Nowhere is this more evident than within the Lloyd’s Market, where Insurtech companies are redefining underwriting, claims and customer experiences through digital innovation.

Tackling operational efficiency and processing capacity for claims and other workflows remains a key focus for the industry, one that is well-suited to the advancements we’re seeing with today’s Large Language Models (LLMs) and agents.¹ 

With Microsoft’s cloud and AI technologies underpinning many of these Insurtech solutions, innovation is accelerating in three crucial areas:

• Transforming the policyholder experience
• Modernising risk and compliance
• Transforming core insurance systems

The result is that Insurtech innovators are boosting productivity, accelerating time to market and enhancing collaboration and engagement. 

As the industry adapts to new economic realities, regulatory pressures and customer expectations, Insurtech companies exemplify the innovative spirit that positions 2025 as a big year for digital transformation. A recent generative AI study² for the insurance market suggests that nine out of 10 insurers plan to invest in generative AI over the coming year in their bid to achieve more. 

Transforming risk placement and underwriting

Notwithstanding their unique respective operations, PPL and InsurX are both leaders in driving value-chain efficiency and modernising processes that support smooth risk placing and processing in the London Market. 

Enhancing collaboration 

PPL is advancing the London Market’s digital placing capability with a new trading hub built on Microsoft technologies. The move will speed the company’s transition from a document-led, administrative placing process to a a new e-trading and data hub built on Microsoft’s cloud and AI technologies.

The collaboration is set to enable: 

• Powerful and actionable broker and carrier insight delivered by bespoke PPL Copilot prompts. These will empower users to compare, analyse and gain insight in real time to inform next actions.   
• End-to-end trading data housed in an intelligent Microsoft Fabric-powered data hub. This will provide PPL clients with easy access to structured, secure and rich data to inform and support business decisions. 

These advancements create an agile digital marketplace that fosters collaboration and efficiency at the heart of the Lloyd’s Market. 

Revolutionising underwriting 

InsurX ’s mission is to modernise the complex $1.2 trillion commercial underwriting industry for the 21^st century. Part of the Lloyd’s Lab accelerator programme in 2022, the company has developed a two-sided digital exchange that allows brokers and insurers to algorithmically trade insurance risks. 

The live exchange now includes over 50 enterprise insurers and brokers, and is set to trade $1 billion in premiums by 2026. By leveraging Microsoft Azure, InsurX’s technology enables brokers and underwriters to:  

• Define risk appetite: underwriters can tailor algorithmic rules to their precise risk criteria.  
• Match risks to rules: brokers find capacity in minutes as the InsurX matching engine cross-references their submissions against rules. 
• Sign contracts automatically: InsurX then binds policies and delivers high-quality reporting to all parties. 

 Ultimately, InsurX seeks to streamline insurance risk-processing, making it faster, more efficient and more cost-effective for brokers and underwriters. 

Outwards reinsurance reinvented

Cenata is a pioneering business focused on outwards reinsurance and committed to driving change and improving operational outcomes at a global level. Cenata has developed a game-changing solution called CenataSure, an Azure-based outwards reinsurance management platform, which underpins and futureproofs its growing client base.

By leveraging Microsoft Azure data services, the CenataSure platform enables insurers to better manage reinsurance risks and compliance, and leverage opportunity across the London and international markets.  

The platform delivers powerful insight from extremely large insurance datasets, enabling business performance optimisation. With Azure CosmosDB and Synapse Analytics in play, Cenata can also scale exceptional performance for organisations of all sizes by enabling:   

• Granular insight: a real-time picture of reinsurance premium and claims position for proactive decision making, all to outstanding levels of detail. 
• Complex calculation automation: detailed automation at scale, delivering frictionless straight-through processing with no manual intervention. 
• Regulatory compliance: automating statutory reporting, such as QMA, SRS and schedule F reports, to streamline operations.  

Cenata partners with global services organisations such as Synpulse, a ceded insurance specialist, to deliver large-scale transformation projects – and at the core of each project is CenataSure.

Transforming the policyholder experience 

In the digital-first world, customers demand hyper-personalised experiences. Peppercorn AI, powered by Microsoft Azure, has emerged as a leader in delivering these tailored experiences for insurance customers through its specialist conversational AI platform, Pipr.  

