ACORD standards are crucial for efficient and effective operations in our industry, but they also play a material role in the development and deployment of technology. We turned to Bill Pieroni, President and CEO of ACORD, to find out more about the alignment of forms and standards with the carrier, vendor, and agency digital evolution. What we found is that ACORD is playing a role in almost every facet of tech development for the industry. 

(This interview was edited for concision.)

ACT News: How do you see technology affecting insurance transactions in the future, and what role will ACORD play in this? 

Bill Pieroni: There will be continued increase in the impact of technology. It's what agents are demanding. I expect we'll see better alignment with the goals of the agency, less transaction-centric products, and more focus on continuous-relationship management. ACORD will enable the creation and improvement of such solutions by vendors and other developers most especially through our standards. 

ACT News: How are agents communicating their demands?

Bill: ACORD hears directly from agents; they also talk to their carriers, who then talk to us. In order to make standards, we have to unpack those demands. ACT is working to play a key role in this effort as well, focusing the conversation and broadening the venue for information sharing. On our side, ACORD has created the ACORD Solutions Group, the vendor's vendor so to speak. We are helping vendors serve agents through our standards, reducing cost, risk and time. We work with all manner of vendors, from startups to the biggest companies. 

ACT News: Technology is significantly streamlining workflows. How do you see this impacting ACORD forms, either in the delivery or availability of forms? 

Bill: I would say technology has the potential to transform traditional workflows. Some carriers and agencies are leveraging that. Some are not. Remember that leveraging technology means it actually has to work. In some cases, people are saying, It hasn't made my life easier." That's because continuing with legacy organization and legacy processes but applying new technology gets you only so far. You won't get the full impact of the new tools unless you recast processes, culture and the technology.

For example, a form ideally wouldn't exist until you need to submit or print it. A form is nothing more than a logical grouping of data. Sometimes that data is needed by an insurer, a regulator, etc., so we bundle it in a form. That form is embedded in the workflow. That's an important point we have to grapple with if we are going to rethink the whole process. It's not trivial for agents to have to reorganize their whole way of thought.

ACT News: What role will our agency management system partners play in the delivery/availability of forms? 

Bill: We are very fortunate in the United States to have a very rich agency management system marketplace. Our forms and standards and database models don't come alive unless they are embedded in that system. And our vendors invest significant amounts in developing new solutions. They are important partners to ACORD and our industry.

ACT News: We know the big names. Are there startups or insurtech companies that will play a role? 

Bill: Yes. The sector is attracting a lot of startups and insurtechs. ACORD is substantially involved in supporting those efforts. Startups can get an ACORD membership at a reduced rate, and we have the ACORD Innovation Challenge, which operates worldwide. We recognize and award startups that are changing the landscape and spurring innovation. We have relationships with every major insurtech incubator worldwide.

ACT News: The state departments of insurance have a huge impact on changes to forms and standards. Do you foresee an opportunity to improve the process, or is it too overwhelming with all the various state players? 

Bill: We've been doing this for 40 years and have strong relationships with the departments of insurance and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. ACORD is aligned with state imperatives. We stay engaged in those regulatory initiatives, and we shape and are shaped by them. 

ACT News: ACORD has made some important moves in cyber. 

Bill: Cyber is an interesting case. How are you going to underwrite something that has limited historical data, which was the case when cyber insurance was first sought? Beazley and Aon donated a number of assets so we could better understand how to address cyber for the industry. Working with some of the largest writers and brokerages is helping us to understand the current and emerging needs and imperatives in writing cyber. Their perspective and input are being used to build and enhance our cyber standard. We don't have to start tabula rasa. We can then ask others, Why won't this work for you? What do you need that's different?"

ACT News: Talk to us about analytics and business intelligence.

Bill: This is something we as an industry have done for hundreds of years. Terminology sometimes gets in the way; we don't recognize it. But agents have been doing analytics and business intelligence all along: they get to know their clients, understand their needs, provide good service, etc. Larger agencies need to apply digitized business intelligence because their data sets are too big to handle easily. Smaller agencies might not need as much technology because they're already doing it intuitively. The key is housing that knowledge, making it available to others so the agency can run smoothly, and keeping aligned with standards partners are using. 

ACT News: For those not involved on a daily basis with blockchain, where do you see its greatest value for insurance transactions?

Bill: Right now it is in an emerging, developmental stage. It may become a widespread viable solution. But users don't have to understand it completely; they just need to know how to use it. Most people don't understand the chipset in their computers or how mobile phone transmission works. We just know how to use these tools. Blockchain poses opportunities and issues, so don't ignore it. You ignore any major innovation at your peril. But you don't have to obsess over the mechanics of it.

ACORD is involved in every major blockchain initiative globally, and they are all using our standards in some fashion. The good news is that, whatever form of blockchain emerges, our standards will be at the core.

ACT News: Anything else you want to touch on?

Bill: Since coming to ACORD, we've done at least 12 studies looking at different lines of business. One consistent theme: independent agents are critical to our industry. We have found that carriers using independent agents outperform everyone else. I want ACT members to know that independent agents ARE our industry. There is no substitute. They may use technology to do their jobs, but they will never be replaced by it.