Leading authentically at WIL 2024

Four people on a stage in front of a screen that read effective leadership in the era of AI

Digital Insurance named 18 women as the 2024 Women in Insurance Leadership honorees.

There are three categories of honorees. The Women in Insurance Leadership (WIL) program. The Women in Insurance Leadership: NEXT program. And a new category was added this year to recognize women who have been trailblazers and forward-thinking visionaries in the industry for well over two decades. Two women were selected as the 2024 Women in Insurance Leadership Lifetime Achievement honorees.

Women attended the WIL event, which included thought leadership panels, keynotes and roundtable discussions in Boca Raton, Florida.

Here are a few highlights from the event:

The Path to Leadership: Career Pivots, Potholes and Priorities

In the session, "The Path to Leadership: Career Pivots, Potholes and Priorities," WIL honorees discussed the challenges and opportunities they've encountered as female executives and leaders in the insurance space.

"We all come from different backgrounds, we all have different experiences. Some of us have been at multiple companies and I think having more people around the table to challenge each other is really important. We as women need to pull each other up…" advised Tracey Cournoyer, Travelers' chief information operations officer of bond and specialty insurance. "We need each other. That's why I ask all of you women, if you see women in your organization, think about what you do. Think about what an opportunity it is to meet all these amazing women here today. Bring up the women that are below you and make them into leaders, and be a role model for them."

Skills for the Workforce of the Future

In the "Skills for the Workforce of the Future" panel, Kerry Gross, director of research and intelligence at Digital Insurance, shared survey data on how carriers view and perform talent recruitment. Of those surveyed, 35% of respondents said that the most challenging area in talent recruitment was a limited pool of new applicants. Most carriers responded that talent recruitment is a challenge; over half, 53% said that this is somewhat challenging, and 19% find it very challenging. Our research identified that sales, IT or data scientists, customer service and claims are the biggest areas of workforce needed by carriers.

The panelists also discussed how organizations are upskilling their talent. Lauren Dieterich, chief operating officer at Arch Insurance North America, encouraged carriers to also consider boosting unique skills like adaptability and independence.

"It's pretty common to hear about underwriting transformation, claims transformation or financial transformations happening all at the same time. What that means is the skills we're really needing as we build out our team hover around change leadership, bringing in people who have an enterprise mindset, are thinking about the greater good and common best practices at the enterprise, as well as unique business skills like agility…" said Dieterich. "I really feel that change is the new constant for all of us, and so in thinking about building a workforce for the future, I really do believe change agility and change leadership are the skills that you need, regardless of what technologies are going to come in and out of our workplace."

Dieterich encouraged people to consider making lateral moves.

She continued to say: "Change is the new constant for all of us. Change agility and change leadership are the skills you will need regardless of the technology that will come in and out of our industry. How do you hire for that mindset?"

Christina Parr, head of talent acquisition, learning and organizational development at Argo spoke about her thoughts on hiring more diversely.

"Employee referrals are awesome but not so good because we are trying to be diverse," Parr said. "Choose something different. … Otherwise we just get the same folks who are referring the same people."

Effective Leadership in the Era of AI

During this session, industry leaders gave their insights into how they are approaching digital transformation and innovation in the context of generative AI. The panelists discussed leadership development, mentorship and responsibility in implementing AI technology.

"We understand that we need to lean into technology, and that our technology is paying the benefits for us, in terms of extremely low expense ratios. But we also need to be responsible as we implement that technology and thoughtful as we implement it…" said Gina Hardy, CEO of North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association.

Jamie Warner, managing director at Plymouth Rock Assurance said she thinks Gen AI is making training new employees easier.

"It can help you with bots and tools to train people more quickly. It is taking away work that people don't enjoy doing. You're not getting rid of junior level employees–it is getting rid of busy work around it and making people more effective. It's an enhancer–they each get an intern."