By leveraging Azure’s Cognitive and Azure Open AI services, the Pipr platform can:  

• Provide instant, highly intuitive responses to customer inquiries through AI, powered by its digital conversational assistant. 
• Amend and update policy information within individual customer profiles in real-time. 
• Deliver highly personalised guidance based on customer needs and behaviours. 

PeppercornAI is also leveraging generative AI to improve risk selection for the insurance provider. While recognising possible quote manipulation, it also provides a better informed, personalised customer experience – a win-win strategy. 

The UK Insurtech sector remains strong 

The UK is currently home to the world’s second largest Insurtech cluster and has produced eight “unicorns” (companies valued at more than $1 billion). This is more than the rest of Europe combined.³  More widely, the sector makes a significant contribution of almost £5 billion to the UK economy (GDP) and supports 60,000 jobs across the UK. 

This impressive achievement positions Insurtech not only as a vital economic contributor but also as a global leader in innovation. By continuing to harness Microsoft AI and data-driven solutions, the sector is well-positioned to drive growth, create jobs and shape the future of insurance. 

For its part, Microsoft is committed to providing efficient tools and platforms to advance industry innovation and empower strong collaboration for both physical and digital interactions. 

Discover the power of partnership 

ISV Success, part of our Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Programme, will give you all the support and guidance you need on the Microsoft Cloud. You can also gain free Azure credits, developer tools, app consultations and much more.   

If you’re an Insurtech company looking for support with AI innovation and go-to-market, please reach out to our UK ISV team or find out more by visiting the Microsoft ISV Hub.

Footnotes

¹ Transform Insurance Industry Workflows Using Generative AI Models and Azure Services | Microsoft Community Hub 

² Your journey to a GenAI future: An insurer’s strategic path to success 

³ Insurtech UK Roadmap 2024 

Find out more

Join our ISV Success Programme

About the author

As the Insurtech partner lead for Microsoft UK, George helps Insurance B2B software companies innovate with Microsoft’s Cloud and AI platforms, and reach new customers together. He has more than 13 years’ experience working in the Microsoft Partner ecosystem, most recently helping Fintechs drive successful commercial partnerships with Microsoft.

The post 2025: the year of data and AI innovation in UK Insurtech  appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Our ecosystem offers you a rare chance to create and sell impactful solutions with the latest technologies. In this blog, we’ll explore key areas of ISV opportunity and share stories of innovative partners that have unlocked new possibilities with Microsoft.

Build, innovate and scale with Azure Cloud 

The shift to cloud computing is undeniable, with the cloud’s agility, scalability and economics propelling cloud spend to a projected $1 trillion by 2026. According to the IDC, Microsoft partners that build software earn $10.11 for every $1 of Microsoft revenue. Two compelling reasons to adopt the Microsoft Azure platform and sell through our commercial marketplace.

While Azure offers a secure and scalable foundation for developing and deploying high-performance software solutions, our marketplace helps you simplify sales and unlock growth.  Azure’s comprehensive suite of tools and services also allow you to rapidly build, innovate and scale operations seamlessly, all while reducing costs. By partnering with us, you’re better able to meet market demands swiftly, ensuring you remain competitive and relevant. 

These benefits have been harnessed by AutoRek, a financial reconciliation software provider that specialises in automated reconciliation, financial reporting and data management solutions. They help financial institutions streamline processes, ensure regulatory compliance and improve overall operational efficiency.

In partnership with Microsoft, AutoRek has built a scalable, secure and efficient solution on Azure that can handle vast amounts of data and perform real-time reconciliation. This enables its customers to improve their financial accuracy and significantly cut operational costs. The AutoRek platform is available now on the Azure Marketplace. 

Drive innovation in the era of AI with the latest tools and models 

Generative AI is also revolutionising business models and creating new ISV opportunities. By infusing Azure AI capabilities into your solutions and developing your own copilot with Microsoft Copilot Studio, you can drive significant innovation and differentiation. This solution enables you to offer enhanced functionalities, improve customer experiences and unlock new revenue streams.

