The courses in this certificate explore how digital transformation and emerging information technologies (especially AI, blockchain, and security) foster innovation, particularly by leveraging technology to achieve a competitive edge in the insurance industry.
Insurance is not what it was even a few years ago. Understanding emerging information technologies and their impact on the insurance industry, and the roles and responsibilities of IT and non-IT stakeholders in leveraging these emerging technologies in light of the digital transformation, will be at the heart of all of the courses.
1. Leverage explosion of data from connected devices
2. Streamlines Processes
a. Claims processing
b. Personalized insurance policies
c. Underwriting services
d. Customer service
e. Efficient insurance operations
f. Insurance for service drivers
g. Assessing vehicle damage
h. Determining property risks
i. Selecting health benefits plans
j. Invoice Processing
3. Reduce Biases
4. Offer Personalized/Flexible Options
5. Promotes Safer Habits (e.g., driving, health)
An explosion of technology innovation over the last several years has created digital-savvy consumers and digital-empowered employees. For the insurance sector, this has brought forth both new market opportunities and new market confusion.
The insurance sector has leveraged digitization for new ways of working, and that has proven to be especially valuable in light of the current environment. Insurers have also leveraged digitization to expand their products and services portfolio. In this digital environment, the trusted advisor is not necessarily available to help the consumer digest and understand the fine print. As a result, consumers now need to make decisions themselves without the benefit of having an advisor explain the value, which has resulted in a consumer gap in awareness and understanding of the products and services being offered. This creates a need for more digital solutions that can often replace the trusted advisor — for example, chatbots or artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities — to simplify the process.
The demand for more innovative ways to close the gaps in consumer awareness of products, services and their value propositions has become essential. This includes facilitating consumers ability to understand their own risks, the safeguards and rigors within the industry, as well as the value of newer offerings.
While insurers have used their websites extensively to help consumers better understand their offerings, the new digital ecosystem of tools and services offers a much greater variety of capabilities to segment and personalize experiences, while also recommending services tailored to individual needs. This augments the services typically provided by an agent in a face-to-face setting.
In essence, the digital ecosystem allows insurers to creatively place themselves in the moment — at the time in a consumer’s life when risks happen (or have the potential to happen) — to offer relevant, personalized awareness, education, advice and services.
Emerging technologies are also having a profound impact on actuarial and back-office processes.
All of this still needs to be done within the confines of the regulations of state, federal and international governing authorities.
By leveraging emerging information technologies (e.g., big data, analytics, blockchain, robotics automation, AI), insurance firms are providing new services that automate the entire ecosystem securely and transparently. They are driving intense changes in competition and regulation.
These changes present many opportunities and challenges. This has raised the demand for IT professionals with not only the proper technical background, but also advanced knowledge of management, industry, and interpersonal skills; especially regarding how to leverage IT in the insurance industry. Non-IT professionals also require increased proficiency in how best to leverage IT across the enterprise. Managers from all parts of the enterprise are being called upon to work together to address these complex business and technical challenges. Preparing IT and non-it professionals with these necessary skills has become essential, in light of the digital transformation and emerging information technologies.
The Digital Insurance Certificate focuses on the use of IT to enhance the strategic, tactical, and operational elements across the insurance value chain.
- Naturally, having accurate, accessible, secure data is fundamental to a successful AI initiative, thus providing additional topics addressed in this program.

- The courses are designed for IT and non-IT professionals in the Insurance industry whose roles involve leveraging digital services opportunities to provide demonstrable value from their IT investments, in light of the digital transformation and emerging information technologies (e.g., blockchain, social media, analytics, big data).
- Given the diversity of the Insurance industry (e.g., life, homeowners, health, auto, liability), and the background of the candidates, GIIM will work with you to ensure all objectives are attained.
