Culture Clash Slows Innovation in Insurance, Not Technology

Innovation in insurance isn’t stalling because teams lack tools or talent—it’s failing because company cultures are fundamentally misaligned with experimentation and change. In an industry where precision, caution, and hierarchy have long been the norm, these same traits have become roadblocks to progress.

At the heart of the issue is a deep-rooted aversion to risk—not the actuarial kind, but organizational risk: trying new ideas, adopting unfamiliar processes, or partnering with outside vendors. Departments like legal, compliance, actuarial, and underwriting often operate as veto points rather than co-creators, making it easier to say ‘no’ than to navigate a path toward ‘yes.’ Innovation pilots get stuck in limbo, silo thinking kills momentum, and annual budgets treat new ideas as expendable extras rather than strategic necessities.

For claims professionals, this cultural stagnation has real consequences. It slows the adoption of tools that could streamline workflows, delay training on emerging risks like AI or climate volatility, and reduce the effectiveness of interdepartmental collaboration. The systems built to manage risk are now stifling the ability to manage change.

Fixing this means rewiring the culture—not with slogans or surface-level efforts, but with structural changes that align incentives, governance, and decision-making around innovation. This includes defining safe-to-try boundaries with compliance partners, creating dual-speed operations for core and exploratory projects, and linking leadership compensation to the successful scaling or sunsetting of initiatives—not just short-term financial metrics.

A culture of innovation in insurance isn’t about embracing chaos. It’s about making experimentation rational, safe, and valuable. When innovation becomes routine rather than exceptional, insurers can adapt quickly, serve policyholders better, and empower their teams to win in a fast-changing world.