Oliver Wyman Series: Steve Abel – Reinventing InsurTech to Yield a Competitive Edge
Oliver Wyman Series: Steve Abel – Reinventing InsurTech to Yield a Competitive Edge  
Podcast: Scouting for Growth
Published On: Wed May 15 2024
Description: On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Steve Abel, Partner at Oliver Wyman. In this episode, they dive into the insurtech world & determine how to reinvent the InsurTech space by Leveraging Commoditized Tech for a Competitive Edge. On this episode, they discuss: The common mistake InsurTech startups make when investing in technology components is failing to develop well-thought-out architectures. How InsurTech startups can leverage commoditized technology to focus on building unique value propositions. The strategies for effectively orchestrating & assembling tech components into a symbiotic whole for faster go-to-market. How InsurTech startups can focus on monetizing their algorithms rather than building the full tech stack. The changing concept of differentiation in the InsurTech sector & how startups can leverage this to their advantage. Useful links: Cyber Security and Captive Insurance Self-insured actuarial services Capital modelling KEY TAKEAWAYS There are a couple of errors that founders make. The first is that you need to hire technologists to build everything for you in an undifferentiated way. Most of what you’re bringing to the market is not proprietary or unique.  It’s a drag on money, speed & you may lose focus on what’s important to your business model. You don’t need to hire them; with the pace of tech change, a year from now you’ll need different talent because the tech will be different. Rent tech talent at the beginning. Most innovation that occurs in the InsurTech space is from founders & companies that you may be innovating or own, you’re the force of innovation in this sector. That’s important for your investors because they want a return on their investment. It’s important for the sector because the huge advancements in the distribution & carrier space, to your customers are because of you. Critically assess what technical talent is absolutely necessary to be core to your vision; it’s as important as thinking about your architecture & tooling in terms of what is generically available & what’s going to be part of your secret sauce. InsurTech’s burn through time & capital fast, how can you assemble your solution in a way that you can test a market as quickly as feasibly possible? A lot of founders lose time tripping over boring, platform tech. BEST MOMENTS ‘Modern tooling, especially cloud-based, already scales. The idea that you need to buy a specialised infrastructure or server is no longer important as it once was.’ ‘Getting something in your customer’s hands as fast as possible to find out what they’re going to find valuable & pay for.’ ‘If you’re a founder with a great idea, everything that’s core to that great idea you need to own.’ ‘In order to make money, it’s important to understand how your product is going to be used & sold. These are not the same thing & that can be a very costly mistake.’ ABOUT THE GUEST As a partner at Oliver Wyman, Steve Abel helps clients solve complex problems and lead teams to deliver insights that you can trust. Steve acquired over 25 years of experience in consulting & executive roles, delivering value to organizations via smart technological deployment. Steve’s specialties include program management, operations, shared services, enabling technologies, business process reengineering, finance-leading practices, insurance products & data, actuarial platforms, machine learning, AI, cloud solutions, and business & technical architecture.  Steve is passionate about helping clients achieve their strategic goals & optimize their performance, while fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, & excellence. ABOUT THE HOST Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet. If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights. And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures