In the past the performance of IAG’s technology function was “was not where it needed to be,” Mark Milliner, CEO of the insurer’s Australian business, said last week.
“We have worked hard to put in place a strong leadership team, lift our performance and develop a group technology plan for the next five years.”
“We are now executing this plan well,” Milliner told a briefing for IAG’s shareholders.
At the core of the plan is the push to consolidate IAG’s insurance transaction systems to a single policy system and a single claims system.
That consolidation push is part of a broader simplification program within IAG that aims to cut its costs by $250 million.
In February the ASX-listed insurance group announced the appointment of PwC partner and former Accenture executive Neil Morgan to the newly created position of group executive technology position at IAG.
Morgan was given responsibility for technology strategy across the insurer and reports directly to CEO Peter Harmer as a member of the IAG’s group leadership team.
IAG in October 2016 announced the departure of its group executive for digital and technology. That was followed by the merger of IAG’s Digital Labs’ digital-focussed teams into Customer Labs, which is led by IAG chief customer officer Julie Batch.
Responsibility for core IT platforms was shifted into the Operations division, which at the time was led by Milliner (who was then the IAG COO).
“We are on our way to reducing the complexity of the 32 different policy and claims systems that existed,” Milliner said during his IAG investor day presentation.
“Today, all of our home and motor claims in Australia are lodged on the Guidewire platform which allows us to service our customers better, especially in events,” he said.
Alistair Smith, CFO for IAG New Zealand, said that IAG NZ had made significant progress on consolidating on Guidewire.
“We are progressing on our technology strategy, with half of our business already on the claims platform provided by Guidewire and with all of our claims to be transitioned by 2019,” the CFO said.