For much of the past decade, conversations about insurance talent have centred on attraction. How do we bring new people into the profession? How do we improve awareness of insurance careers? How do we compete with other sectors for the brightest graduates and apprentices?
These remain important questions, but they are no longer the only ones leaders need to be asking. As artificial intelligence, automation and advanced analytics become increasingly embedded in insurance operations, the conversation is shifting towards workforce transformation. How do we also ensure the workforce we already have is equipped for a profession being reshaped by technological change?
It is apparent that insurance increasingly needs professionals who have a blend of technological capability, critical thinking, ethical decision-making and strong customer understanding. These are qualities that cannot simply be automated or outsourced to AI, they remain central to maintaining trust in an increasingly technology-enabled profession. In many cases, the more sophisticated technology becomes, the more important the role of the professional becomes.
There are encouraging signs that the wider financial services sector recognises the scale of this challenge. The recently launched Financial Services Skills Compact, developed through collaboration between government and industry, reflects a growing consensus that future competitiveness depends upon building the right skills base for the years ahead.
The Compact commits founding signatories, including some insurers, to upskill employees in AI and other critical capabilities to ensure the sector remains competitive. These pioneers have also committed to attracting new entrants to the sector, by developing new talent pipelines and expanding structured entry routes. The FSSC is also running workshop sessions and roundtable events to support their HM Treasury commissioned research on AI and disruptive technologies. This research is exploring how financial services is able to attract and develop the highly-skilled workforce it needs over the next ten years.
The Chartered Insurance Institute is proud to support this work through our role on the Financial Services Skills Council and through broader engagement across the profession. Ultimately, only through active engagement can we collectively determine what future-ready professionalism looks like, and benefit from it.
