Scouting for Growth
00:37:51 · Sabine VanderLinden, Bastiaan de Goei
[00:37:51] S1: And so my last question for you is, is there one sentence you would like to give the chief underwriting officer, a chief claim officer going, you know, to the next board meeting? What do you think they should write down if they want to achieve success in their next conversation? [00:38:07] S2: Believe in your people. I think that is the one thing that I would encourage. Insurance companies have unbelievable professionals working in their businesses. People with decades of experience in claims adjusting, in underwriting, in managing large portfolios of risk. Your best people will be expanded and have more capacity with AI technology. And so I've seen people of 70 years old that I've worked closely with in order to get them fully equipped with codecs and all of that. And they were... It's because the technology is all via natural language prompts. They were able to start using it for their particular workflows and actually use it in ways that I had not even figured or thought of. And I think that that's wonderful. And so empowering folks, that is that is what it is. Like the, the core idea and the mission, is really rooted in like... The core mission of OpenAI is to act to the benefit of humanity. I would actually even expand on that, and that is that it empowers people to do their best work. And that's what I'd love to end on. Are you technical? I'm an economist, so not technical by training, but I have had a lifelong fascination with technology and I like to tinker. That is more my nature, but I'm not a trained engineer.
00:38:07 · Bastiaan de Goei, Sabine VanderLinden
[00:38:07] S2: Believe in your people. I think that is the one thing that I would encourage. Insurance companies have unbelievable professionals working in their businesses. People with decades of experience in claims adjusting, in underwriting, in managing large portfolios of risk. Your best people will be expanded and have more capacity with AI technology. And so I've seen people of 70 years old that I've worked closely with in order to get them fully equipped with codecs and all of that. And they were... It's because the technology is all via natural language prompts. They were able to start using it for their particular workflows and actually use it in ways that I had not even figured or thought of. And I think that that's wonderful. And so empowering folks, that is that is what it is. Like the, the core idea and the mission, is really rooted in like... The core mission of OpenAI is to act to the benefit of humanity. I would actually even expand on that, and that is that it empowers people to do their best work. And that's what I'd love to end on. Are you technical? I'm an economist, so not technical by training, but I have had a lifelong fascination with technology and I like to tinker. That is more my nature, but I'm not a trained engineer. [00:39:33] S1: So do you think technical skill will be still be relevant in the future or what is the role of the technical person just based on your last example?
00:39:33 · Sabine VanderLinden, Bastiaan de Goei
[00:39:33] S1: So do you think technical skill will be still be relevant in the future or what is the role of the technical person just based on your last example? [00:39:42] S2: I personally believe that the outcomes of processes and engagement with AI usually benefits from the person steering it. So... Or orchestrating it, that's the term that we used earlier. And so say the same, like AI given to me, not a trained underwriter, I don't think that my quotations will be as good as the ones of a trained underwriter. And so I think that technical skill remains incredibly important because AI's nature is that it expands and enhances the person who is already skilled at something rather than transferring that skill set somehow to somebody else. [00:40:25] S1: Bast, thank you very much for joining me. [00:40:27] S2: Thank you so much, Sabine.
00:40:33 · Sabine VanderLinden
[00:40:33] S0: And that was Bastiaan de Goei recorded live at ITC Vegas. Three things I am taking away. First, start small and compound. Bast call this efficiency by a thousand cuts. Triage the submissions inbox before you touch the core system. Fix one friction, then the next, then the next. And his warning was as blunt as it gets. Do not run an eighteen month transformation because whatever you build will be out of date before you finish it. Second, the underwriter becomes the orchestrator, not the operator. The agent can read the submission, price the risk and prepare the quotation. The person still owns the decision and the tool has to show its steps, its assumption and its data before anyone says yes. That is what accountability looks like when the workflow runs end to end. Third, regulated is not a reason to wait. His prediction for the next year was that our attitude towards being a regulated industry has to change. And his sentence for the board was three words. Believe in your people. Your best underwriters and adjusters do not get replaced. They get more capacity. You will find Bast on LinkedIn and links in the show notes as well. If this episode resonated with you, I would encourage you to share it with a colleague who is wrestling with the same challenge. And if you would like to continue the conversation, you can find me on LinkedIn. Don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to this podcast. We review ratings and comments. If you want to recommend themes that matter most to you, DM me on LinkedIn, Instagram or x.com. Until next time, keep scouting for growth.