Predict & Prevent The Institutes

Where are advances in technology taking data and analytics and enhancing our ability to prevent potential losses? In this episode, host Pete Miller, CEO of The Institutes, talks with Nancy Greco, a Distinguished Engineer with IBM Research, about the evolution of risk data and artificial intelligence to predict and prevent losses that can disrupt operations. In the second half of the episode, Miller sits down with Matthew Kahn, President of Risk & Insurance, to review some of the key takeaways from the first season of the podcast and moderates an ask me anything (AMA) segment with Miller. 

Segment 1: (02:30) In the first segment, Pete and Nancy discuss her career and role at IBM, the drivers shaping the evolution of risk data, a shift in focus to loss prediction, using Boston Dynamics’ robotic dog Spot in data collection, the advances brought by AI in data analysis, the promise of foundation models of AI, and achieving real-time loss intervention through AI. 

Segment 1: (28:24) In the next segment, Pete and Matthew reflect on how the topics covered in season 1 of the podcast align with real world challenges, a growing emphasis on risk prevention, technological advances that aid risk management, the advantages of real-time data, the evolving landscape of insurance, the need for community and industry collaboration, demonstrating the ROI of adopting prevention tech, and the future of the predict and prevent model. They also field questions from our audience on predict and prevent.

A focus on prevention is just as critical to the success of a nearly 200-year old property insurer and its customers, as it is for a robotics startup that eliminates the fuel that allows wildfires to spread. In this episode, Pete talks with Randy Hodge, executive vice president, staff insurance operations for FM Global, and Anukool Lakhina, CEO and co-founder of BurnBot, about how each organization applies research and technology to proactively mitigate climate risk and make businesses and communities more resilient.

Segment 1: (01:52) Pete and Randy discuss how FM Global was founded on a belief that most losses are preventable, the benefits of pairing risk engineering with research, ideal customers aligned with insurer's philosophy of loss prevention, creating resilience credit to mitigate climate risk exposures, expanding suite of climate risk data and insights, adopting aerial imagery and AI for remote risk analysis, and the importance of investing in research to stay ahead of evolving risks.

Segment 2: (27:59) Pete talks with Anukool about personal wildfire experience that led he and his wife to create Wonder Labs, charting the intersection between disasters and emerging technology, using BurnBot’s advanced robotics to scale fuel treatment, the imbalance in resources for prevention vs. recovery, increasing investment in wildfire prevention innovations, and how insurance can incentivize fuel breaks and fuel treatments to harden landscapes.

Whether it’s making a community more resilient to disasters or helping an employer to reduce accidents in the warehouse, having the right data is key to focusing prevention efforts where they will have the greatest ROI. Join Host Pete Miller as he talks with Daniel Kaniewski, Managing Director-Public Sector of Marsh & McLennan and former deputy administrator of FEMA, and Alex Senemar, CEO and Co-Founder of Voxel AI, on how they are each working to transform the status quo and make communities and employees safer, and reduce the toll of paying for preventable losses.

Segment 1 (2:25): Pete and Daniel discuss a foundation of preparedness, mitigation and insurance, how FEMA shifted its focus to resilience from recovery, growing financial support for pre-disaster hazard mitigation, identifying other stakeholders vested in resilience, the importance of incentives, communicating the ROI of resilience, and the urgent need to close the resilience gap. 

Segment 2 (21:59): Pete and Alex talk about the inspiration for Voxel AI, integrating artificial intelligence and computer vision technology within existing workflows, a comprehensive view of safety risks and hazards in real time, capturing near misses to identify preventable losses, effectively measuring improvements in safety, and building collaborations to inspire and reward safer behavior.

Improving risk data not only helps predict potential losses but also makes it possible to incentivize and measure risk prevention. In this episode, Pete talks with Kevin Stein, CEO and Co-Founder at Delos Insurance, and Sean Petterson, CEO and Founder of StrongArm Technologies, about how they are using data for insights that can predict potential losses from wildfires and unsafe worker activities.

Segment 1: (0:02:14) Pete and Kevin discuss how risk models aren’t keeping up with changes in wildfires, the power of AI for more precise forecasts, using data for mitigation recommendations and incentives, insurance challenges caused by deficient data, and why insurance must remain open to new approaches.

Segment 2: (0:27:57) Pete talks with Sean about his personal motivation to make workers safer, pivoting to wearables for actionable data, ergonomic movement analysis, real-time worker feedback to prevent risk, changing culture key to safety innovation, and using data to show the ROI of injury prevention.

Insurance regulators are important partners as insurers offer consumers new services that move beyond detect and repair to Predict & Prevent. Guest host Frank Tomasello, executive director of The Institutes’ Griffith Foundation, speaks with Elizabeth Kelleher Dwyer, Director of the Department of Business Regulation for Rhode Island, and Andrew Mais, Insurance Commissioner for Connecticut, on how they each balance consumer protection without stifling innovation.

Segment 1: (00:03:06) Frank and Director Dwyer, who also serves as the top insurance regulator in Rhode Island and is chair of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (H) Working Group, discuss how insurers cannot respond to growing risks alone, encouraging consumer resilience, regulatory embrace of technology and innovation, clarifying rebating laws for mitigation, and working closely with insurtechs.

Segment 2: (00:18:55) Frank and Commissioner Mais, President-elect of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, explore the challenges posed by climate risks, the value of a more collaborative approach, how consumers benefit from innovation, the ROI of risk mitigation, promoting consumer education about risk, and working toward a better future.

IoT sensors are proving their worth by preventing small problems from becoming big losses. In this episode, Pete Miller talks with George Chedraoui, Senior Director, Corporate Risk & Resilience for Highwoods Properties Inc., and Sean Ringsted, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Business Officer of Chubb Group, on how on how each is realizing big benefits from deploying smart water sensors.

Segment 1: (00:02:45): Pete and George discuss Highwoods’ success with smart water sensors in its commercial office buildings, pivoting from small pilot to wider rollout, training as critical success factor, preventing a loss demonstrates the ROI, taking a more holistic view of risks, and opportunities to integrate technology in risk management strategy.

Segment 2 (00:19:12): Pete and Sean take a deep dive into the future for water peril mitigation, Chubb's acquisition of StreamLabs technology, empowering proactive risk management, critical lessons from sensor deployments, embedding technology into insurance value chain, and gaining powerful new insights for risk prevention and pricing.