Life Accelerated
Equisoft + Insurance Innovation Reporter
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Life Accelerated is a show from Equisoft with one goal–to keep you from falling behind by equipping you with the practical tools to handle the rapidly changing environment. Each episode will feature thought-provoking conversations with experts in life insurance, facing the same challenges as you. You’ll leave each episode feeling encouraged, excited, and motivated.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
Mar 8, 2023
MetLife’s secrets to success with Bill Pappas
MetLife’s secret to success? Looking outside of the industry.
MetLife is an insurance company dedicated to providing working-class Americans with financial protection and has helped generations of customers protect their property, finances, family and future. They are an insurance company that not only focuses on selling insurance, but they push people to live better and healthier lives.
Bill Pappas, Head of Global Technology and Operations at MetLife, shares his role in the company, the strategies they implement that has led them to success, the digital capabilities they are adapting, and their objectives to win over the marketplace.
Listen in to hear how MetLife is transforming and creating an impact in the insurance market.
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Feb 15, 2023
Unlocking faster and more simplified life insurance: Legal & General America’s transformation journey with Raju Seetheraman
Legal & General, U.K.’s number one life insurance provider, has been able to protect families for over 180 years—and is now bringing its digital transformation expertise to the US.
Raju Seetharaman, SVP, IT and Transformation of the life insurance division of Legal & General America, reveals how they are navigating through regulations, customer expectations, and diversity to provide quick, easy, and affordable life insurance to Americans.
Listen in to hear how Legal & General America is working to grow their impact and market share.
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Feb 1, 2023
Improving the agent experience through digital transformation with Sammons Financial Group
Would you classify your company as one that experienced growth but now is in a dry spot and has plateaued?
If so, Kelly Coomer, CIO of Sammons Financial Group, has an answer for you.
Developing and evolving the business into a product mindset.
Kelly is on the hunt to obtain technology to improve customer experience, keep employees satisfied, and hire and retain workers. She shares her journey and the changes that she has made in order to keep the company growing - all centered around the company-wide shift to a product mindset.
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Jan 18, 2023
[REPLAY] How customers fuel technology transformation at Ameritas
In this replay episode, listen in to learn...
How does a 150-year-old organization go from being “data rich, information poor, and analytically ignorant”, to leading the technology transformation in the life insurance industry?
This is Ameritas’ story–and Richard Wiedenbeck is currently leading the innovation charge for this century-and-a-half-old institution. Richard Wiedenbeck, CTTO of Ameritas, joins Anthony to talk about how he’s helping to lead their charge in digital transformation.
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Jan 4, 2023
How Western & Southern Adapted Digital Transformation to Meet Customer Expectations
How did the global pandemic accelerate digital transformation in your organization?
At Western & Southern, they’ve adapted slowly to meet customer expectations. And SVP & CIO Jim Fitzgerald says that’s actually the best decision they’ve made.
Fitzgerald joins the Life Accelerated podcast to reveal the ways in which the company acquired new players, experimented with and adopted new technologies, and shifted talent needs – all to meet customer demand.
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Dec 21, 2022
[REPLAY] A 175-year-old data science innovation conversation with Penn Mutual
In this replay episode, listen in to hear:
Penn Mutual is an almost 2-century-old business—and they have the innovation and modernization to back up their longstanding success. But it doesn’t come without learning curves and experimentation.
Enter Greg Driscoll, the COO of Life and Annuities. From moving to cloud services to implementing new applications and data management practices, Greg is innovating on a 175-year-old original data company’s data management and utilization strategy to prioritize not only clients but also your employees. Listen in to hear how the state of technology today is enabling Penn Mutual to revitalize its 175-year-old business promise—creating a healthy life insurance business and industry.
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Dec 7, 2022
Legal & General Reveals Their U.S. and U.K. Market Differences & Strategy
Legal & General is the U.K.’s top life insurer in several categories. As they embark on the U.S. market, they have big ambitions.
In this episode of Life Accelerated, Legal & General’s Chief Technology and Data Officer of the Retail Division Morgan Spillane reveals their globalization strategy and how technology plays a role. He also discusses the major differences between the U.K. and U.S. markets and the adjustment required to meet consumers’ demands.
Tune in to hear insights from across the pond and here in our backyard.
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Nov 23, 2022
Life Insurance Is flooded with data: Celent’s Keith Raymond knows how to leverage it
We collected more information and data on the world in the last five years than the previous history of the universe.
And the life insurance industry is finally coming around to data science. Thanks in part to the pandemic and digital transformation.
But what should your organization be doing with all this information at your disposal? What are your first steps?
Keith Raymond, Principal Analyst at Celent and author of the viral report Data Tsunami, reveals how to improve the customer experience by leveraging data and process automation.
