Automation Greatest Emerging Technology Trend Impacting Insurers

CHICAGO, Illinois, March 7 -- Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, an accounting and advisory firm, issued the following news release:

A flash poll conducted by Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP (Baker Tilly) indicates automation/robotic process automation (RPA) is the greatest emerging technology trend to impact insurance organizations in the next three to five years.

"The customer-first mentality is one of the primary drivers pushing insurance companies to adopt InsurTech (insurance technology)", Phil Schmoyer, CISA, CFE, senior manager in Baker Tilly's financial services advisory practice, said. "By utilizing automation tools to streamline routine tasks, companies are able to increase efficiency and focus on activities that drive value for the customer."

"Automation will decrease testing time during audits due to more defined and repeatable business processes and will shift testing efforts from transactional testing to governance and oversight", Atilua Bailey, CISA, assistant vice president of internal audit at Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, said. "The skillsets of internal audit departments will begin to change as deeper understanding into how these systems operate and the risks they introduce is required."

Baker Tilly recently held an educational webinar, "Internal audit: Emerging insurance technology and IT internal control trends," to assist insurers in identifying emerging technologies being deployed in insurance organizations and how these technologies will affect their internal audit processes.

The webinar presenters discussed:

* Practical implementations of emerging technology

* How to consider and apply changes in technology to the internal audit plan

* Common gaps in information technology internal control structures

Presentation slides and a recording of the webinar are available at bakertilly.com/ insights/internal-audit-emerging-insurance-technology-and-it-internal-control-trends.