises’ digital transformation agendas.

Fast forward to the present day, when enterprises are still exploring cloud services but with a different agenda. The enterprise cloud adoption strategy has transitioned from “leap and observe” to “assess and stride.” Thus, cloud technology has transitioned from being a support tool to an enabler for enterprises’ long-term business growth, with new trends emerging to meet the changing needs of businesses and consumers alike.

How does Google Cloud meet the current enterprise preferences?

Google Cloud has evolved its value proposition to respond to market disruption by catering to use cases that provide such benefits as improved customer experience, better cost optimization options, increased security, the industry cloud, and many others.

It is slowly developing niche expertise to position itself as a strong competitor in the cloud provider ecosystem. With multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud adoption rapidly accelerating among enterprises, Google Cloud is emerging as a preferred secondary cloud option because of its flexibility and compatibility with existing enterprise infrastructure, simplicity of data analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) products, robust security features, and cost-effectiveness.

With a targeted focus, its expertise echoes customers’ key adoption preferences, such as:

  • Gaining innovative insights from data streams: Data is the “key” that opens pathways that can help any enterprise build a competitive advantage through innovation. However, the typical characteristics of data, such as volume, veracity, and variety, have always posed challenges for enterprises in effectively analyzing and utilizing the data. This becomes even more concerning for firms operating in a multi- and hybrid-cloud environment. Google Cloud’s targeted focus on “an open, unified, and intelligent data ecosystem” can provide improved insights while managing each data lifecycle stage.

Enterprises seeking to harness their existing data’s full potential for business growth and innovation are taking advantage of Google Cloud’s AI-enabled data offerings. From natural language processing and computer vision to predictive analytics and personalized recommendations, enterprises are opting for Google Cloud’s AI/ML solutions to drive innovation, unlock new insights, and, thereby, improve business outcomes. Enterprises are widely adopting BigQuery for scalable data analysis. Moreover, Google Cloud’s investments in expanding data center coverage and rising computing and storage capabilities are aligned with meeting rising enterprise demand for seamless data-driven innovation

  • Embracing open-source cloud for flexibility and control: A few years into their cloud journey, enterprises are experiencing visible cloud challenges, including inefficient scalability, limited agility, and rising cost pressures. To create a flexible, interoperable, and reliable cloud infrastructure, they are gradually transitioning to an open-source ecosystem. Enterprises are using Google Cloud’s latest products and services to create an open-source portable application architecture, which can provide ease and flexibility for developers to remain in a lock-in-free environment.

 As enterprises strive to maintain ownership and control over their data and applications, Google Cloud’s open-cloud approach provides them with the necessary transparency and control to address security and compliance concerns. With its key contribution to various open-source projects such as Kubernetes, Istio, and TensorFlow, Google Cloud has fortified its position as a cost-friendly cloud that offers enterprises the ability to maintain ownership and control over their data and applications

  • Creating secure cloud infrastructure: Security has become a top priority for enterprises as they deal with massive amounts of data and essential workloads on cloud platforms. They are more concerned than ever about keeping complete control over their IT infrastructure and guaranteeing the security of their cloud-based infrastructure, owing to the soaring need for resilience and reliability post-pandemic. Traditionally, Google’s security focus spanned its product suite, including encryption of data at rest and in transit, and AI-enabled threat detection. Its recent acquisitions, Mandiant and Chronicle, are steps towards creating an end-to-end secure cloud security suite focused on preventing threats and providing reliable and secure cloud services. Enterprises are choosing Google Cloud for secure cloud infrastructure due to its security features, private global network, and comprehensive compliance framework and certifications

How can enterprises continue to grow with Google Cloud?

Enterprises are increasingly appreciating Google Cloud’s specialized offerings, and their adoption journey remains centered around selected technology workloads. Twitter, Mayo Clinic, and Ford are some prominent examples of enterprises following this approach. Let’s take a further look at the Google Cloud specialization strategy.

