Transcription:
Patti Harman (00:06):
Hello and welcome to the Dig In podcast. I'm your host Patti Harman, editor in chief of Digital Insurance. Insurance has been around since the 1600s when Lloyd's of London underwrote ships leaving London Harbor and their cargo. In a time when the industry is seeing tremendous changes in terms of risks, the implementation of InsureTech and an evolving workforce, companies that continuously adapt their products, services and technologies will be better positioned to succeed in an ever-changing environment. One of those companies is Prudential, which celebrates 150 years in business this year. Joining me today to share some of their company history and maybe a few secrets of their success is Bob Bastian, Chief Information Officer and Head of Data Service and Technology for Prudential, US Business. Thank you so much for joining us today, Bob.
Bob Bastian (01:05):
Thank you for having me, Patti.
Patti Harman (01:08):
So as I said in my opening, Prudential is celebrating 150 years in business this year. So could we just start with a brief history of the company and maybe you can share when it was launched, some of the lines of business it's focused on and maybe even some of the major changes the company has seen over the last 150 years?
Bob Bastian (01:29):
That sounds great Patti, and I will assure you, even though I have gray hair, I was not here for all 150. I'm very proud to say I've been here for 30 of them, but there's been quite a few things that have happened before me and I'm very proud to be part of the company. The company started in Newark in 1875, offering barrel insurance, and from those early days we've grown to a global leader in financial services. We offer a wide range of solutions, insurance, retirement, investment management more. And our purpose though is really rooted in that history and the belief that financial security should be within reach for everyone. If you sort of fast forward a bunch of years in 1955, we hit some hefty milestones. We had 10 million policies. We transitioned to a mutual company, becoming really one of the first U.S. corporations to adopt large- scale computer technology for data processing.
(02:23):
So believe it or not, actually one of those systems is still in production and working from 1955. The 1970s brought some more breakthroughs. So we had the introduction of variable annuities for individuals, a key step in providing innovative financial solutions. And on 1985 we really surpassed a hundred billion in consolidated assets and acquired Jennison's Associates Capital Corp., strengthening the investment management capabilities. And so really starting early in terms of how we thought about the mix of business, and at the turn of the millenium, we switched and really had a transformative period. We expanded the portfolio with acquisitions like American Scandia and Cigna's retirement business. And in 2001, we became a publicly traded company. It was a pivotal shift. I was part of that and it was quite something to go through it and it was really a great experience. And so now here we are as a global leader in financial services offering a wide range of solutions across U.S. insurance or retirement. We have international and we have our PGIM brand and wealth management. We deliver financial security and opportunities to millions of customers around the world. And the U.S. business group, which I'm a part of, has group insurance, individual life insurance, retirement strategies, and Prudential advisors, having over 3000 of our own advisors.
Patti Harman (03:42):
It's not often you get to hear how a company, the caliber of Prudential started and kind of walk through that entire evolution. There've been a lot of changes, especially with the broader adoption of technology. How has the business changed and evolved more recently, maybe we'll say just within the last 50 years or so?
Bob Bastian (04:05):
Absolutely. So zooming in a little bit closer to my time at Pru. The past 50 years, it's undergone remarkable transformations really, and actually so has the financial services landscape, but we've made progress in becoming a higher growth, more capital efficient company. We refined our business mix over that time period. We sold some businesses off and we bought some businesses, but we continue to innovate around new products and services. It's really who we've always been. As I mentioned earlier, we led the introduction of variable annuities in 1970s and that was really a revolutionary step, and we continue down that path today in terms of the things that we think about from a product development standpoint. But in recent years it's really a bit about digital transformation. It's been a game changer for the industry, but Prudential has really leaned in. We've made enhancements to our websites, we've changed our experience for our customers.