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Nov 9, 2022
Putting “Life” Back in Life Insurance: How John Hancock has incentivized their customers to live longer, healthier, better lives
Where did the life insurance industry go wrong? To the average consumer, it’s perceived as more about death – than life.
John Hancock is on a mission to put the “life” back in life insurance. Sporting key partnerships with Apple and other tech companies, they’re helping customers live longer, healthier, better lives.
VP, Head of Behavioral Insurance at ManuLife Lindsay Hanson joins Life Accelerated to reveal how they’ve innovated with both amazing organizations and their own customers to bring about big change.
You’ll also learn how customer engagement will change in the future and how to secure personal health data.
Resources:
GRAIL Release
Vitality Page
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Oct 26, 2022
The future of InsurTech with one of the industry’s first venture capitalists
Insurtech is no nascent industry. After ten years investing in the most innovative companies, Joel Albarella is optimistic about the present and future of life insurance.
One of the industry’s first venture capitalists and SVP & Head of New York Life’s NYL Ventures, Albarella unearths the secrets of innovation and how New York Life is growing despite being around for more than 100 years.
You’ll also learn why the recession is an opportunity for the industry and what fishing has to do with innovation.
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Oct 12, 2022
Agile is the way: How two life insurance giants will excel post-pandemic
No one expected century-old life insurance companies like Principal and Mutual of Omaha to succeed through the pandemic. Yet, they rolled with the punches–and even thrived.
Life Accelerated’s Anthony O'Donnell is joined by Kim Pfiffner, Chief Information Officer at Principal and Brian Poppe, Chief Data Officer at Mutual of Omaha. Who reveal their secrets to success and predict future trends in the insurance industry.
You’ll also learn why leadership is so important in the age of remote work, how agile is the solution to speed and risk, and why partnerships are the keystone of successful product and marketing strategies.
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Sep 28, 2022
How National Life has grown at a double digit rate for a decade
The war for talent is over. And talent won.
National Life has had a double-digit growth rate over the last decade—unheard of in the life insurance world. And CIO Nimesh Mehta attributes their success to a strong dedication to their people and a structure called teaming.
Nimesh Mehta joins us on Life Accelerated to share how they’ve adopted technology faster than anyone else in the industry. He also reveals how to create a human-centered digital strategy, how to use it to remove friction from the buying process, and how National Life leveraged it to grow so quickly.
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Sep 14, 2022
Building an adaptable tech stack from scratch with Equitable
What do you do when you don’t have legacy systems and the history of a longstanding company to build your digital transformation? According to Alyssa Arellano, Head of Technology Strategy at Equitable's employee benefits division, you use it as an opportunity to be agile, adaptable, and open to the future.
Equitable’s employee benefits division started in 2015, and now in 2022, they cover nearly 700,000 people. Alyssa shares her 6 verticals for looking at customer interactions and how those dictate Equitable’s technology and digital transformation strategy. Listen in to hear how a newer company is thinking about technology differently to best serve its customers.
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Aug 31, 2022
Creating innovation through simplification with CUNA Mutual
“Our biggest competitor isn't another carrier—it's procrastination.”
Those aren’t words you hear from a life insurance leader very often, but Kevin Cummer and Nick Rohan from CUNA Mutual have been on a journey to break down barriers in their industry.
To focus on customer centricity, CUNA Mutual simplifies the process to obtain life insurance and leverages technology to better serve their customers. It sounds easy, but it hasn’t always been this way. Listen in as Kevin and Nick discuss how their teams have worked together to help build an innovative system to improve the customer experience.
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Aug 17, 2022
The Top 5 initiatives the most innovative industry leaders are prioritizing
From MassMutual and New York Life to Protective and Mutual of Omaha. The Life Accelerated Podcast thus far has been a wealth of knowledge from leaders on the bleeding edge of digital transformation in the life insurance industry.
Now, we look back at the top 5 digital transformation initiatives shaping the modernization conversation, including customer-driven change, cloud migration and talent recruitment.
For a deeper dive into these initiatives and the core principles these leaders cite as imperative for digital transformation, read the latest eBook from Equisoft.
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Aug 3, 2022
Balancing the human & the machine to improve customer experience with Protective’s COO
“Software is eating the world,” Marc Andreesen claimed in 2011. He was right.
Technology is intertwined in nearly every facet of life insurance today. But Protective’s COO Cissy Williams takes a different perspective: We can’t forget about the human element.
In her many experiences in stay-at-home motherhood and various professional roles throughout the industry, she’s learned that empathy is most important in creating products and services that people actually want and use. In this episode, you’ll learn how to balance the human and tech elements to improve both the employee and customer experience.
