COVID-19 to boost the insurtech revolution: An exclusive Interview with IDI CEO Kobi Haber

At the “Making Insurance Better” startup competition, more than 50 early-stage startups competed in one of the first events of its kind in the InsurTech space in Israel. The event – hosted earlier this month by Start-Up Nation Central, IDI Insurance, and venture capital firms Viola and Moneta – engaged local startups across various industries to apply their technologies in insurance companies.

Before we announced the winner (Agamon), we sat down with the CEO of IDI, Kobi Haber, to understand his take on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the insurance industry, what the upsides of the crisis are for InsurTech, and why the Israeli tech ecosystem could be faced with one of its greatest opportunities yet.

“The digitization of the insurance industry is one of the positive side effects of COVID-19”

 

Question: Let’s talk about the relationship between technology and insurance and how the recent period has influenced both. We are living in a pivotal time for humanity, in which technological processes are going to seep into every area of our lives. How has the recent period affected the insurance industry? Which processes are accelerating for insurance companies and which ones are experiencing a slowdown?

Answer: There is no doubt that the arrival of the technological revolution for the insurance industry was pushed forward due to COVID-19. Some processes were happening before the pandemic, but everything that has happened with COVID-19 in recent months has really expedited the transition – from operational changes like working from home, to digital processes that touch on the sales side and customer experience. Our value chain is undergoing automation and is much more digital and technology driven. Actually, I think that the digitization of the insurance industry is one of the positive side effects of COVID-19.

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