Standard & Poors Rating Services Conference Addresses Big Data |
The insurance industry is quickly adapting to become more sophisticated in their use of big data, many still consider themselves to be behind the competition.
For some insurers, the challenge in implementing more sophisticated big data strategies stems from ambivalence in breaking company habits that may have worked well in the past, but are now less effective.
“What used to take three months, you can do in 24 hours,” Anderson said. “You’re beginning to see associations between things that you would have never known about.
From Milliman’s perspective, “We don’t think of data as being good or bad; we see it as useful or useless.
“Waiting for perfection is an exercise in futility. Work with what you have today, make the most of it, and then work toward enhancing your systems.”
Data should be used to enhance human judgment that experienced underwriters bring to the profession. “The challenge in our industry is that data models can often augment human judgment, but they shouldn’t replace human judgment,” Buluswar explained. “The best outcomes come when you’re able to harmonize the art of making decisions with science.”