All courses are available live/synchronously
face-to-face & online
1. Insurance Services Industry Trends and Issues
This course concentrates on the current and emerging IT opportunities for the insurance industry. Due to the diversity of this industry (e.g., life, homeowners, health, auto, liability), along with the assortment of client characteristic (i.e. retail vs. institutional) we modularize the lectures by industry and client partitions, based on the background and objectives of the attendees. This segregation will provide candidates with a better understanding of this ever-changing industry use of IT. Upon successful completion of this course, candidates will have a solid understanding of the industry, market dynamics, and their roles in ensuring the effective application of technology today and in the industry's future. This course focuses on how the digital transformation enables innovation, especially by leveraging emerging technologies (e.g., blockchain, robotics process automation, AI, social media, analytics, big data) to empower customers/clients, along with the ever changing regulatory considerations.
2. Insurance Industry Actuarial Processes
Actuaries work for life, health, and property/casualty insurance companies, as well as for consulting firms, government agencies, accounting firms, industrial corporations, banks, and financial services companies. They use mathematics, statistics, and financial theory, actuaries define the financial impact of uncertain events—from catastrophes to rates of mortality, disability, and fertility—allowing businesses to adjust their long-term management strategies accordingly. The significant growth and access to data from multiple sources, along with the advent of emerging technologies like Data Analytics, Textual Analytics, AI (Artificial Intelligence), Big Data, Blockchain, Business Intelligence, Cognitive Computing, IoT (Internet of Things), Knowledge Management, & Robotics Process Automation have brought profound changes to the actuarial processes. The course is predominantly about leveraging IT to enhance these processes. However, based on the participants background and goals, the course will focus more on the use of IT to enhance the actuarial processes.
3. Insurance IT Back Office Operations
This course is designed to provide attendees with an in-depth understanding of the insurance back office processes and the role of information technology (IT) in these processes. The primary goal is on helping candidates to be an effective provider of information system strategies, and the development and operations plans in this arena. The various phases of the administrative processes will be described, including key regulatory requirements. The current contributions of IT to the process will be reviewed.
4. Insurance Marketing and Sales
This course concentrates on the use of IT in the effective selling and marketing processes in the insurance industry. Due to the diversity of this industry (e.g., life, homeowners, health, auto, liability), along with the multiplicity of client characteristic (i.e. retail vs. institutional) the course will modularize the lectures by industry and client characteristics. This segregation will provide attendees with a better understanding of this ever-changing industry. Upon successful completion of this program, candidates will understand how to identify client constituent’s product needs and the ability for insurance services companies to deliver the appropriate product (services) in a timely, cost-effective fashion, with more and more of the responsibilities being done directly by clients. Corporate branding and marketing strategies will also be reviewed and challenged by the candidate.
As Insurance organizations accelerate the digital transformation of their industry, they are focusing their investments in leveraging information technology to improve customer/client products/services while lowering overall costs. In today’s highly regulated, increasingly resource-constrained, and cost-focused environment it is essential to understand how to effectively and efficiently manage an organization’s information technology (IT) resources. There are numerous strategic, tactical, and operational choices to be made about managing Insurance IT resources and it is essential to ensure that IT and non-IT executives across the organization work in harmony.
Experience has made it clear that Insurance organizations need well-conceived organizational structures, skills, processes, and decision rights to ensure that IT investments are appropriately leveraged across the organization, especially when considering the impact of emerging information technologies.
This course prepares Insurance executives by providing a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental decisions related to the management of IT resources in the Insurance environment. The course will also provide an overview of current and future information technologies and their potential impact on customers/clients, organizations, and associated stakeholders.
The course is designed to be delivered live/synchronously (face-to-face or online) with a total of twenty (20) contact hours. While the schedule is flexible, it is usually delivered in approximately ten (10) 2-hour modules/lectures/sessions.
The IT-Insurance topics include:
- Deriving IT-business strategies
- Considerations for types of
- organizational structure
- sourcing
- governance (i.e., decision-making and decision rights)
- roles/responsibilities
- processes
- Leverage emerging digital technologies; especially AI, blockchain, and security
- The business value of IT
- The definition, concepts, and contexts of Insurance IT
- Enhancing business-IT alignment
