FROM THE EDITOR 

When my younger daughter was a freshman at Yale, I was encouraged that her intro to economics class included a fairly long section on the economics of insurance -- essentially, an exercise in determining how much people valued the peace of mind they get from having a policy in place. Insurance certainly never came up in any of the economics classes I took way back when, and I took the material as a good sign: A top-tier college was making insurance intriguing for smart, young students.

Alas, I couldn't interest my daughter in the insurance industry. And there seems to be a lot of that indifference going around, based on the persistent concerns in the industry about the talent gap. 

Jenn Knight, co-founder and chief technology officer at AgentSync, offers some intriguing thoughts on a way forward in this month's interview. 

While I've heard lots of people describe insurance's noble purpose as a draw for talent, Jenn framed the issue as well as I've seen anyone do:

"If your house catches on fire, the first call is to the fire department, and the next call is to your insurance agent. Like the fire department, insurance is an emergency service that helps you get on with your life."

Jenn also explains at length what technology can do to at least remove the annoyances that keep talent from choosing insurance or that may make the industry lose them shortly after they sign on. In particular, she describes how technology can help agencies onboard agents faster and remove much of the load of minutiae that they now have to learn.

It's too late for my daughter. She went to law school and is now practicing in DC. But it's not too late for an awful lot of other talented kids. Let's go get them.

Cheers,

Paul 

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