EPISODE · May 8, 2024 · 41 MIN
Oliver Wyman Series: Steve Abel – Unlocking Legacy & Transforming Tech in Insurance
from Scouting for Growth · host Sabine VdL
On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Steve Abel, Partner at Oliver Wyman. In this episode, they dive into the challenges & solutions related to legacy debt & system modernization for incumbent insurers. KEY TAKEAWAYS A few decades ago, there weren’t as many or as complex systems in the insurance landscape. Generally, there was 1 or several admin systems that did everything. The cost & complexity of IT were relatively low compared to now. The proliferation of systems that solve business problems, the complexity of those systems has increased exponentially in part because of the sheer number of systems, but also because the landscape has evolved to accept that implementing a claims/administration/finance system should take years or months. A lot of carriers have made successful bets in the past; they’ve bought a system, customised it & to a large extent, historically, they have fulfilled their promise to the business. Perhaps they were a little expensive or hard to implement, but at the end of the day, the stakeholders got what they wanted. Take a hard look at your technology. A lot of these programmes fail – between 30% and 60%, depending on who you ask. Ask yourself: Is it worth the investment for my business? If you have a generic business, the cost of customisation might be very low, but if your business customises a lot & you’re done, you end up with a lot of spreadsheets, maybe that’s not a great idea. BEST MOMENTS ‘There’s an emerging opportunity for insurance carriers to leverage a new ecosystem of tooling & providers that isn’t as monolithic & doesn’t require so many months & so much cost to implement.’ ‘In modern (mostly) cloud-based technology, it’s possible to think of data as an enterprise/ecosystem asset, so you can keep that data in a structure that works for multiple business processes/calculations.’ ‘Speed is now more important than ever in thinking about technology in an ecosystem. It used to be that you could pace your development choices in years, now technology is moving so much faster – years and months instead of decades.’ ABOUT THE GUEST As a partner at Oliver Wyman, Steve Abel helps clients solve complex problems & lead teams to deliver insights that you can trust. Steve acquired over 25 years of experience in consulting & executive roles, delivering value to organizations via smart technological deployment. Steve’s specialties include program management, operations, shared services, enabling technologies, business process reengineering, finance-leading practices, insurance products & data, actuarial platforms, machine learning, AI, cloud solutions, and business & technical architecture. Steve is passionate about helping clients achieve their strategic goals & optimize their performance, while fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, & excellence. ABOUT THE HOST Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet. If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights. And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at [email protected]
What this episode covers
Legacy systems didn’t become a problem overnight. But today, they are one of the biggest brakes on growth in insurance. In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VanderLinden is joined by Steve Abel, Partner at Oliver Wyman, to tackle one of the most difficult—and unavoidable—topics for incumbent insurers: legacy debt and system modernisation. Steve brings a calm, pragmatic lens shaped by decades of working inside complex insurance organisations. He starts by reminding us that legacy systems were once the right answer. A few decades ago, insurers ran on one or two core administration platforms that did almost everything. IT costs were lower, complexity was manageable, and long implementation cycles were simply accepted as the price of stability. Then the world changed. As insurance products diversified, regulations multiplied, and customer expectations accelerated, the technology landscape exploded. Systems proliferated. Customisations piled up. Spreadsheets became the glue holding processes together. And somewhere along the way, multi-year implementations became normalised—even though business speed kept increasing. Steve is refreshingly honest: many carriers made good technology bets in the past. Those systems delivered value. But success yesterday doesn’t guarantee fitness today. Modernisation programmes now fail at alarming rates—30–60% by most estimates—often because organisations underestimate complexity, over-customise, or pursue transformation without a clear business case. The key question Steve urges leaders to ask isn’t “Can we modernise?” It’s “Is this worth it for our business model?” If your business is relatively standardised, a modern core platform may work well with limited customisation. But if differentiation depends on constant tailoring—and you still end up relying on spreadsheets—then it’s time to rethink the approach. A major opportunity Steve highlights is the emergence of modular, cloud-based ecosystems. Instead of monolithic, all-in-one systems that take years to implement, insurers can now assemble capabilities—claims, pricing, finance, analytics—around shared data assets. In this model, data becomes an enterprise-wide resource, reusable across processes and calculations, rather than locked inside individual platforms. Speed is the new strategic constraint. Where insurers once paced decisions in decades, then years, they must now think in months. The ability to integrate, adapt, and evolve quickly—without destabilising the core—has become a defining competitive advantage. For incumbent insurers, this episode delivers: A grounded reality check on why so many modernisation programmes fail Guidance on when large-scale transformation does and does not make sense Insight into ecosystem-based architectures as an alternative to monolithic cores A framework for evaluating technology investments through a business-first lens For InsurTechs and technology partners, it offers a clearer understanding of: Why carriers move cautiously Where real opportunity exists in the modernisation journey 🎧 If you’re wrestling with legacy debt, planning a major system upgrade, or trying to modernise without losing momentum—this episode is essential listening. Because the goal isn’t to replace legacy for the sake of it. It’s to build speed, resilience, and relevance—without breaking the business.
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Oliver Wyman Series: Steve Abel – Unlocking Legacy & Transforming Tech in Insurance
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