Decision science & life insurance
Geoff Keast, CEO of Montoux and member of the Forbes Technology Council, recently shared an interesting and insightful take on life insurers and big data. In his article, “Imperfect Data Is No Excuse For Life Insurers Not To Innovate,” Keast argues that life insurers have more data than the vast majority of other insurance companies – some going back decades on their policyholders. While life insurers house immense amounts of data, they are too often reliant on the assumption that the company must somehow be using the data in their underwriting – otherwise, why would they retain it.
However, that is not always the case. Many life insurers are slow to innovate in how data is used. Keast invokes “decision science” to show how the life industry can begin to sort and use its vast data reserves to innovate underwriting, product development and pricing.