By leveraging our AI expertise, you can significantly transform your offerings and capture new market segments. Discover how other innovative partners are leaping ahead with Microsoft AI and Azure-powered technologies: 

• Stability AI, a leader in open-source generative AI, creates models that excel in areas such as imaging, video, audio and 3D, delivering top-tier performance and minimal resource requirements. The company is now extending them through Azure’s AI model catalogue. Coming soon as a “Model as a Service” (MaaS) offering, users can leverage pay-as-you-go inference APIs and self-hosted models, including fine-tuning that makes high-quality AI more accessible and customisable than ever before. 

• BeyondWords is an AI audio platform building voice-cloning, audio-generation, distribution and monetisation tools for modern news publishers. By partnering with Microsoft Azure, BeyondWords has been able to build a robust, scalable solution that handles high-volume content while maintaining top-notch audio quality. This collaboration allows news and insights publishers to create frictionless audio experiences, boosting audience engagement and unlocking new revenue streams. 

• The Access Group  is a leading provider of industry-focused solutions to small and mid-sized organisations in Europe, the USA and Asia. In addition to AI-supported workflows, their innovative Access Evo copilot feature intelligently connects users to business-wide software, offering a personalised generative assistant that saves time and ensures data security. Users can ask questions and get instant responses, enhancing productivity and efficiency. 

Accelerate your business revenue with the cloud marketplace 

Today’s digital transformation has sparked a new “Buy vs. Build” revolution, with more organizations favouring ready-made SaaS solutions over custom software development.  

Cloud marketplaces simplify this new buying behaviour by enabling ISVs to provision solutions quickly and reliably, while serving as a critical go-to-market channel. Canalys predicts that cloud marketplaces will exceed $45 billion in value by 2025, driven by new governance models and streamlined procurement processes.  

Our Azure Marketplace is at the forefront of this trend, giving you a global platform to showcase and sell your solutions. It also simplifies the buying process for customers, making it easier for them to discover, purchase and deploy your solutions.  

In addition, your customers can leverage existing Azure Cloud Committed budgets when buying software, which contributes 100% off a customer Azure Marketplace invoice. So why not reach a broader audience and accelerate your GTM strategy by listing your offerings on Azure Marketplace?  

Get inspired by other partners who are succeeding with this strategy: 

• Quantexa is a global AI, data, and analytics software company pioneering decision intelligence to empower organizations with the right data to make the right AI-enabled decisions. The company brings innovation and confidence in decision-making to every industry by driving the shift to contextual data. Quantexa recently announced its Decision Intelligence Platform on the Azure Marketplace, which enables organizations to unify siloed data, create context with knowledge graphs, and put data to work using AI and analytics to drive effective decision-making and automation throughout the enterprise. 

• UiPath offers AI-powered automation solutions to boost enterprise productivity and streamline business processes. With its comprehensive platform, companies can discover, build and operate automation at enterprise-scale. Buying UiPath Automation Cloud via the Microsoft marketplace gives customers access to the latest UiPath platform technology. In addition, Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) customers can simplify their procurement by using their existing Azure commitment and payment conditions. 

Multiply your reach and offerings through our partner ecosystem 

In search of longer-term value, ISVs are exploring new technology partnerships and business efficiencies. A multiplier effect occurs when they collaborate with the extensive Microsoft channel partner ecosystem to create multiparty private offers (MPOs).

MPOs on Azure Marketplace enable ISVs to include their preferred partners in deals, streamlining procurement and enhancing customer satisfaction. This enhances the value proposition for all involved.  

Our Partner Network nurtures these collaborations, enabling ISVs to co-innovate and co-sell solutions. By joining our rich ecosystem, you can leverage complementary strengths, expand your market reach, and deliver more comprehensive solutions to your customers.  

Here are just two examples of how our collaborative approach has helped other partners drive sustained value and innovation, and ensured mutual growth and success.

Leveraging the Microsoft Channel Partner ecosystem: Nutanix and Computacenter 

Recently, Nutanix and Computacenter collaborated on an MPO for a global customer, migrating workloads to Azure and implementing self-service automation for workload provisioning. This successful collaboration highlights the value of MPOs in driving efficient transactions and fostering strong partnerships. 

