“Google sees an awful lot of data. We do not have access to that data as a customer-facing team, but what we do see is trends. 15% of the search terms we see each year are entirely new, and customers are becoming more and more inquisitive and impatient. We can help our start-up customers use information to stay ahead of where their customers are going.” So said Damion Thompson, Google Insurance Industry Lead, at InsTech London’s 8th July event, InsurTech as a Service.
Everyone knows Google. Most of us use one or another of their services in our everyday lives. Damion explained how Google, with partners such as Hitachi, is changing the face of the insurance world and enabling insurers to access and learn from their big data. In discussing Google’s engagement model with the insurance companies, Damion said, “Insurers want to build capability in any number of areas. When I look at the hundreds of partners and customers within the Google ecosystem, it’s really about considering how customers are modernising their infrastructure and processes, and freeing up both funding and headcount to focus on transformation and innovation.”
Google claims to have over a billion users actively using its products each day. Google Maps makes 25 million updates per day to perfect customer experience and loyalty. Damion continued, “As larger corporate customers get to know Google better, they are asking us how they can change their cultures, how can they become more collaborative and customer-focused, to win that same loyalty. Google’s relationship is generally with B2C players and is very mature. Our main focus is on enterprise and global players. We are seeing people understand that data is going to be the most important enabler in terms of development. So we’re seeing the leading insurers and disrupters leaning more and more heavily on Google to understand the trends.”
Lastly, Damion was asked how InsurTechs can approach Google. He suggested they look him up on the LinkedIn dedicated start-up page, “Feel free to approach with good ideas!”