(05:04):
We really have improved our customer satisfaction engagement. We make it easier than ever for customers to manage their financial journey with us. And we're leveraging AI and data analytics to really get personalized with our services and providing customer solutions that are really tailored for them as opposed to sort of just showing up with, here's the prudential out of the box products. But beyond technology and innovation, Prudential really deepened its commitment to the community. Our foundation surpassed $1 billion in giving back to our community and really focused on initiatives that promote financial wellness, education, economic mobility. Our impact investing portfolio, which reached 1 billion in assets under management, really reflects how we feel about being responsible and doing sustainable investing. But lastly, we really think about resilience. It's really been a hallmark of our success and we've been able to navigate like the 2008 financial crisis. We navigated that quite well and had a flight to quality to companies like Prudential because we supported our customers, we had the right kind of balance sheet and we were there when they needed us the most. And so the last 50 years has really been marked by both technology innovation, product innovation, strategic acquisitions, global expansion, we're in Japan and other markets, and really in February, actually a few days ago, February 18th, marked a hundred 50th anniversary. This is really a celebration of the past, but also our commitment to the future. We feel really good about the next 150 years as well. And we're really looking forward to launching some of the new products and services to meet evolving needs of our customers and really underscoring that dedication of financial services.
Patti Harman (06:56):
Hearing you share all of this, it just is amazing to me because I think a lot of times the general public thinks, oh, this is what insurance is, this is what it looks like, and they have a very narrow view of both the industry and the companies within it. So hearing about how you're innovating and how you're giving back to the communities in such a tangible and measurable way is just really very exciting to hear about. And one of the reputation of the industry, I guess the insurance industry has kind of had a reputation for being somewhat slow to adapt new technology or adjust how it manages certain aspects of the business. But I'm wondering, do you agree with this perception and why or why not?
Bob Bastian (07:45):
It's a great question. And just to address what you said before, a lot of people ask why Prudential and why I've been there for 30 years. And really one of those reasons is because of how much we give to the community. If you look around the different areas where we have our buildings and businesses, we've done so much. It is just so awesome to be able to walk around Newark and see what everything that Prudential has done. But to your question, historically we've been quite a conservative business. We really take seriously when we make a promise to people what their financial security and wellbeing. And because our businesses trust and our business' risk, it makes us naturally cautious about adopting new things, right? But I think this is changing. At Prudential, we're really pushing forward with technology advancements to advance not only our operations and customer experiences, but also how we think about our business as a whole.
(08:45):
For instance, we've integrated AI into all of our processes. We're making smarter database decisions, we're creating much more personalized experience for our customers. But we're also thinking about the business as a whole and how technology starts to transform the way we've been thinking about. We've made enhancements to our website, we've made enhancements to customer experience. We've made real progress as it relates to underwriting and claims, as it relates to AI. And we've also thought about our talent because it could be easy to look at this and say, we know we need to leave the past behind and get all new tech ready talent, but we've created a tech ready academy, and this is enterprise wide, not only for our technology folks, but for everyone to start understanding technology because we believe firmly that our employees are key to understanding tech, data capabilities. And so really empowering across the business and across technology how much we can move forward.
(09:44):
But in the insurance industry, I was at an event a few months ago when we were talking to some young folks about why insurance, why going into this industry and many industries out there have solved many of the logistical challenges they have and some of the complexities that they have. And so when you go into those as a young technologist, or even a young data scientist, a lot of it's been solved already, but one of the beautiful things about financial services, insurance, retirement is there's so much that we can innovate on. There's so much that we bring to the table in terms of complicated challenges to help people. It gives you a purpose, but it also gives you that challenge. And so I think that the industry has come a long way and it's really going to continue to grow exponentially in terms of what we can do from a technology standpoint.
Patti Harman (10:39):
I would agree with that assessment. I've been covering the industry for a while, I'll just say, and it has been amazing to me to see this evolution and to see the industry embrace technology and what I've observed even over the last 10 years has just been almost mind boggling for me because the adoption. And when you think of all of the new risks that they've had to adjust for Airbnbs, ride sharing, all of these different things that weren't even around maybe 10 or 15 years ago. And I think that's a huge testament to this industry and their flexibility and their willingness to change as the needs of their customers change. How has Prudential evolved technologically? You touched on this a little bit, but can you give us some examples of how the company is maybe integrating technology into various aspects of the business?
Bob Bastian (11:38):
Absolutely, and happy to. And it's one of those things where you look at, and I mentioned the fact that we were leaders in technology in the 1950s and sixties and had platforms out there. And because of the type of business we do and how long we have to keep that promise that we make, some of those systems are still out in production. And so it gives you interesting problems to solve as a technologist in terms of, well, how do we show what and look like the Ubers of the world or the Netflix of the world, but yet underneath the covers are these old administration platforms that really work well, right? So it is one of those things where it's like, well, is that still working? Actually it's working quite well. So how do you make sure you keep that core but then show up in a very different way?
