Description: On January 12, 2023, the Arizona Blockchain Applied Research Center (AZ BARC) and the SOA Research Institute jointly ran a workshop on the use of blockchain technology in insurance and financial industries. The workshop included presentations focused on academic research in the blockchain space by Arizona State University, AZ BARC and an industry expert panel assembled by the SOA Research Institute. This document summarizes the research highlights and the discussions that occurred during the two-hour workshop.

Description: In April of 2023, the SOA Research Institute assembled an industry expert panel to discuss current issues in actuarial technology. This was the fourth time such a panel was assembled, and most panelists had participated in the previous discussions.

Description: The Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute released a report summarizing the InsurTech Insights Americas conference held May 24-26, 2022. InsurTech, a concept created 10-15 years ago, is maturing and currently western financial markets are recording a downward trend while inflation is rising. While this downward pressure on financing makes investors more cautious, stakeholders are working towards partnerships to improve the overall effectiveness and purpose of the insurance industry.

Description: The recent wave of innovation in GenAI has unlocked an entirely new category of AI applications. Whereas AI has traditionally focused on automation and predictions, LLM’s and Generative AI give us the opportunity to create AI applications that act as copilots. This emphasis on contelligence and empowering knowledge workers has already begun to change the way work is done. High expertise knowledge workers such as actuaries will be able to use this wave of AI Apps to make better decisions and dedicate more of their attention to the parts of the role that require domain expertise and judgement. Join Charles Morris, Microsoft’s Chief Data Scientist for Financial Services, as he talks about the latest advancements in this space and the opportunities it creates for expert knowledge workers. Charles Morris is the Chief Data Scientist for Financial Services at Microsoft. Charles has deep expertise in the financial services domain and works with many of the world’s leading asset managers, banks, insurance companies, and financial platforms to develop and execute their AI strategies.Currently, Charles is focused on applying Generative AI to financial services and advising many top financial institutions in building their own copilots and reimagining their businesses.Charles is a data scientist and machine learning engineer by profession and an expert in MLOps. Before joining Microsoft, Charles practiced data science, machine learning, and cloud engineering in the asset management industry. He has been a featured keynote speaker at several prestigious events and forums and is a highly sought after public speaker in the domain of AI and Innovation.

Description: The advent of emerging technologies such as blockchain, decentralized AI, and advanced privacy preserving techniques have created the possibility that billions of individuals may be able to maintain sovereignty and control of their own data. As data becomes increasingly valuable as the means of production for a variety of digital goods and services, this self-sovereignty of data may create a new economic framework of individualized data monetization. This session will explore the key factors, technologies and mega-trends in health and medicine aligning to drive this new economy and explore what the future may look like from a data valuation perspective as the current $120 billion secondary market for health data expands to include consented health and health-relevant data from more individuals, to the benefit of all individuals and the healthcare system as a whole.

Description: In this session, you will be exposed to new innovations in the insurance industry around the world.

Description: Leveraging the research papers "Emerging Technologies and their Impact on Actuarial Science and Top Actuarial Technologies," the presenters of this session will highlight current and emerging actuarial technology trends, discuss how these trends will impact the day-to-day work of actuaries, and explain what actuaries can do to adapt.

Description: Session 2– Going Deeper through examples InsurTech (1) identifies a pain point to the industry, (2) brings a technology solution to address the shortcoming with a (3) business model that makes sense for all. Expect an illustration of this three-point structure through a handful of start-ups from various backgrounds (health, life, general operation) dealing with various aspects of the insurance value chain (acquisition, risk management, back-office…).

Description: Understanding how to effectively adopt AI is critical to staying competitive. This session will guide you through the five stages of AI adoption, with a deep dive into two key stages: Operational Optimization and Collaborative AI Integration. You will learn how to harness AI to streamline operations and boost efficiency, while also exploring the nuances of integrating AI in decision-making to enhance outcomes through human-AI collaboration.If you are seeking practical insights on maximizing AI's benefits while maintaining human oversight, this session will provide the tools and strategies to help you do just that—ensuring that your AI adoption journey is both effective and aligned with your business goals.

Description: Today's best AIs often match human experts on routine tasks - but AI automation success requires skilled implementation. Nathan will present a field-tested, three-step method for automating cognitive work: (1) understanding what AI can do & choosing the right tasks, (2) documenting processes in the form of ""gold standard examples"", and (3) systematically optimizing AI performance – all using concrete examples from actuarial practice. Master this approach and amplify your own expertise by automating repetitive work with AI. Nathan Labenz, founder and former CEO of Waymark, is a technology entrepreneur and artificial intelligence analyst. With a background in science and an eye for innovation, Nathan led Waymark from its inception to its status as a trailblazer in generative AI-powered video creation. Currently, he hosts 'The Cognitive Revolution' podcast, where he explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on work, life, society, and culture. Through his conversations with notable builders, researchers, and investors, Nathan helps business, policy, and academic leaders stay up to date with AI developments and implications.