This week's Six Things will serve as an introduction to Guy Fraker, who joined us not long ago as chief innovation officer and who wrote an important article linked to below. That article tackles the question that he hears so frequently when he coaches big companies on how to innovate: "Where do we start?"
Where to start about Guy? He is a huge addition to our team. He has 30 years of experience within the insurance industry and has been on the leading edge of building innovation systems for the past 10, spanning primary carriers, reinsurers and related sectors. Through what we call ITL's Innovator's Studio, he will offer webinars and provide other coaching for established companies that are wrestling with the thorny questions that come from trying to innovate at scale in such a rapidly changing environment. He will also assist us in evaluating and encouraging the more than 1,500 insurtechs we're tracking on the Innovator's Edge platform, as we help insurtechs and incumbents find the right matches with each other and form powerful partnerships.
We don't intend to just be at the edge of innovation. We want to be in the middle, helping make good things happen. And Guy's breakthrough work on innovation will help put us—and you—right at the heart of the biggest change in insurance since Edward Llloyd set up his coffee shop near the wharves in London almost 350 years ago.
For good measure, Guy is one of the world’s leading authorities on the risks and opportunities associated with autonomous vehicles (which is how I first met him; I quoted him in a book on driverless cars that Chunka Mui and I wrote four years ago). Before joining ITL, he served as executive director of Cre8tfutures, which developed a step-by-step, "how to" system of innovation best practices, and was chief learning officer of AutonomouStuff, a provider of autonomy-enabling technologies and world class services.
His article below provides a powerful framework for thinking about innovation, but that's just the start. You'll be hearing a lot more from Guy. In fact, you can subscribe to a new blog from Guy to follow his commentary and insights. And you can always contact him directly with any questions, at guy@insurancethoughtleadership.com.
Cheers,
Paul Carroll,
Editor-in-Chief
