The Insurtech Digital Panel in the second day of the International Insurance Fair and Congress in Antalya brought into discussion not only the necessity and benefits of digitalization in insurance, but also some of the most frequently encountered fears about embracing the technological “revolution” in course.

Moderated by Fatih ACER, Insurtech Chairman of the Board, the panel gathered reputed speakers representing both the insurance and the technology fields: Yılmaz SOLIŞIK, CEO of Dijital Zoomin; Fatih GÖREN, Deputy General Manager, ANADLOU; Birol GÜLEÇ, INSURTECH HUB Coordinator and Uğur SAĞIN, Founder, Sigortex Sigorta.

“Technology has begun to dominate the insurance industry, as in many other sectors. We can say that in the future, it will not be artificial intelligence that will defeat us, but the companies that use it in the best way,” remarked Yılmaz SOLIŞIK, CEO of Dijital Zoomin. He explained that the trend is most noticeable in the motor insurance industry. The current developments in this area are arising from the increasing digitalization at both ends of the system: on one hand, the digitalization of the automobile industry leads to reducing the frequency of accidents as cars become more intelligent. On the other hand, insurers are using digital tools that increase operating efficiency and better customers’ experience. Most likely, he said, the result will be that similar trends will develop in other insurance branches too.

Anadolu Sigorta Deputy General Manager Fatih Gönen stated that while sustainability and digitalization are important and thus widely debated, insurers need to pursue customer satisfaction by taking these nuances into consideration. “Therefore, we must be able to keep up with this change in order to exist in the future. The more agencies, brokers and intermediary firms become digital, the more digital we become. Not one of them, but all of them, should be going digital,” he said, adding that “as Anadolu Sigorta, we try to fit all our services into a pocket with My Office in Pocket. The main problem is to spread this to a wider base. At this point, we attach great importance to training and therefore we continue digitalization training for our agencies. Because communication experts are agencies."

However, the perception from the insurtech side is that while agencies are interested in going digital, they don’t know where to start. “That's the real problem. That's why companies need to support it. The biggest obstacle to the digitalization of agencies is psychological. Agencies are trying to cut corners and make IT cheaper. This causes much greater security and systemic problems," Insurtech Hub Coordinator Birol Güleç said. Summarizing his experience with supporting nearly 30 sturtups so far, he concluded that “at this point, sharing the expenses of the agencies with the companies in order to reduce costs will be a great relief for both parties."

Addressing the same issue, Sigortex Sigorta Founder Uğur Sağın stressed out that after improved himself by receiving training on digitalization, he is now helping the industry digitalization by training qualified personnel. “Your team must be great, and you must be confident. As long as you think like this, there is nothing you cannot do. As such, agencies should not be afraid of digitalization."