Building marketplace and adoption practices with partners: Veritas and Softcat 

Partners such as Softcat are developing robust marketplace practices to drive application modernisation using Azure Marketplace and MPOs. By helping customers holistically adopt Azure Marketplace as a transformation mechanism, Softcat delivers agility and innovation while maintaining governance and guardrails.  

Softcat and Veritas recently collaborated with a UK law firm to modernise the customer’s data management strategy using the Veritas Alta archiving solution on Azure. This showcased how Softcat used MPOs to manage billing and deliver cloud SaaS technology from Veritas, ensuring maximum value and business efficiency for all stakeholders involved. 

Discover the power of partnership

Whether you’re an ISV or a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company – and whatever the size and maturity of your business – partnering with us can empower you to succeed. ISV Success, part of our Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Programme, will give you all the support and guidance you need on the Microsoft Cloud. You can also gain free Azure credits, developer tools, app consultations and much more.  

Interested in registering? Please visit the ISV Hub, or if your headquarters are in the UK, email ISVUK@Microsoft.com. 

Find out more

Learn more about partnering with Microsoft

Build and publish with ISV Success (part of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Programme)

Get started with Azure for ISVs

About the author

After gaining 25 years’ experience in the technology consulting sector, including leadership roles at Accenture across Software as a Service, Cloud First Applications and Salesforce Business for the UK & Ireland, Orla joined Microsoft in March 2021 to lead the Global Partner Solutions organisation. She oversees Microsoft’s UK partner ecosystem, which includes independent software vendors, advisory partners, systems integrators, telcos, and channel partners. Orla also serves on the Microsoft UK Senior Leadership Team.

The post Unlock the AI and SaaS opportunity in partnership with Microsoft  appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

In 2022, only 4% of people were employed in digital roles throughout the public sector, highlighting the need to embrace technology, upskill internally and produce better outcomes for everyone. The way to do it is by employing public sector employees as ‘change agents’.

Usually recruited from within the organisation, change agents help to manage the relationship between the organisation and the individual for a smooth digital transformation. The best change agents have extensive experience in department processes and technology and can offer moral support to those cautious of change.

Full-time change agents can be expensive and may divert some of the best and most productive people from a team. So organisations should make smart decisions about how a change agent programme is staffed, managed and supported.

As part of Microsoft’s Innovate Together programme, the Change Agent programme aims to train at least one person in every public sector service to be a catalyst for change. Delivered through expert training sessions and an online community of UK public sector change agents, the programme will provide a platform for the rapid exchange of ideas and solutions to maximise your journey to digital transformation.

This article offers insights into the powerful role of the change agent and allows you to register for the next Change Agent training programme in June 2023, open to those from Local Government organisations.

Delivering transformation benefits on the ground with a change agent

A change agent supports strategic transformations to deliver benefits locally on the ground. They also act as transformation conduits from a technology and a culture perspective. On one hand, they need to supply the central team with regular progress reports and flag up potential issues. On the other hand, they need to win over colleagues and support them in embracing new technologies and ways of working that may be unfamiliar to many.

Using technology to overcome complexity

Given the right training, change agents can match an organisation’s needs with the technology that it already has and advise on other opportunities. The Change Agent programme provides training on a whole host of transformational technologies such as AI and Power Automate, along with insights into how to leverage the tech you are likely already using day to day, from Microsoft Teams to SharePoint.

The training also equips participants with an understanding of the principles of change, how to lead and support change, different learning styles and meeting accessibility requirements through technology; providing attendees with the confidence, theory and practical examples to embrace and lead change within their own organisations.

Confidence in these ‘softer skills’ is crucial in enabling change within a complex industry, which is why one day in the five-day Change Agent programme option is dedicated to providing attendees with the skills to enable change. This content is delivered by industry experts; supporting colleagues to adopt digital tools requires empathy and an understanding of human psychology as well as knowledge of the products being used.

The programme also offers a bespoke version for managers within local government, providing them with sessions on how to support their teams with change, as well as technology specific sessions. This is imperative to fostering a culture of change through a top-down approach.

What really brings the training to life is the real-world examples of how other public sector organisations have leveraged these technologies as the catalyst for change within their own teams. After completing the sessions, the change agents are invited to join a digital community of alumni to further share best practice, providing access to a wider support network at anytime, anywhere.

