A global pandemic might not be the first business interruption business owners think of when preparing for the worst. But COVID-19 has left many businesses in peril, wounded by the surmounting effects of an unexpected pandemic. Companies install fire alarms, security cameras, generators, and other preventative measures to prepare for a standard disruption. The economic disaster caused by COVID-19, however, has showcased the growing need for strong business continuity plans to protect businesses from disruption at every level.

Cannabis insurance is a budding topic, growing alongside the expanding cannabis industry. Five states have approved recreational cannabis during the 2020 elections, bringing the total states where cannabis is fully legal to 15. What does this mean for the cannabis market, particularly for insurers involved with this growing industry?

After evaluating your organizational structure and asking essential questions about the need to establish a more remote workforce, it’s time to think about the big question… How are you going to effectively hire, attract, onboard and keep people in this remote environment? According to Sharon Emek, Ph.D., CIC, and founder and CEO of Work At Home Vintage Experts (WAHVE), once your hiring strategy and recruiting process is in place, you’ll want to turn to applicant selection, interviews, and onboarding.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left profound impacts on businesses worldwide, forcing many organizations to pivot to remote work. COVID-19 has taught companies that good, efficient work can be done from anywhere, and that talent identification shouldn’t be confined to geographic locations. As the pandemic continues, some organizations have struggled with how to hire and onboard top talent remotely.

Design Thinking is a practical and creative approach to problem solving, used in industries and organizations searching for new, customer-centric ways to enhance the customer experience. Design Thinking aims to better understand consumers' needs and formulate an innovative solution for them. When utilized properly, this framework allows organizations to create faster, more profitable innovations at a more efficient rate. At AAIS, Design Thinking helps formulate innovative insurance solutions, such as the openIDL distributed ledger technology for regulatory reporting in 2018.

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.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Carrier Management Magazine on August 19, 2019.

I started my career as the first network administrator at the University of California, Davis. Part of my job was to help build the Bay Area Regional Research network, one of 10 National Science Foundation networks that, in 1986, became what we call the Internet today.