Recognizing the paramount adoption shift, Google Cloud quickly organized its core specializations and processes into the following three strategic differentiators that enterprises could leverage for business growth:

  1. Industry-centric ecosystem as a differentiator: During cloud transformation engagements, enterprises face multiple vertical-specific constraints, including data sovereignty, regulations, and governance of mission-critical applications. These constraints have become significant concerns, requiring effort-intensive operations to effectively mitigate the associated challenges. Providers and vendors have recognized the importance of industry-centricity, and Google Cloud has been no different. However, its focus on industries is aligned with its data and next-generation expertise, with a higher preference flowing in from verticals where this expertise can transform the entire value chain. Prominent examples are retail, distribution, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) verticals, where Google Cloud’s AI/ML products and models can be used to reinvent the entire supply chain. Enterprises in the healthcare domain can leverage solutions such as Healthcare Data Engine and AlphaFold for health analytics and drug discovery, respectively. Google Cloud’s industry-specificity can help enterprises improve the customer experience by accelerating time to market, introducing customized innovative solutions, and optimizing enterprise operations
  2. Unified cloud ecosystem as a differentiator: Google Cloud’s approach of “open cloud, data cloud, and trusted cloud” is suited to provide enterprises with a well-defined unified ecosystem that can help them navigate the cloud, maintain required operational efficiencies, and enable business growth from Moreover, enterprises can benefit from this unified ecosystem by accessing the services and products that can help create a cost-efficient, agile, and resilient cloud transformation approach
  3. Partner ecosystem as a differentiator: Inefficient strategy roadmaps have emerged as one of the top reasons cloud adoption fails within enterprises. While Google Cloud has strategically engineered its products and services, it relies on channel partners to deliver them. These partners approach each cloud engagement with the objectives of enablement and growth. Enterprises can align with partners through a Google Cloud conduit that acts as a matchmaker. These partners bring the required talent, tools, and experience to act as an extension of the team while being long-term strategic enablers during enterprises’ cloud journey. Moreover, Google Cloud’s technology vendor landscape has evolved to create a collaborative ecosystem for enterprises, which can allow them to innovate their product offerings

How can enterprises best adopt Google Cloud?

Overall, adopting Google Cloud requires careful planning, coordination, and management. Enterprises can ensure their cloud adoption is executed smoothly and efficiently by asking the following questions:

  • Contracting:
    1. What measures can we take to establish accountability for meeting defined service commitments and objectives and key results? Have we considered contract termination scenarios?
    2. How easy are the contract update, renewal, and termination processes?
    3. How much flexibility do we have during contract change, renewal, and termination? Are we aware of the pricing and inclusion of products in enterprise discount plans such as Sustained Use Discounts (SUDs) and Committed Use Discounts (CUDs)?
  • Solutioning:
    1. How can we ensure our cloud adoption strategy roadmap aligns with organizational goals and objectives?
    2. Are we leveraging industry-centric products and services available in Google Cloud’s open ecosystem to enhance flexibility within the enterprise?
    3. How can we effectively collaborate with Google Cloud and third-party vendors to accelerate and optimize solution delivery?
  • Talent management:
    1. How ready is our talent pool to handle the operational and business complexities associated with the Google Cloud adoption?
    2. How will we ensure change management while transitioning to Google Cloud ecosystem?
    3. What measures should we take to guarantee ongoing training, support, and knowledge enhancement for all individuals involved in the Google Cloud adoption, while also considering the engagement of Google Cloud’s engineering and professional services teams?
  • Governance:
    1. What is our governance framework to effectively manage the adoption of Google Cloud within our enterprise?
    2. How can we ensure a controlled and accountable approach to Google Cloud adoption?
    3. How will we actively monitor and address risks associated with Google Cloud adoption, and what are our mitigation strategies to minimize the potential impact?

With maturing digital adoption, enterprises are changing their outlook towards utilizing the cloud as a key value generator. A successful strategy and a well-established roadmap are needed to realize cloud’s expected value. Choosing the right system integrator to partner with is also critical to get the most out of Google Cloud adoption.

Reach out to [email protected] and [email protected] to understand how to best leverage Google Cloud’s solution, industry, and partner ecosystem, the right metrics to effectively select a cloud transformation partner, and other cloud adoption trends.

Top GBS Employers™ in India, The Philippines, and Poland 2023 – How Leading GBS Organizations are Building Brand Perception | Blog

May 31, 2023

Employee and job candidates’ perceptions of an employer’s brand can significantly impact talent acquisition and retention. Building on its inaugural research in this area, Everest Group will soon release its 2023 report examining how operations and technology employees in Global Business Services (GBS) organizations in India, The Philippines, and Poland view their employer’s brands. Read on to learn why building a positive brand perception is crucial in today’s war for talent. 

See who’s on the list in the 2023 report.

Why GBS brand perception matters?