(12:28):
And so we've thought about this and we've come a long way in terms of technology evolution. We've made significant strides over the years and we started with sort of covering over some of those things and using messaging and client server technologies to get there. But now with AI and data analytics and microservices, we're able to really transform the way we think about our data, the way we think about what's in those systems, and we're able to do our business in a very different way. So for instance, many years ago actually, we implemented AI into our underwriting process and we significantly changed the way our decision-making worked. We really have created something that we're taking out to the industry as something others can buy from us in PruScore that really does change the way we think about things. But we've also done some things across our businesses.
(13:27):
And so it's one thing for businesses like ours and for many of my peer companies, we thought about things for many years in terms of the different business lines that we were in, but there's real value in thinking about things across the businesses. And so we've created a service platform that goes across all of our U.S. businesses and allows our service associates to be able to work across any business and really get upskilled in terms of what they're looking at. We also did that for claims. And so from a service and claims standpoint, we're leveraging cloud technologies and SaaS principles and technologies to be able to rise up what we can do from a service perspective, from a claims perspective and give people the experiences that they want. But we're also looking at things like InsurTechs. Insurtechs have incredibly innovative thoughts and technologies and they're driving innovation in different ways and they're thinking about some of the problems that we have and the challenges across our value chain in different ways than we could.
(14:35):
And one of the things that we've thought about from a proof perspective is how do we set ourselves up so that we can plug those ins InsureTechs in at the right spots at the value chain so that we can get the most value for our customers, but also the right value for the InsurTech because many of the InsurTechs have very innovative thoughts, but they don't know how to implement them at scale. And so how do we bring the best of proof scale to folks who have that sort of InsurTech innovative mindset, bring those together and embrace innovation and really making it about how does that end up for the customers and how does that end up for the advisors, for those that are selling our products? Quite frankly, how does it work for the ecosystem overall? Because I think Prudential's in a place where we can help change the industry and by embracing innovation, embracing InsurTechs and fintechs and others and being able to absorb them into our value chain, we start to create something very different for our customers and advisors.
Patti Harman (15:38):
And that partnership with the InsurTechs just allows you to do so much more, I think so much faster and just adapt in new and different ways, which makes that process even more exciting. How is this focus on integrating technology, changing the experience for your employees and your customers then?
Bob Bastian (15:59):
So it has really changed things for the way our employees think about it. So I talked a little bit about our customers before, but I had a town hall recently and I had some service professionals and with Gen AI and AI and some of the things that are coming out, it can get very scary for customer service professionals and folks that are on the front lines, people who really talk to our customers and are empathetic to our customers. And they were on a stage and what they shared with the group was we just used gen AI to be able to take something that used to have them on the phone with a customer for half hour, have to go look up documents, and we in insurance like our paper, we like our regulations, we like our documents. So they'd have to fish through all of this information and try to get numbers and they're still trying to talk to the customer.
(16:49):
Being the type of leader that I am, I've actually been on many of these calls and just listening to 'em and watching these people, they're amazing the way they go back and forth and they're keeping the conversation going. I'm like, I don't know how they do it. God bless them. But they were up on stage and they said we were afraid at first, so they were honest, but then they came around to, but this has really helped us engage in a real way with the customers. And so now Gen AI has made it really purposeful for them so that it does the work of going and finding all of those documents and it does the work of pulling all that information for them and they have to check in and obviously we like the human in the loop, but the more important part is now they get to engage.
(17:36):
Now they really get to know that customer. And for the calls that I was on, I wouldn't say it's funny, but I think it talks to the human side of the business that we're in. A lot of the calls, I had one customer call, we'll call him George, he called in and he just wanted to talk. He didn't understand what he had bought. He really wanted someone to talk to, he really wanted to understand what it was, and yet he wanted some of the dollars behind it, but he really just wanted someone to talk to. And our CSP was just fabulous. She kept him on the line, she didn't rush him off. And when we have these types of technologies, it just allow us to get deeper and deeper in engagement with our customers. And so this is a place where I think it helps our employees because although I think there are some people who want to be in a call center, you want to be there because you want to engage with people, but it also then helps our customers because when you call up Prudential and you hear the person in the line calm and helpful and really engage with you, I think it just changes the way you think about a company.
(18:45):
And I think it's really changing the way people are thinking about proof.
