The Tech Decisions You Make Today Could Shape Your Insurance Business for the Next Decade

Life insurance technology is no longer a back-office or IT consideration. Investing in the right systems today will be crucial in determining the flexibility and efficiency of your organization ten years from now. Ultimately, those are the factors that are going to make or break your competitiveness in the marketplace.

In this article, we’re going to break down the cost of tech debt, the value of modernization, and what it takes to future-proof your infrastructure in 2025 and beyond.

Carriers investing in the right digital life insurance platform are reducing tech debt

The majority of carriers still have at least some legacy life insurance software. These systems still “work” but you need to consider a major caveat; they aren’t built for the speed, flexibility, and scalability that the future of life insurance demands.

When it comes to cost considerations, it’s important to note that maintaining these systems also costs more than many realize, from direct developer hours to lost opportunities stemming from their limitations.

According to EY, the costs are already growing for insurers who are maintaining legacy systems, particularly as the talent to support these platforms will only continue to become harder to find. Inflexibility, integration issues, and compliance risks all compound the problem.

Every workaround used, manual process labored on, or bolt-on solution is going to add to the pile of tech debt, which increases the time and cost to roll out even the most basic of changes. When carriers can use a cloud-based, end-to-end digital life insurance platform like Bestow, they'll be well equipped to eliminate these pain points, and make quick adjustments when needed.

Taking the action now to invest in the right life insurance technology will be crucial. Streamlining policy management and unlocking scalability with a built-in platform is going to help to reduce your operating cost, both now, and in the future.

Decisions about insurtech solutions require business leadership, not just IT knowledge

Infrastructure upgrades have long been seen as an IT issue, but that’s changing. The tools and platforms a company adopts shape how efficiently it can operate, how quickly it can respond to market changes, and how well it can meet evolving customer expectations. 

Moreover, the cost and complexity of modernization efforts mean they carry real financial and reputational risk. Simply put, these are business problems.

That means these decisions are best placed in the hands of the C-suite. Executive oversight ensures that modernization is done with purpose, aligning technology with business strategy.

Long-term flexibility starts with cloud-native architecture

Going cloud-native might just be one of the most important decisions insurance leaders can make, both for right now, and the future. Embracing cloud-native architectures will position carriers to innovate quickly and reduce operational complexity. The shift also simplifies integration across an increasingly digital ecosystem, a trend that will only continue over the years to come.

Bestow’s cloud-first application suite allows carriers to offload infrastructure maintenance and accelerate launches. Our life insurance SaaS model supports modular deployment and reduces re-platforming risk. And with an automated life insurance application, applicants benefit from a smoother, faster experience, as do internal teams.

Using cloud-based solutions for life insurance policy management also improves compliance, speed-to-market, and third-party integration, which grants insurers the flexibility to adjust as the industry shifts.

Leveraging the latest insurance underwriting software means sustainable cost cutting

Seeking cost efficiency is another major way carriers can leverage technology to clear the runway for sustainable growth. 

Automated underwriting for life insurance for example, is becoming more and more prevalent as a tool to boost efficiency and free up resources.

As EY reports, life insurance underwriting automation enables more consistent risk assessment, enhances customer experience, and strengthens compliance, which are of course, all long-play business outcomes.

Bestow’s underwriting software demonstrates what’s possible when modernization becomes a business priority. Our platform delivers flexible insurance underwriting software, enabling faster approvals and better decisioning at scale.

It’s a perfect example of empowering industry professionals to focus on more complex matters while automation helps to handle routine tasks. An investment that will ultimately provide an improved business outcome for carriers.

Future-proof platforms can absorb data quickly to make smart decisions

As insurers adopt new products and channels, disconnected systems become a bigger liability. Legacy infrastructure often makes data siloed, inconsistent, or unusable for real-time business and marketing insights.

Carriers who aren’t taking action to integrate these systems risk falling behind, lacking the performance data to quickly make informed and efficient decisions regarding their marketing efforts, customer journey, and product viability.

Data-driven life insurance solutions like Bestow’s intelligence tools provide carriers access to actionable performance insights across these categories, allowing for smarter choices across the customer lifecycle.

These data capabilities will help carriers to provide an optimized customer experience, with marketing insights allowing for better guidance, and heightened capabilities for underwriters to boost personalization. They can also aid with internal efficiency helping to lower underwriting costs and providing historical data to enable more accurate long-term risk decisions around new products.

Building for unknown future demands and regulations

The next ten years will undoubtedly bring new regulations, technologies, and customer expectations, many of which can’t be predicted yet. That‘s why your tech infrastructure needs to have a future-focused outlook to react in lock-step to a constantly changing baseline, while still being optimized in accordance with what works today.

The importance of an open architecture in supporting both innovation and regulatory agility for carriers was highlighted in EY's Future-Ready Platforms report. This also brings to light that working off an agile platform not only keeps insurers competitive, it’s also vital to maintaining industry compliance.

Platforms like Bestow are designed with that extensibility in mind. Our open ecosystem supports rapid integration of emerging technologies and evolving partner tools.

By adopting SaaS for insurers that enables regulatory responsiveness, carriers will have access to platforms that help them in remaining agile and compliant as the market evolves.

Proactively modernizing can positively impact your position, even 10 years from now

As an insurance carrier, your ability to act now to integrate new tech innovations is going to put down a foundation for long-term leadership in the marketplace.

With a modern, cloud-native core, insurers can:

• Accelerate innovation cycles
• Streamline regulatory compliance
• Reduce overall operational costs and complexity
• Deliver frictionless, quality digital experiences
• And crucially, pivot quickly as the market shifts

Modernization has become a strategic imperative. Take the lead now to avoid sinking your organization deeper into tech debt, working from patchwork systems, and slow reactions to industry change over the next decade and beyond.

Be future-ready and innovate with Bestow

From underwriting and automation to ecosystem integrations and customer experience tools, Bestow’s digital-first platform is built specifically for life insurance carriers, so you can adjust quickly and confidently in a shifting landscape. 

With industry-leading solutions and a partner-first mindset, Bestow enables carriers to deliver smarter, simpler life insurance at scale — both for now, and the future.

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