GBS organizations are only as good as the talent they possess. Brand perception can positively or negatively impact the GBS employees who provide services to the broader company. With today’s unique operations and talent needs, leading GBS firms understand the importance of investing heavily to create a positive employer brand in the local markets where they operate.

Building and maintaining a strong GBS employer brand is critical for talent recruitment and retention. As the battle for skilled talent continues, even with massive layoffs, companies are continuously striving to improve their competitiveness by creating a favorable reputation.

Employer branding, or how current and prospective employees view the company, is one of the most critical decision-making factors for job candidates. Employer brand perception is shaped by a combination of factors, including company policies, activities, and communications by the employer and its current employees.

Perception matters in today’s digital age. Employees can easily access information online, and good and bad news travels fast through social media. Potential employees can easily research a company’s reputation; read employee reviews on portals like Glassdoor, AmbitionBox, and Indeed; and develop a view of the company’s culture and values through social and professional media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Potential employees form their views about a company through these review portals, social media, and other online discussion forums, and the sentiments they come away with can be different than the image the employer presents.

While GBS leaders regularly collect feedback to make improvements, they can be blindsided by their views of their brand and fail to seek the much-needed outside-in-employee perspective. To address this void, Everest Group’s Top GBS Employers’ Report provides employee views on reputation, enabling GBS leaders to compare how they rank against market competitors and improve their talent strategies.

About Everest Group Top GBS EmployersTM Report

Brand perception studies typically do not focus on the differentiated nature of the GBS market and fail to capture the concerns of talent or the voice of employees. Everest Group’s Top GBS Employers analysis is, by design, based on publicly available information and the latest feedback capturing prospective employees’ perceptions about GBS organizations.

The report findings provide companies with a comparative snapshot of leading firms’ market perceptions among the technology and operations workforce to arm GBS leaders with relevant facts and insights to make the right decisions.

First report of its kind

A year ago, Everest Group analyzed 200-plus GBS organizations across India, the Philippines, and Poland in a first-of-its-kind study in 2022, capturing the outside-in perspective of each organization. The firm analyzed data based on ratings on employee review portals, social media, and the internet. The study examined brand perception across dimensions such as compensation, career progression, senior management, work-life balance, culture and values, and diversity. It also evaluated the performance of the GBS organizations in local talent markets, spotlighting attrition rates, joiner-exit ratio, and overall employee satisfaction ratings.

The report revealed that companies viewed favorably by the public may be seen differently by GBS personnel in local markets. This analysis helps GBS organizations understand their employer brand’s outside-in perception and compare it with their industry peers, as well as with their internal brand perception.

To learn more about the 2022 results, Everest Group presented the following interactive sessions:

  • A LinkedIn Live event, Who Are the Top GBS Employers?, featuring discussions with GBS leaders from Sun Life Financial Asia Service Centre, Mondelez International, and SAP, India to help GBS organizations understand best-in-class practices and initiatives to build their GBS employer brand
  • A webinar, Elevate Your GBS Employer Brand: Lessons from Top Employers, to provide GBS leaders with insights to contextualize the report findings and develop a plan for improving the outside-in perception of GBS brands

The second edition of Everest Group Top GBS EmployersTM

Expanding on the scope of the 2022 report, Everest Group is finalizing the second edition of the Top GBS Employers Report covering 300-plus GBS organizations across India, the Philippines, and Poland. A report covering case studies showcasing actions taken by Top GBS employers in their respective locations will also follow.

To learn more about how the top 15 GBS employers in Poland set themselves apart, view the Linkedin Live event, Improve Your GBS Employer Brand, Learning from the Best in Poland, featuring GBS executives who have shown significant leadership and innovation. Rohitashwa Aggarwal, Partner of GBS Research and Advisory at Everest Group, talks with leaders from ABSL DACH; Antonio Calco Labruzzo, Global Head of HR, GREFP and Takeda Business Solutions; Jacek Przybylski, Senior Director, Site Leader Cisco Krakow; and Edyta Wojtkiewicz, Head of  EMEA GFS, AstraZeneca.

Below is a look at how employees at top GBS organizations in Poland view compensation and benefits, work environment, career development, and diversity among, other factors that influence their job satisfaction:

Screenshot 2023 05 31 073215

GBS leaders are invited to attend an upcoming webinar to learn about the Top GBS employers in India and the Philippines. This webinar will present the views of leaders from Sun Life Asia Services Centers, Experian Business Services, and Target in India on this assessment and their actions to build and maintain their GBS brands. Attendees also can request one complimentary assessment of their GBS organizations in either India, the Philippines, or Poland.