Patti Harman (18:49):
Not only that, I think it changes the entire experience for the customer and they feel a lot more comfortable asking questions or learning about the situation. And I think it's that interaction is just so important. And we say all the time that insurance is a business of relationships and what you describe just really underscores the importance of that. And even just hearing you describe how you're using AI, that's really encouraging because you've touched on a lot of the concerns that different employees have in companies. It's like, oh, AI is going to take my job. I know when I'm writing and Word is trying to tell me what to say. I am like, no, wait a minute. That's not what I wanted to say.
(19:37):
So, we're going to take a short break right now and we'll be back in just a few minutes.
Welcome back to the DIG podcast. We're chatting with Bob Bastian, chief Information Officer and head of data service and technology for Prudential, the US businesses when we're talking about the last 50 years of Prudential history and kind of what's going on ahead in the industry.
So we were talking about AI and it really has been a game changer for every industry and its rapid adoption has created both opportunities and risks for the insurance industry. What are some of the risks that you're watching or maybe that create some concerns for insurers in general?
Bob Bastian (20:25):
It's a great question. There's so much wonderful things that AI brings to the table, both from a traditional AI standpoint and machine learning as well as Gen AI and all the things that have come out recently and it just seems to be coming out exponentially. But we go back to the start our conversation in terms of we make a promise and that promise is based on trust. And so in order to have our customers trust, and quite frankly our advisors trust because they could sell with anyone. They choose to sell with Prudential because of the trust that we bring. And so that said, we have to think about things like data privacy and confidentiality. And in order to have AI function in a particular way, it requires a lot of data to function effectively. And so we think about data privacy. What is our potential for breaches?
(21:21):
How are we training these things? How do we think about protecting our data and making sure that our data doesn't go anywhere that's not responsible? But then you also have to think about bias. When we're making a promise, we're making a promise based on underwriting and these algorithms as good as they are, they're trained potentially by people who may not understand the bias and fairness that has to go into making those decisions around trust. And so we're very careful about the machine learning that we do. We're very careful about the algorithms that we use and we want to make sure that we don't perpetuate any biases that come from any out of the box tools or anything that could harm our customers in any way. And so we make sure that we don't have any unintended outcomes. We have our own data scientist. We are very careful about curating and monitoring what data goes into the systems and what comes out.
(22:22):
And we don't really have an over-reliance on AI. While I talked about some of the amazing things that we're doing and it really has been game changer, we always have human oversight and it really does remain critical. Human beings are really part of that trust equation, and we as an industry I don't think can rely on just machines going in that direction. And the other thing we have to think about, I think we all have to think about it on a constant basis, is cybersecurity threats. While AI can do a lot, it also can do a lot from a cybersecurity standpoint, and those actors that may want to do something nefarious have AI as well. It's not just for those of us that really want to do good and help the community and help our customers, they have it as well. And so you have to to realize that you have to think about it and you want to make sure that you're protecting because of that.
(23:20):
Then last but not least, in the business that we're in, and it, well, Patti, you've been in as long as I have is regulatory and compliance. How do we think about how our constituents and how our regulatory bodies think about what we're doing? And one of the reasons that some might say that insurance is a little bit behind is because we have to help our regulatory agencies come up to speed on some of these new things. And while I'll say they've been fast to adopt some of these things, which is really refreshing, there's still a little bit of ways to go and a full understanding of how our systems comply with what regulatory things that were put in place maybe before many of these technologies were there. You really have to be thoughtful about that because we want to do right by the regulations that we have because they eventually really protect our customers.
Patti Harman (24:15):
I agree. And the compliance piece I think is maybe a little bit more complex than people realize because insurance is regulated on a state by state level. And so between that and then you have AI, which affects everyone on a far more global stage, so to speak. So there are a lot of different aspects of this to take into consideration. What do you see as some of the benefits of AI that maybe you're either the most interested or excited about and which of these resonates the most with you? Or you were talking about the implementation for Prudential, is there an aspect of AI that you're really interested in at this point?