Even where organisations across the public sector provide completely different services, most have shared common problems and therefore benefit from understanding what technologies others have implemented to resolve these issues. For example, many have a similar approach to technology-enabled time and task management, automation of document ingestion, and reporting. Collaboration between change agents should therefore be encouraged, even if that means overcoming competitive instincts.

How change agents enable transformations that differ in scale

Whilst all public sector transformations differ in scale and scope, the success of a change agent depends on a close understanding of how people respond to – and eventually accept – the introduction of technology into their working life. Leaning on a community of change agents continues to be an invaluable resource to previous alumni.

Large scale transformations could include the introduction of a new HR system. For a smaller transformation, a change agent might help a local council save time on admin by enabling the adoption of some simple digital tools. The Change Agent training programme looks at a wide range of common problem statements and the technologies that help to address some of those issues, with digital breakout rooms to discuss and collaborate.

The first key to achieving measurable benefits from change lies in finding opportunities for efficiencies that might start small or incrementally but can then scale across an entire organisation. The second key is to persuade colleagues to collaborate with the transformation programme and embrace technologies that empower them to do more with less. This usually begins by showing them that change is possible, even on a small scale. This is why change agents benefit from training in technology acceptance strategies throughout the course.

Acquiring change-agent skills

Change agents can be full-time professionals who are qualified to optimise a large-scale programme, or enthusiastic volunteers who work within their teams to deliver measurable results on the ground.

Giving these proactive individuals a forum to update their skills and coordinate their efforts adds value to any organisation’s transformation effort by enhancing its collective intelligence. In other words, a coalition of change agents is greater than the sum of its parts.

Change agents can benefit from learning new skills and putting them into practice at the same time. This is often more efficient than attempting to accelerate onboarding with an intense training schedule at the outset. Enabling new recruits to gradually build their confidence through practice lessens the risk of overwhelming them with too much information. Not all change agents are volunteers; some are nominated by their manager to gather insights on the transformation programme, or to develop their career.

The Microsoft Change Agent programme

This free programme is a national initiative designed to support local and regional government (LRG) in its digital transformation efforts. It is open to Microsoft customers, and offers a five-day version aimed at the ‘change agents’ within an LRG organisation, and a two-day version for managers.

The training employs industry experts from Microsoft and Socitm, and experienced local authority staff to help prepare delegates in theories of change, using a wide variety of Microsoft technologies to address common industry problem statements. Delegates will have the opportunity to learn and engage with others in similar roles across LRG. The programme also provides an opportunity for participants to join a collaborative network of Change Agent alumni practitioners, while learning about digital transformation technologies such as Power Platform, Power Automate, and Power BI.

Read more about our Change Agent programme and partnership with Socitm in the Financial Times – Equip the public sector with digital skills for better government.

Find out more

Microsoft Learn for government
Microsoft Adoption Score
Microsoft Enterprise Skills Initiative
Digital Skills Hub

About the author

I am an Account Technology Strategist (ATS) at Microsoft, with an MSc in managing and leading IT systems change. I help customers understand how Microsoft products can solve business problems, and I lead the Change Agent programme within the Innovate Together programme. I’m passionate about technology acceptance and supporting scalable, sustainable change across public services.

The post Digital public services: How to drive transformation with change agents appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

In March, we rolled out Microsoft Teams for free to assist throughout COVID-19. Recently, the NHS announced it chooses Microsoft 365 to create a truly joined-up service. Both of these mean that innovations such as Microsoft HoloLens 2 and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist are far easier to adopt and use. A core requirement for Dynamics 365 Remote Assist is Microsoft Teams. Therefore, having the licenses and end-user adoption has allowed NHS Trusts to start deploying in days with limited friction. Often those familiar with HoloLens will say to others, “It’s heads-up Teams” and there is an immediacy of understanding.

Built-in security

To deploy new technology during challenging conditions, it was critical that its security met the needs of the NHS. Being natively integrated with Microsoft security technologies (like Azure Active Directory), the HoloLens 2 and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist can provide a security solution for connectivity. Leveraging Microsoft Intune to provide remote Mobile Device Management to easily configure and manage the devices. Azure Active Directory Conditional Access helps secure user access to the service. These allowed the NHS to meet their security needs whilst providing an excellent end user experience.

