On 1 January 2025, long-time industry expert Dr. Philipp Johannes Nolte took over the management of InsurLab Germany from Anna Kessler. In this interview, he talks about his personal drives and management style, his visions for the insurance industry in times of disruptive change and the role of InsurLab.
Dr. Nolte, you recently presented the I have taken over the management of InsurLab Germany. What excites you about this new role and what drives you personally to help shape the future of the insurance industry in this role?
In addition to the opportunity to work with a wonderful and highly motivated team of experts, I am particularly excited by the chance to actively advance the insurance industry together with our members at a crucial time. InsurLab is always there where new things are being created and new challenges need to be solved. Discovering and driving forward new topics is what drives me. In my previous roles, my focus was on transformation, change and innovation - I can bring all of this together here.
How would you describe your management style and what principles are particularly important to you when working with your team?
I believe in transformational leadership, trust and personal responsibility, because I am not a micromanager. Reliability and entrepreneurial thinking and action are also important to me. I promote initiative, the personal development of each individual and that of our organization. My style combines my previous career: scientific thinking, agile management and product-driven approaches. What counts for me is strength of implementation and consistency: quickly trying things out and putting them into practice - but also always critically reflecting on where you stand.
Where do you currently see the greatest challenges and opportunities for the German insurance industry?
The industry's challenges lie partly in the business model: insurance companies are stable businesses - a strength that can also lead to inertia. There have been no major disruptions so far, but that should not be a reason to sit back and relax. Increasing regulatory requirements, changing customer demands and demographic change are challenging the industry. Older target groups are disappearing, new ones are harder to reach and the shortage of skilled workers is becoming noticeable.
Demographic developments nevertheless offer opportunities for the ambitious modernization of insurers. The number of employees is decreasing, at the latest with the retirement of the baby boomers, so that the remaining people must be deployed in the most value-creating way possible. This requires ambitious process improvements that have a positive impact on customer satisfaction and cost ratios and enable new, innovative products - good news for insurance companies and for people who were previously unable to afford insurance due to high costs. As state systems provide less and less cover, private, affordable solutions for certain risks are gaining in importance. The market is consolidating, both in the brokerage and insurance sectors. Digitalization, data, AI and open insurance are giving rise to new business models that reduce costs, increase efficiency and create additional added value for customers.
What role do start-ups in general and InsurTechs in particular play in this context?
Start-ups are often the drivers of ground-breaking innovations and take on challenges that established companies rarely tackle. In Germany, there is always a discussion about who has made it into the DAX in recent decades - the companies listed there are usually already 50 or more years old. Since SAP was founded, we haven't really produced any start-ups at the same level as in America, for example, where the "GAMAM economy" or "big tech" now dominates. We tend to be characterized by established companies, many of which have been around for over 100 years.
Start-ups play a key role for ambitious innovations in this country. This requires openness in the industry - for new ideas and fresh approaches. At the same time, start-ups need to understand the specifics of the insurance world so that innovations can address real pain points and be implemented in a meaningful and sustainable way. A good mutual understanding is therefore important.
(Generative) AI continues to be a major topic. How do you feel about this? And what other trends do you see in the industry?
Gen AI is indeed a key topic, but it is closely linked to prerequisites such as cloud infrastructures and the necessary high-quality data. It can already be used to tackle many very pressing pain points in companies and to quickly and systematically harvest "low-hanging fruit". At the same time, Gen AI offers opportunities for genuinely innovative and completely new approaches. In an InsurLab Germany publication, which will be published shortly, we discuss what is possible and how we might develop in this direction. Hyper-personalization, which interacts with AI, is also becoming increasingly important. There is a strong focus on embedded insurance in sales, and open insurance is also becoming increasingly relevant. Thanks to the very ambitious Financial Data Access Regulation (FiDA), we could soon see a new wave of FinTech start-ups. However, I am somewhat skeptical about other trends, such as virtual reality, and currently see a longer development path.
What topics will InsurLab Germany be focusing on in the coming year, and what specific projects or initiatives are planned to further support the industry?
InsurLab remains true to its mission: we drive the industry forward by bringing together players who want to shape progress. Our aim is to create opportunities where people enjoy exchanging ideas, getting involved and learning with and from each other. Working together makes things faster and more effective.
One focus in 2025 will be on scaling generative and "traditional" AI. It is about thinking holistically about technologies, scaling them and transferring them to productivity. It is also about redesigning processes in the insurance industry, which are often slowed down by their complexity. We want to provide targeted support to fully exploit efficiency potential. We also provide answers to almost all pressing questions relating to transformation in the insurance industry.
We continue to develop without changing completely: Proven formats such as Topic Days, Bootcamps and Topic Groups will be retained and developed further while we test new formats. For example, we want to address regulatory topics in projects and take the first steps together with company experts. Masterclasses complement the offering and provide the opportunity to explore more specific topics in depth, achieve tangible results and strengthen the exchange of ideas. We also want to specifically address new target groups and address them with these specific topics - this provides additional depth in terms of content.
In conclusion: Looking ahead to the next five years, where do you want InsurLab to be and what contribution do you want to make to the industry?
The digital transformation remains a key issue - for the industry and for us. It requires us to drive the exchange forward, answer pressing questions and further develop both our offerings and our own processes. At the same time, the sustainability transformation and issues such as climate change and demographic developments are becoming increasingly important and present us with new challenges.
In five years' time, the insurance world will look very different. The path of automation and AI will continue in order to remain relevant. However, we often overestimate what AI can do in the short term and underestimate its long-term impact. Topics such as hyper-personalization and the use of data will also transform the industry.
As an industry initiative with many years of experience and a neutral view of developments, InsurLab Germany will continue to play an important role in the future, as the need for human exchange and joint work on content remains indispensable - especially if the challenges become even more complex and the pressure to change continues to increase. Especially in areas where companies do not differentiate themselves, it is particularly smart to find solutions together. I hope to welcome many new members from the industry over the next five years. Because anyone who believes they can overcome the challenges alone will soon realize that joint action is essential - especially given the rapid pace at which developments are taking place.