Bob Bastian (24:57):
So to me, the real benefit is going to be around personalization. And I talked a little bit about how we're thinking about solving problems and challenges for folks in this new economy, in this new world and really coming up with hyper-personalized experiences, products, solutions. And when I say products, I mean financial products as well as digital products that can help people in a meaningful way, whether it's providing tailored recommendations for how they think about their financial management or proactively identifying ways that they can use the products that we have or other products at different life stages. We can use AI to really meet people where they are and understand what their challenges are. Many times for many years, I think insurance companies really focused on the broad challenges, but AI really is going to give us a way to personalize in ways that I don't think that we've seen before.
(26:04):
I also think it gives us a way to get efficiency. And so if we get the right kind of operational efficiency, then we can price our products at a very competitive rate. AI allows us to really automate routine processes. We can save time, reduce errors, and really make it seamless for our customers. You know as insurance and retirement, and especially now with retirement, this is really our time to shine as it relates to the retirement challenge that we have as a nation and quite frankly globally. It allows us to have a very seamless experience with wealth management and with other solutions from a financial services perspective. In the past it was all seen as sort of separate things and you have your wealth management over here, you buy your mutual funds, but over here you get your annuity or you might buy your life insurance. But the more we have AI that sort of thinks about what's the next best financial services dollars spent for you to be able to get to the goal that Patti has, not the goal that someone like Patti has, the goal that Patti has, and really thinking through those complex challenges so that you feel really safe and happy about either the legacy you're leaving for your family or your own retirement benefit.
(27:27):
And then last but not least, being in the industry as long as you have with me, that data's a little bit of a challenge for the insurance industry and we have a lot of different administration platforms and different products over the years and promises that we've made. And as we think those things through, you can look at it in two ways. You can look at it as well that data is a challenge or you can look at it as that data is an asset. And when you think about what you can do with AI and you think about what that might mean to our customers, it really does become an internal asset. I don't want to misconstrue it as some asset that might be sold off, because that's just not how we work as a business, but internally it helps us start to think about how do we come up with the right kinds of products and solutions, both digital and financial products for our customers. So it's just really exciting to me on those sort of three things, personalization, efficiency and data that really gives us a lot to work with in this space.
Patti Harman (28:31):
The data piece is especially important because carriers have been collecting vast amounts of data for many, many years, and I feel like AI really gives you the opportunity to use it in new and innovative ways, and as you were saying, to personalize the products and services that you create for your customers. And so it really just kind of expands that horizon. Digital Insurance did a survey at the end of last year asking insurers what their priorities were for the coming year, and one of the things that kept coming up was the importance of investing in technology. And I was wondering what were some of your top IT priorities for the year and how do you ensure as fast as everything is changing, how do you make sure that your IT strategy remains flexible enough to adapt to maybe your company's changing needs?
Bob Bastian (29:34):
That's such a great question. And I think the last part of that is really fantastic because you can get locked into a three-year plan or a five-year plan. We've all sort of been down that road, at least for those of us in financial services and six months in, it changes, the market changes, the macro environment changes, especially when you're thinking about things globally. But some things don't change. And I'm proud to say that Prudential really thinks about those things first, and then we think about some of the other ways that we're going to show up in the marketplace. And so I mentioned a little bit about cybersecurity earlier and about how serious we take making sure that our data is protected, that we continue to invest and we're focused on that advanced threat detection and making sure that our infrastructure is safe, our data safe, and our customers are safe.
(30:29):
But then we're making a big investment in AI and automation. We're thinking about customer experience, we're thinking about our employee experience and that AI and automation. And as you get to Agentic AI and some of the things that you can do beyond just the Gen AI and where it is today, it gives us a lot of opportunities again to take away some of the manual pieces that we have and really have a focus on empathy and reaching our customers in different kinds of ways. We're also continuing on the digital transformation. I think one of the things that some folks have made mistakes on is they do this big digital transformation and then they stop. And to me, it's not a digital transformation to become digital, so to speak. It's a transformation to create a learning environment to learn about how people are engaging with you to learn and get feedback from your customers, from your advisors, from your sponsors, from your products and services.
(31:32):
How are they using them, how are they engaging with you and being on that constant flow of changing and transforming. And it goes to your point and your question about, well, what happens if it changes 3, 6, 9, 12 months down the road? And to me, if you set yourself up in the right kind of way, using some of the modern technologies, especially things like microservices and really small modularity and a modular type architecture, it allows you to ebb and flow and flex not only with where the macro environment goes or how things change in the environment, but also where your customer's expectations are. And quite frankly, being a global company, there's much different expectations from people in Brazil than there are in Africa and very different than that in Japan. And so you have to think through how you become a learning environment as opposed to a solution environment or a technology environment. But one of the other things that we're really investing in is continuing to upskill our talent.
