NAME: Claude Wade
NEW JOB TITLE: New York-based executive vice president, chief digital officer and global head of operations, American International Group Inc.
PREVIOUS POSITION: New York-based executive vice president, chief digital officer and global head of operations, American International Group Inc.
INDUSTRY OUTLOOK: I believe the insurance industry will soon be at an inflection point. Clients across the spectrum, direct and intermediated, are frustrated by the lack of simplicity, automation and digitization in our industry. I can buy a car from my phone and have it delivered to me anywhere in the world, but to purchase insurance remains a predominately paper-based process with multiple manual handoffs across a fragmented and disconnected ecosystem. At some point digital, disruptive innovation will usher in a new era for risk management through insurance risk transfer.
GOALS FOR NEW POSITION: My goal is to implement a data foundation and digital strategy that makes it easier for our clients across the spectrum to do business with AIG, and to add incremental value during the risk transfer process at the moments that matter most to them.
CHALLENGES FACING THE INDUSTRY: A free-flowing, digitally enabled marketplace will require navigating a robust and complex regulatory landscape, various data frameworks and standards across the industry, and the many roles of insurance industry intermediaries.
FIRST EXPERIENCE IN THE INDUSTRY JOB MARKET: My first experience in insurance was in 2011 when I had the pleasure of joining the Marsh insurance broking and risk management team.
ADVICE: Dont be afraid to innovate, push boundaries, disrupt, and embrace diversity of thought. Many newcomers to the insurance industry are told that this business is far too complicated for anyone to comprehend that didnt grow up in it. This coaching has had the unintended consequence of creating a barrier to entry for both age and ethnically diverse talent, or newcomers leaving their spirit of innovation at the door. The insurance industry is overlooked as an exciting career path, when in actuality the risk management business is one of the best destinations for data scientists and digital innovation. If you want a career where you draw insights from various data sources to predict the probability of outcomes, price risk transfer and help clients, then this is the industry for you.
OUTSIDE THE INDUSTRY, A DREAM JOB: Professional athlete
COLLEGE MAJOR: Finance and mathematics
LOOKING FORWARD TO: Building the most diverse team in the industry and delivering differentiated digital solutions for our clients.
FAVOURITE MEAL: I eat clean the majority of the time. A stack of buttermilk pancakes from scratch and thick-cut bacon are my favorite cheat meal.
BOOK: Top 3: Lincoln on Leadership, by Donald Phillips; A Whole New Mind, by Daniel Pink; and Makes Me Wanna Holler, by Nathan McCall.
HOBBIES: Cooking, eating, weight training and Peloton. The latter two are a counterbalance to the first two.
TV SHOW: Billions
ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON: Train and play with my two Doberman Pinschers.
