Resonate 2025
On 23rd October, the Resonate Insurance Innovation Summit brought together over 300 insurers, insurtechs and innovators on Auckland’s North Shore. The summit brought to light a rich range of insights, challenges and opportunities that are sharing the future of insurance in Aotearoa and globally. The industry is at a pivotal moment. Regulatory change, AI adoption, climate risk and customer expectations intersect and influence each other, signalling the need for greater collaboration and innovation to carry the industry into the future.
Regulations and Reality
Kirs Faafoi (CEO, Insurance Council of New Zealand) and Kirk Hope (CEO, Financial Services Council) kicked the discussions off with an insightful discussion about New Zealand’s regulatory landscape. Kris and Kirk’s top priorities remain increasing insurance affordability, accessibility and good customer outcomes, especially as climate-related risks increase, new regulations and technologies are introduced, and insurers look to use AI to innovate. Collaboration between the industry and the government, with realistic expectations and regulatory requirements that don’t overburden insurers in an already resource-constrained environment, will be key to ensure regulations support innovation while protecting customers. Insurers can leverage AI and data to personalise cover, increase customer understanding of disclosures and contracts, detect fraud, reduce costs and support good customer outcomes while demonstrating good conduct and compliance to the regulator. Privacy, compliance and ethical AI use remain front of mind in this space. The ICNZ is observing the banking sector’s experience with the recently introduced Consumer Data Right and considering about how this could apply to insurance, with a view to tackling broader system issues such as price, the distribution of government levies in insurance premiums, climate change, underinsurance and regulatory burden. New Zealand’s insurance industry is nimble and opportunity rich – the right regulatory settings will help the industry to make the best of the talent and opportunities it has and showcase these to the global stage.
Global Trends with Local Applications
Sønr’s Matt Connolly briefed us on their upcoming report, Beyond Boundaries, to give us a global lens on the state of insurance innovation. Insurers who embrace outcomes-focused innovation, often with a deep understanding of their business’ challenges and opportunities, partnerships with other ecosystem players and Insurtechs, a decentralised innovation model across the business, and a culture of permission to fail fast and make mistakes, are outperforming those who don’t. But many still struggle with poor quality data and legacy systems holding them back. As tech giants are moving into the insurance space, start-ups and incumbents risk further disruption and falling behind.
Tech Transformation: From Legacy to Leading Edge
Leaders at Fidelity Life, AIA, Sharesies and Cove Insurance shared their technology transformation journeys. Incumbents have been focused on simplifying their businesses, modernising their systems and tidying up their data before introducing AI for customer-facing and back-office processes. For digital natives like Cove and Sharesies, their focus has been on building in-house capability, maintaining high-quality data from the outset and exploring how their tech can become a product itself. Key components of success for digital transformation include system and data interoperability, strong digital, AI and data governance, a clear understanding of business problems and opportunities, and where tech can add real value to the business and its customers.
Insurtech Continues to Grow
Simone Dossetor (CEO, Insutech Australia) and Paul O’Leary (Executive Director, InsurtechNZ) gave us a snapshot of the Insurtech landscape. Australia is seeing a second wave of AI-native businesses, while many in New Zealand’s 20-strong Insurtech industry continue to expand into Australia. Back-end productivity remains a focus, with rising numbers of geospatial, parametric, workflow and customer experience tools. However, challenges remain, with local Insurtechs finding it tough to scale domestically and offshore, incumbents who are reluctant to partner with them and regulations creating challenges to innovation. There is a growing recognition that engineers cannot drive innovation alone – business analysts and subject matter experts need more input into and influence on the design of Insurtech to ensure the tools add value from business and customer perspectives.
Putting the Customer at the Centre
Tim Brown, Co-Founder of Allbirds, wrapped up the day with the reminder that innovation has a limited impact if it doesn’t serve insurance customers. His practice of empathy and obsession over the customer formed the foundation of Allbirds’ success and reason for being, embedding it into daily workflows, leadership, cultural rhythms and decision making. The insurance industry can apply these practices to the insurance industry to ensure their customers receive the outcomes they need in the moments that matter most.
Live Demos
Throughout the summit, we watched live demos of Insurtech solutions that enhance adviser efficiency while maintaining compliance, policy and payment automation, and customer experience and outcomes.
Final Thoughts
Resonate 2025 was a timely reminder that we all have a part to play in shaping the future of insurance, which is with us in the here in now as much as it is tomorrow. We need to innovate with purpose, collaborate with intent and always keep customers at the heart of what we do.
