The metaverse is coming -- fast. In PwC’s 2022 US Metaverse Survey, 82% of business executives (including 87% of insurance executives) said they expect metaverse plans to be part of their business activities within three years.

Insurers that move swiftly and wisely to use the metaverse can find success in two ways: enhance operations and customer engagement by engaging employees, customers and policyholders in new ways; create new revenue streams through coverage of new, metaverse-specific risks.

Here is a brief rundown of some of the main opportunities in each area -- and five guidelines to help seize them.

The metaverse is on its way to becoming an immersive, global and decentralized digital world that blends seamlessly into the physical one. This new world can enable insurers to reach customers in new ways and deepen relationships with existing ones.

It also can help insurance employees pick up new skills, collaborate more intensely and do their jobs more effectively -- all while potentially cutting costs.