(32:39):
We feel like we've got incredibly smart folks who understand these businesses who are innovative and thoughtful about what they do, but they don't have all the latest technology. We still have folks that have cobalt specialties or work in small talk. And while I love those languages at a point in time as well, there's lots of different ways that technology can be used and to apply that business knowledge and ways that they can then be very, very productive in this new environment. So we are regularly reviewing and updating and we use agile methodologies like many of my peers, but we also are constantly reviewing what's in that backlog at the broadest level, right at the portfolio level across the global company to say, are we focused on are we spending the right next dollar on technology that's going to advance not only Prudential, but also the industry in the right way?
(33:41):
And then we're also out there learning. Prudential for some time really focused on what we were building and we were really good at it. But I think as a community, especially with the retirement challenge that we're facing, we can change the industry together and really do the right thing for our customer regardless of what carrier it is. And so I think engaging in that continuous learning, not only with our technology and engaging with our customers, but also learning from our peers and helping where appropriate to make us all better so that all of our customers feel really great about the industry.
Patti Harman (34:21):
Wow, that's just such a great approach. And so true. We mentioned earlier, I've been covering the industry for quite a while, and one of the things that I noticed, and it was an issue when I started back then was the talent management aspect of it. It seems lately it's just really hit an inflection point because they're going to be a significant percentage of insurance professionals that are poised to retire in the next few years. What advice do you have for leaders on managing and motivating their teams through all of these changes?
Bob Bastian (35:00):
It is so great of a question, and if you think about where and what we've done as an industry, and I don't want to speak so broadly, but as a financial services set of industries, we look to outsourcing for some time in the late nineties and early two thousands, and we took talent in a different direction. And recently over the last 20 years, we really have been hiring. We've been working with different universities and bringing in new talent. And as that new talent has come into our industry, they've actually loved it. So one of the things that I really enjoy is going out and talking to agile teams and seeing what I'll call children, but they're in their twenties, but to me, they able to help back and they're just so excited about the problem they solved, the challenge they thought about. And to me, I'll sit right down with 'em and work on it with them because I just think it's incredible to see that energy.
(36:05):
And to me, leading by examples and being senior leaders, we really need to model that ideation, experimentation and not just be in our office on calls all the time, but being there with the team, you understand what gets in their ways. So how do you then remove the barriers for them and help them get through challenges so that they continue to be excited because they're really going to be the future. We had that time of outsourcing and now we've insourced quite a bit and we're sort of back to having our own teams, but you've got that level of folks that aren't there, and so where are they going to learn from? And I think they learn from folks like us. And I think the other piece of it is really engaging them and empowering them to make real decisions. And so as I was going through the insurance industry, you'd always sort of defer to the team lead or the vice president or the person who has the power.
(37:04):
And quite frankly, I think we'll fail if we do that. While we have some really incredible folks who have great SME knowledge, they know about how the past worked. If we're going to invent the future, we need these, I'll call 'em kids, but these 20 year olds and 30 year olds who are just amazing and smart and talented to think about brand new ways of doing things. And so when you see that to support it, recognize it, really lift it up, I think is a way to motivate the team. But to me, and you saw it in some of the things that I talked about, I really do believe there's a value in servant leadership and listening and understanding and understanding where people are showing up. Inclusion is really a big part of the way we think about things or potential, and really it awares of how people are feeling, where they're showing up, how do we think about the best way to really bring out 100% of what they can bring to the company and really make a contribution and then really commit to their growth.
(38:11):
And I think that that has really worked well for us. And you see the leadership and the type of culture that Prudential has. And when I was talking about one of the many reasons that I've stayed at Prudential, that's it. It's that real culture of being one team across everywhere, and it's never always all butterflies and rainbows, but for 99% of the time it really is just a caring, loving, great environment to be part of. So to me, that's motivating. It gets people really focused on what they're trying to solve for because they know the person next to them is looking out for them and really wants to see them rise up. And so you see this team dynamic, which is really fantastic. And then the other thing I would say is mixing the teams. So you get some folks that are experienced, that's what I'll call myself at this point instead of old. And you get some folks that are really new to it and you see them working together and learning from each other. It's just a fabulous thing. Sometimes they have to drag me away from the teams because I have some meeting or something else I have to be with because there's just so much energy and so much that you get from them.