To learn more about Everest Group Top GBS Employers and Top Employers for Tech Talent, reach out to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or contact us.

Future Insurance Technology Trends: A Closer Look at the Need for Building Humanized Insurance Experience, Data-driven Intelligent Operations, and SaaS Integration | Blog

May 31, 2023

From the many thought-provoking conversations that Everest Group analysts engaged in at Formation ’23, three main themes emerged about the future of insurance technology. These priorities are: integrating a humanized and people-centric approach, leveraging data to make intelligent decisions, and strongly emphasizing the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) ecosystem. In this blog, we will take a closer look at these growing trends and explore their potential impact on the insurance industry.

Contact us directly for more insights.

Formation ’23 on May 8-10, hosted by Duck Creek Technologies (DCT), provided an excellent opportunity for Everest Group analysts to engage in exciting conversations with the community of insurance enterprise leaders, technology providers (from DCT and its solution partners), system integrators, consulting firms, and other analysts, about what will drive the next era in insurance.

Based on the dialogue we heard, the following three themes stood out to our team:

  • Building humanized and consistent experience will be the key to success

Delivering high-quality personalized customer experience is taking center stage in the insurance industry’s current transformation as carriers move from their traditional role as loss payors to becoming empathetic insurers and guardians for customers.

Digital experience platforms, distribution management systems, and smart communication platforms are becoming increasingly relevant to streamline operations, provide seamless and consistent digital experiences, and engage customers more effectively.

Data will play an important role here by equipping insurers with the right information that they can use to personalize and humanize the experience for individual customers. Interestingly, DCT also gave us a preview teaser of its new product – Elea, an AI-powered and empathy-driven chatbot slated for release later this year.

  • Infusing data and intelligence into insurance operations is the industry’s top priority

Data-driven intelligent decisions are a key priority for the industry. As the insurance industry moves toward AI-powered workflows, infusing data and having standard data models at a value chain and workflow level will be a major demand.

We found it interesting to see various point solutions offered by technology providers, such as CogniSure’s AI platform, which helps automate the underwriting process by converting structured and unstructured data to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

We also heard many discussions about early use cases of Generative AI (GAI) for operational tasks (emails, presentations, etc.), GAI-powered chatbots, and writing codes. But concerns remain about using this fast-growing technology in core operations.

  • SaaS sprawl requires attention

 SaaS sprawl was another theme that dominated conversations. While the point solutions across the value chain come with the benefit of speed to market and bridge the capability gap on the top of core systems, integration across these remains a concern as these solutions often don’t talk with each other.

Enterprises leveraging a wide number of these point solutions now see the need for digital rationalization. Most of these software platforms have evolved and added new functionalities. But enterprises are not taking advantage of the latest features because they are either unaware of these benefits or because they are paying for other software with the same purpose. This leads to duplicate costs and less value.

These conversation themes and focus areas resonate well with what we expect from the industry in this environment, but we felt some upcoming trends did not get enough attention from the community – low code/no code technology being the most prominent one.

As always, Formation ’23 was a great experience for Everest Group to interact, learn and exchange thoughts and points of view with industry leaders about the future. The fun atmosphere in Orlando, Florida, complete with country music, delicious food, and drinks, added to the interesting conversations, resulting in lasting memories.

To discuss these insurance technology trends in more depth, please contact Ronak Doshi and Roma Juneja, who attended this insightful event.

Continue learning about insurance technology trends in this blog, Uncovering a Massive Insurance Industry Cloud Opportunity.

EG with tagline Neg
Linkedin-in Facebook-f Play Instagram
Better Decisions Powered by Tenacious Research    

Contact Us

Who We Are

About Us

Newsroom

Office Locations

Partners & Affiliations

What We Offer

Memberships

Custom Decision Support

Published Research

Careers

Why Everest Group

Explore Openings

Equal Opportunity Employer

Resources

Access Reports

Citation Policy

Everest Group Market Intelligence (EGMI)

Legal

Using the Reports Portal

©2023 Everest Global, Inc.         Privacy Notice          Terms of Use        Do Not Sell My Information

How can we engage?

Please let us know how we can help you on your journey.

Contact Us

"*" indicates required fields

Please review our Privacy Notice and check the box below to consent to the use of Personal Data that you provide.
Consent*