COVID-19 has caused an abundance of challenges for businesses everywhere. With protective restrictions, unessential businesses were forced to send employees home and, in many cases, shut down due to the threat of the rapidly spreading virus. These businesses deemed "unessential," however, are essential to the livelihoods of many, leaving businesses in a state of panic. How were they to continue business when they couldn't remain open? Many businesses that could feasibly function as a remote workforce have attempted the transition, and as COVID-19's threats persist, many schools have made the decision as well.

In a special edition of the AAIS Webinar Series, CONVR VP Sales and Marketing Phil Alampi presented on the topic of "Artificial Intelligence: Creating Super Underwriters." Mr. Alampi discussed the growing impacts COVID-19 has had on insurers. With more than 75% of carriers seeing increases in business interruption claims, the demand for coverage is expectedly surging. This growing challenge has a positive side, however, for the impacts of COVID-19 have expedited the need for the industry to improve its ability to crunch data better and more efficiently.

In a well-attended edition to the AAIS Webinar Series, BriteCore’s Director of Product Configuration, Tricia Pattee discussed ways in which technology can support product changes, product configuration, rapid product development while giving a competitive edge.

Recently, Dowling and Partners’ Gary Ransom spoke to AAIS CEO and President Ed Kelly during the Virtual Main Event, discussing how COVID-19 will touch nearly every aspect of the insurance ecosystem. The impact is pervasive. In fact, according to Mr. Ransom, the COVID-19 pandemic is on track to become the largest insurance event in history, according to one industry expert.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the insurance industry – and the world – permanently, and one expert believes the industry will respond well to the challenges set forth by this catastrophic event. AAIS’s Nicole Milos spoke with Fred Karlinsky, Co-chair Insurance Regulatory and Transactions Practice at Greenberg Traurig, about his views on the COVID-19 pandemic and the short- and long-term impacts the pandemic could have on the insurance industry.

IBM, who has partnered with AAIS on the development of the openIDL data-management platform on blockchain, has long been a strong proponent of open-source software development. Chris Ferris, an IBM Fellow and CTO for Open Technology at IBM, spoke to AAIS’s Joan Zerkovich on the importance of the open-source concept and the powerful outcomes IBM has seen from building technology in an open environment.

The Internet was built on the concepts of open source, open collaboration, and cooperation. One industry pioneer believes these principles can and should be put into use today for continued success.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, regulators quickly realized two problems. They would need to collect massive amounts of data and issue multiple data calls, particularly around business interruption, and there was no secure, efficient way to gather this data to truly understand the impact COVID-19 was having on the P&C market. With business interruption claims growing, a quick, effective solution was needed.

This year, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. Storefronts and restaurants were shuttered; jobs were lost; many became ill, and most companies had to quickly adjust to a new, remote working environment. The effects of the pandemic are pervasive, and will have a lasting impact on families, communities, businesses, and the country for years to come.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought great uncertainty…among families, companies, communities, and the world. Leaders must understand how to overcome their own fears to inspire and engage their teams during this difficult time. But how can leaders be calm, assertive and decisive to help their teams continue to succeed?