Ninety builds new self-sustaining innovation model for $30bn American P&C insurer

12th February 2020Dan WhiteCase study

Challenge

One of Ninety’s US clients, a Fortune 30 company and c.$30bn P&C insurer, had a long history of innovation. The launch of a new strategy demanded a new focus on transformative innovation mechanisms. They appointed a Chief Innovation Officer, reporting to the CEO President, and set about looking at how best to equip the organization for effective innovation.

Ninety were selected as a strategic partner based on our insurance innovation specialty, tools & methodologies, and philosophy of equipping every level of an insurer.

Solution

We deployed our 12-month Innovation ABC^TM program in the USA, taking the great existing practices, then augmenting and reconfiguring them for maximum effectiveness:

Healthcheck: we ran a series of workshops for key innovation evangelists across all business units, capturing needs and pockets of good practice.
Stage A: Op model design: we introduced new philosophies around democratized innovation, and designed a lightweight internal ‘innovation agency’ at the center.
Stage B: Training, IP & team: we helped the transition from the older op model to the new one, training 150+ innovation practitioners across all business units and functions, helping build new teams, and embedding our 123 Framework^TM methodology for insurance innovation.
Stage C: Portfolio & delivery: we worked with our client to introduce and build up an innovation portfolio, and provided a temporary team to run that portfolio whilst the permanent team was built. Part of that portfolio was delivered through a new 12-week Innovation Accelerator program, taking both Exec and grassroots ideas through cohort-based acceleration.

Benefit

Our client’s new group-wide innovation function was launched in Q4 2020, bringing a new philosophy and service offering to the business.

The new slimline central function is geared for maximum efficiency, and uses an approach that combines 1) highly democratized, empowering innovation enablers to all staff; and 2) highly focused innovation portfolio, targeting the top table’s strategic value chain initiatives.

At the end of Ninety’s 12-month Innovation ABC^TM program, the new innovation function is self-sufficient and running a wide and high-performing set of insurance innovation initiatives across the group.

Testimonial

“Ninety’s singular focus on cracking the code for innovation in insurance was one of the key reasons we chose them as a partner, and the resulting insights and assistance that they have delivered during our year-long engagement have unquestionably accelerated our innovation maturity.”

Chief Innovation Officer, $30bn US-based P&C insurer

: Building insurance innovation capabilities, insurance innovation

Dan White

Dan is a Managing Partner at Ninety, where he helps build partnerships with global (re)insurers, leads insurance innovation research, and advises Chief Innovation Officers on most effective operating models for innovation in insurance. Dan has been involved at the heart of digital transformation and innovation in the insurance industry for 15-20 years, working with Allianz, Travelers, Aetna, Bupa, Zurich, AXA, Aviva, Hiscox, and more. His experience includes overseeing significant IoT pilots in personal and commercial lines, innovation op model re-engineering for global insurance groups, and a number of big data and automation challenges in all lines of business.