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CXO of the Week profile: Amit Tiwari, EVP, Chief Operating Officer India and Poland

In an interview with Amit Tiwari, EVP, Chief Operating Officer India and Poland. He discusses more about the Xceedance journey to date and his future plans.

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Manisha Sharma
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Amit Tiwari, Xceedance

Xceedance is an insurtech that provides technology, analytical, and operational services to the global insurance industry. Xceedance is a prime example of a company built in India and built for the world. Founded in Gurgaon in 2013 by a small group of insurance professionals including Arun Balakrishnan, former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Insurance in India, Xceedance was set up with the vision to disrupt the services landscape in India. The vision was to build a vertically focused organization that leverages industry expertise and technology to provide services more efficiently and optimally.  

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Insurtech activity has grown rapidly over the last few years. The pandemic further prompted significant escalation and prioritization of technology initiatives, leading to urgency and acceleration in the deployment of digital solutions by insurers both in India and throughout the world.

Recently we have engaged in an interview with Amit Tiwari, EVP, Chief Operating Officer India and Poland. He discusses more about the Xceedance journey to date, and its future growth plans in India and globally.

Introduction.

Amit Tiwari leads re/insurance services, platforms, and products across Xceedance services centres in India and Poland. He has 20 years of technical and functional experience in the BFSI sector.

How has Covid-19 accelerated the transition to digital for the insurance industry? What will be the new normal in the industry?

The global COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted how insurance organizations operate. Even as many return to traditional operations and return to the office, most have adjusted to a “new normal” that includes remote operations and a decentralized workforce. While insurance has traditionally been viewed as an industry that was slow to adjust, the pandemic forced a change and provided the impetus for insurance organizations to improve their approach to digital transformation. Organizations that prioritize investment in new processes and ways of working and enable their teams to try technology-driven digital workflows will be well-positioned to succeed in this “new normal.”

What, as per you, are the five important things that Xceedance should be looking at today?

The insurance industry is in a constant state of change, and Xceedance works to help clients respond to that change and succeed in this shifting business landscape. Several of the key areas where we are paying attention now include:

  1. Digital transformation in the insurance industry, and finding new ways to streamline established business processes and approaches
  2. Improved use of in-house data
  3. Expanded use of external data sources to provide a clearer picture of risks and improve risk selection
  4. Using existing technology in new and innovative ways, and identifying the potential for new technologies as they emerge
  5. Expanding partnerships and forming alliances with other organizations within the insurance space

What is your biggest USP that differentiates the company from competitors?

Insurance is the only industry we work in, and most of our team members come to Xceedance from the industry directly. That positions our company to understand the issues facing insurance organizations and speak the same language as the insurance clients we work with. That is unique within our space, as many competitors serve multiple industry verticals and don’t have the in-depth insurance acumen we do.

What changes is Xceedance bringing to the industry?

Our focus is on delivering new technologies and new approaches to the traditional, established ways of doing business in insurance. From new ways to leverage technology to improve submissions and speed up the intake process to bringing a digital-first approach to claims handling and management, our team of insurance and technology pros focuses on identifying inefficiencies and tailoring technology tools to make them better, faster, and less costly.

How does your technology and business roadmap look like for the rest of the year?

Our team is constantly looking to innovate and bring new technologies and solutions to benefit our clients and transform the insurance industry. Our suite of services is built to be customized to meet the unique needs of clients across the insurance industry, including insurers, reinsurers, brokers, and MGAs/MGUs. Several specific solutions we presently offer and are always looking to improve and enhance, include low code/no code platforms, AI-driven data analysis/enrichment tools, infrastructure and system integration services, and robust hyper automation services. Our goal for technology services is to ensure we can deliver total solution ownership and timely delivery to our clients, harnessing technology to resolve emerging business challenges.

Tell us about the major challenges the company has faced till now.

One of the biggest challenges our company faces is helping insurance professionals feel empowered to adopt new technologies and solutions. As an inherently risk-averse industry, it can be challenging to truly innovate and convince organizations to try a new approach. To address that we emphasize our team’s insurance industry background and work to support our customers throughout the implementation process.

What is your success mantra, share a few insights with us.

Several mantras that I follow very religiously are:

  • Fail fast
  • Life is about accepting the challenges along the way, choosing to keep moving forward, and savoring the journey

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