Patti Harman (39:30):
But there's a lot to be said for loving what you do and being invested in it because then it becomes far more than a job. And as I talk to people about the insurance industry, that's one of the things that I want them to understand is that there are so many opportunities and possibilities that they have probably not even considered. I remember talking to somebody and I was going on and on about something and she looked at me and she's like, oh, you must be new to the industry. And I was like, well, no. Actually at that point, I think I had been covering it for quite some time and she was totally shocked at how invested I was and how excited I was about what's going on. But I feel like if we're not willing to be kind of the salesman and promoters for this industry, who else is going to do that?
Bob Bastian (40:22):
Well said.
Patti Harman (40:24):
And I was wondering what should someone consider working in the insurance industry? And I think I know what opportunities it offers, but I want to know what you see in terms of opportunities and maybe even some of the challenges.
Bob Bastian (40:40):
A hundred percent. And we are, I think people can see from our energy that we're big proponents of working in this industry and being in it for so long. But I think one of the things that insurance brings to the table, both insurance and retirement and really wealth management, is this super combination of purpose, opportunity, and really interesting challenges to solve. And that to me brings a reward spectrum that really helps people. If you think about just intrinsic motivation, having that purpose, being able to master something that's very, very challenging. And in today's world, really having the autonomy to go after it becomes really rewarding.
(41:34):
When you think about, and I've been on calls and unfortunate calls when something happens to a loved one and they call in and you think about what they're feeling at that moment and how the solutions that we've created can really help someone at that moment. And I know it's not just about money, but money becomes an important aspect of what you need to deal with when you're dealing with the loss of a loved one or on a different, if you go into retirement, we've been working decades to get to the point where you're ready to retire and have a happy retirement, and we play a part in making sure that that's rewarding for you, that you have the finances that you need, that you've done the planning that you need to have a great retirement. So there's sort of two ends to that spectrum, the legacy that you leave to loved ones, but also that wonderful retirement.
(42:29):
So that purpose to me really makes it worthwhile. But we also talked about the varying levels of technology that we have and the touch bases that we have with other humans in terms of our customers or beneficiaries or our advisors. And there's all of these pockets across our value chain for innovation. And some may say that we have been behind in the past, but we're really catching up quickly. And to be part of that is to sort of be part of that wave of innovation and how do you really think about becoming part of that wave and changing the aspects of an industry as opposed to just figuring out the latest logistical problem for Amazon, which I'm sure is interesting to somebody, but not to me. I love the things that we do in the impact that we have on humanity, but I also think about the diversity roles.
(43:28):
I've been in so many roles just at the single company. People say, well, you've been at Prudential for 30 years, but I've done so many different things in terms of the experience that I've had and the different roles I've been asked to do. So there's a large swath of different things in the industry and across financial services that allow you really rich experiences, but it's not without its challenges. I think that having to deal with, so even the challenge of the great challenge of having the systems and being able to solve for them also causes a lot of headaches in terms of dealing with all of that. And we talked about regulations. There's very complex regulations. There's a lot of changes that are happening in the environment. So it's not without its challenges, but I think sometimes that's what makes it more fun. If it was just easy to come to work and sort of goes through the motions, I get very bored very quick. Patti, I love a good challenge and I love digging in because it's really about people purpose and the potential of what we can do as an industry.
Patti Harman (44:32):
Well, we've covered a lot over the last few minutes. I'm wondering, is there anything that I haven't asked you that you think is really important for our audience to know about you or Prudential or even the industry in general?
Bob Bastian (44:45):
I think that the big takeaway is this is a really highly purpose-driven industry that's really anchored in helping people live better longer. I'm really excited to be part of it. I'm really excited that you're part of it, and I think that we've really come a far way as an industry, but we've got so much that we can do, and I'm excited for the future.
Patti Harman (45:12):
Well, thank you so much, Bob, for sharing your insights with our audience. Thank you for listening to the Dig In podcast. I produced this episode with audio production by Kellie Malone Yee. Special thanks this week to Bob Bastian of Prudential for joining us. Please rate us, review us, and subscribe to our content at www.dig-in.com/subscribe From Digital Insurance, I'm Patti Harman, and thank you for listening.