Scouting for Growth Antony Elliott: The Zurich Innovation Championship
On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Antony Elliott, Global Lead for Digital R&D at Zurich Insurance, who is pivotal in driving the exploration, exploitation, analysis, & early-stage adoption of disruptive technologies, shaping Zurich's digital transformation journey.
In this episode they talk about his role at Zurich, the company’s strategic themes for 2024, the future of InsurTech, the challenges of adopting disruptive technolgies, & his advice for young ventures looking to collaborate with Zurich or break into the InsurTech space.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- I fell into the insurance industry in 1999 & I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I saw a stat that around 80% of British CEOs were cratered accountants, so I thought that seemed like a good qualification to have and applied to the Big 5 & ended up getting a job a PwC thinking I was going to be rich. But, when I got there they told me I’d be working in insurance. I realised that there were lots of things in insurance that needed fixing & could be better, which is why I ended up staying in it & what I’m still trying to do.
- We’re using computer vision to monitor and assess some of the 5 million commercial buildings we insure around the world to reduce our carbon footprint. We also use it in physiotherapy to make sure people are doing it & doing it correctly to help people to be physically well either with posture & core strength, or to recover from injury quickly.
- We start by identifying either the problem or the opportunity & we involve a lot of stakeholders, from the most senior down so we can see a consolidated view across the group that this will solve challenges that they care about. We then use our network to find the best startups in those spaces & that they know about out Innovation Championship to apply for it. We choose the top 10-12 and put them into a validation phase to get them to prove how it can create business value for Zurich & the startup.
- I see huge potential in the Internet of Things in insurance, we haven’t quite got to the tipping point with it’s value yet. I’d like to see startups working in that space, whether it’s in commercial insurance or more personalised insurance. Taking sensor data to understand the thing we’re insuring & offer risk insights to the customer & to us as underwriters to prevent the claim happening or know about it happening soon is an area with huge potential.
BEST MOMENTS
‘I like insurance because I think it plays a really important role in society.’
‘I focus on innovation, how new technologies & ideas can create value for Zurich.’
‘I expect we’ll see generative AI native startups coming through this year which will create amazing value.’
‘Be very clear& concise on what your value proposition is and that it’s a major part of your elevator pitch. You can have the best technology in the world, but if you can’t articulate it in a short period of time it’s very difficult for people to understand that.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Antony Elliott, a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the insurance industry, currently serves as the Global Head for Digital R&D at Zurich Insurance. His role is pivotal in driving the exploration, analysis, & early-stage adoption of disruptive technologies, with a focus on their desirability, feasibility, & viability.
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.