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Jul 20, 2022
A 175-year-old data science innovation conversation with Penn Mutual
Penn Mutual is an almost 2-century-old business—and they have the innovation and modernization to back up their longstanding success. But it doesn’t come without learning curves and experimentation.
Enter Greg Driscoll, the COO of Life and Annuities. From moving to cloud services to implementing new applications and data management practices, Greg is innovating on a 175-year-old original data company’s data management and utilization strategy to prioritize not only clients but also your employees. Listen in to hear how the state of technology today is enabling Penn Mutual to revitalize its 175-year-old business promise—creating a healthy life insurance business and industry.
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Jul 6, 2022
Forrester analyst on what the industry’s future holds & how to prepare
It’s hard enough to plan for tomorrow. What does the future hold for the life insurance industry? And how can we reach new generations who are skeptical?
Ellen Carney, Principal Analyst at Forrester, lives in the data. In this episode of Equisoft’s Life Accelerated, she walks through the major risks facing the industry, how to progress and plan for the future, and what to prioritize as the consumer, product and market rapidly changes. Learn what’s next and how to act now.
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Jun 22, 2022
Principal CIO on how a strong IT relationship can revolutionize your business
When Principal went beyond using IT as a ticket submission center and instead leveraged their skillset, they started to drive meaningful business outcomes. Kim Pfiffner, VP & CIO of U.S. Insurance Solutions, discusses on Life Accelerated how they streamlined internal processes, simplified the customer journey and bolstered their digital products.
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Jun 8, 2022
How Northwestern Mutual remains agile with customer needs
52% of Americans trust financial service providers. That’s why Northwestern Mutual’s Chief Customer Officer Christian Mitchell has led product development with an open mind: To find new challenges along the way that perhaps are more important than the initial research stated.
In this episode of Equisoft’s Life Accelerated podcast, Mitchell recounts the story of building Northwestern Mutual’s newest platform. They prioritized flexibility as today’s digital products must be both high-tech and accessible to all. Take it from Christian: Learn how to strike the right balance of art and science to ensure you’re giving your clients the best possible advice.
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May 25, 2022
Why Data Is the North Star at New York Life
Consumer expectations have shifted, and digital experiences are a prerequisite.
The life insurance industry has been slow to innovate. Head of Strategic Capabilities Alex Cook discusses how New York Life has bucked the trend and led the industry in digital transformation, including agile development and artificial intelligence. Cook explains how investing in and partnering with technology startups have helped them meet modern customers’ demands.
Learn how data science has played a pivotal role in helping New York Life customers prosper.
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May 11, 2022
Leveraging tech and data to meet digital demands with Mutual of Omaha
The last two years have been difficult for many life insurance companies. To meet the demands of a digital workplace and marketplace, some were forced to flip their business models nearly overnight. Others were well-positioned; They shifted priorities and embraced technology to serve their customers even better. Mutual of Omaha was one of those institutions.
In this week’s episode of Life Accelerated, Mutual of Omaha’s Brian Poppe shares how the $10 billion organization adapted quickly and prioritized their talent and mission. Sharing his expertise as SVP of Technology Modernization, Brian discusses how important an efficient, effective, instant customer experience is while also emphasizing data security.
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Apr 27, 2022
The big bets MassMutual has made to disrupt life insurance distribution
If your goal is market disruption, you need the right technology.
This is Sherriff Balogun Jr.’s takeaway after his team at MassMutual successfully launched their B2C distribution channel, Haven Life. Sheriff–Head of Platform Transformation–shares his team’s 3 core pillars for digital transformation; learnings they gleaned directly from their success with Haven Life. He and host Anthony O’Donnell discuss how MassMutual has pulled off feats of innovation, while also remaining true to their core values.
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Apr 13, 2022
How customers fuel technology transformation at Ameritas
How does a 150-year old organization go from being “data rich, information poor, and analytically ignorant”, to leading the technology transformation in the life insurance industry? This is Ameritas’ story–and Richard Wiedenbeck is currently leading the innovation charge for this century-and-a-half old institution.
Richard Wiedenbeck, CTTO of Ameritas, joins Anthony to talk about how he’s helping to lead their charge in digital transformation.
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Mar 18, 2022
Welcome to Life Accelerated: How life insurers are achieving digital transformation
This is Life Accelerated–a podcast brought to you by Insurance Innovation Reporter in partnership with Equisoft. Anthony O’Donnell provides an unconventional approach to the life insurance industry, discussing the news you need to know while his guests share their insights from their perspective - an insurer’s perspective. They’ll discuss leadership, strategy, and management while reflecting on their shared human experiences— providing moments of encouragement and positivity to life insurers who want to accelerate their digital transformation efforts.
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