Conditional Access meant that the staff using the device could pick up a headset and have the minimum number of username/password prompts to quickly get working, whilst keeping the account secure with Multi-Factor Authentication against unwanted authentication attempts. Additionally, Microsoft Intune provided the ability to restrict the applications on the device to only a permitted list (Multi-app Kiosk Mode) to both minimise training time, and increase device security. Connectivity to the internet was achieved by using existing Wi-Fi networks with Microsoft Intune deploying security PSK or certificate based Wi-Fi profiles to the devices as appropriate for the secured networks available in the use locations.

It’s all about the data…

With any system collecting video or audio data, strict data governance requirements come into play to ensure patient privacy and confidentiality. Since the NHS had already adopted Microsoft Teams, this was simple to achieve. All the video and audio data collected through Dynamics 365 Remote Assist is subject to the same regulatory processing and storage requirements as Microsoft Teams. This means that the solution can be approved with the data protection teams confidently. They know that the data would be protected and meet the requirements already approved and in place.

Licences Required:

To implement the above design one of the following sets of licences is required:

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist
• and ONE of the following
  1. Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3
     • OR
  2. Microsoft Enterprise Mobility and Security (EM+S) E3
     • OR
  3. Azure Active Directory Premium P1 AND Microsoft Intune AND a suitable Microsoft Teams licence (for example Office 365 E3)

Best practice tips

Colin Brown, CCIO at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust has shared that to support the purchasing of the HoloLens 2, a key enabler was digital leader discussions. Because they already have a full Microsoft tech stack, the IT department commitment was straightforward. They had early expert engagement with their Infection Prevention Team so were able to develop a standard operating protocol. This was to ensure the headset could be protected and cleaned in a virus-laden clinical environment.

Some additional great tips:

• Ensure a good deployment of Office 365 and Microsoft Teams.
• Ensure good co-design of use cases in acute provider, community, wider health and care systems, and between clinical leaders and IT.
• Develop conversations with consultant enthusiasts and digital leaders.
• Spend the time to get the first couple of end-users up and running on their first Dynamics 365 Remote Assist call. Once they have done a couple, they’ll start using it consistently.

How do you acquire HoloLens?

We have partnered with Insight who are one of our key mixed reality partners and an authorised reseller of the HoloLens 2. They can also advise on solutions, provide deployment, and managed services alongside custom development for apps on the HoloLens 2.

Insight’s Dynamics 365 Remote Assist Fast Start offering for the NHS

Insight has packaged the best practices and created a free Remote Assist Fast Start for NHS organisations who purchase HoloLens 2 through Insight.

This is designed for organisations considering Dynamics 365 Remote Assist with HoloLens 2, with mobile devices, or have HoloLens but haven’t started to actively deploy. The goal is to help get you going with minimum fuss. They’ll be using the best practices that we have garnered to get you up and running quickly.

This includes an introduction to HoloLens 2, Dynamics 365 Remote Assist overview, typical use cases in healthcare, technical considerations, and licenses. In addition, they will work to understand where you are at in your Teams deployment, walking you through steps for implementation.

Most importantly, they will take you through the HoloLens 2 out of the box experience, through to your first Dynamics 365 Remote Assist call.

Once you get set-up through this process, we will look forward to integrating you into the NHS Teams collaboration site that we have, for community Q&A and in sharing best practices.

Find out more

How HoloLens and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist helps the NHS provide patient care

Defining and implementing Dynamics 365 Remote Assist use cases

Measuring patient and clinical effectiveness

What’s next: How can other NHS Trusts get involved?

About the author

Leila has been working on the commercial mixed reality business for the last five years and is based in the UK. She’s been working with some of the most advanced customers and partners in the world, helping them identify, pilot and deploy technologies that have a profound ability to transform their business.

Prior to joining the mixed reality team, she held several senior positions at Microsoft including leading consumer and commercial business units such as Server & Tools and Windows in the UK and Central & Eastern Europe.

The post HoloLens and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist: What technology is needed to get started? appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.