Nigel Walsh, Global Head of Insurance: ServiceNow: Making insurance lovable and curing the messy middle (346)

InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant

InsTech

Entrepreneurship, Investing, Business

4.8 • 50 Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The insurance industry is at an inflection point—legacy processes are still widespread, yet AI and automation are enabling smarter, more efficient workflows. But how do insurers cut through the noise and apply technology in a way that truly transforms their operations? In this episode, Matthew Grant sits down with Nigel Walsh, newly appointed at ServiceNow, to discuss how AI, digital agents and workflow automation are reshaping insurance. With 500 insurers already using ServiceNow, Nigel shares why he joined, what ServiceNow does beyond IT service management, and how its AI-powered workflows are tackling the industry’s “messy middle.” Key Talking Points AI-driven insurance workflows – how ServiceNow is helping insurers streamline underwriting, claims and customer service beyond traditional IT service management. Agentic AI in action – the role of digital agents in automating insurance processes, reducing inefficiencies and enhancing decision-making. The changing face of VC funding – why AI is reshaping startup strategies, reducing team sizes and altering investment dynamics. Bridging the data gap in catastrophe insurance – lessons from California wildfires and the challenge of accurately assessing risk and rebuilding costs. Enhancing claims efficiency with AI – how insurers can leverage automation to improve claims workflows and customer experience. Navigating insurance thought leadership – the challenge of cutting through LinkedIn’s noise and building meaningful industry conversations. AI adoption in 2025 and beyond – the rise of digital workers, the evolution of enterprise AI and the potential for insurers to orchestrate thousands of agents. If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. You can also contact Nigel Walsh on LinkedIn to start a conversation! Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives: Explain the evolving role of AI in the insurance industry, including its influence on venture funding and business models. Define the challenges insurers face in catastrophe modeling and data accuracy for risk assessment. Identify the potential applications of AI-driven orchestration platforms in improving enterprise-wide insurance operations. If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 345 page of the InsTech website or email cpd@instech.co to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, welcome or welcome back to the Instech podcast, Zoya podcast producer here.
0:14.8	This week, we're joined by Nigel Walsh, a good friend of Instects, as well as being a known figure in InsureTech, who has
0:22.6	just taken on an exciting new role at ServiceNow. If you haven't heard of Service Now before,
0:29.2	you're not alone, but with 500 insurance companies already using their platform and a market
0:35.1	cap approaching $ billion US dollars.
0:38.3	There are a major force in the streamlining workflows across the industry.
0:42.3	Nigel sits down with Matthew to discuss his vision for making insurance lovable,
0:47.3	the rise of agentic AI and digital workers, and how automation is reshaping claims, underwriting and customer experiences.
0:55.8	They also dive into the impact of AI on venture capital, the messy middle of legacy insurance
1:01.4	systems and the challenges of thought leadership in a noisy LinkedIn world. Let's dive into
1:07.0	the conversation.
1:17.6	Nigel, I've tracked you down into your new job.
1:22.0	And normally I ask people what's up in mind for them just now, but I'm very much hope for you.
1:22.6	It's like, how do I make a success of my new job as you're 10 days in with a company?
1:27.0	I've got to confess,
1:28.5	I haven't heard the name of until you told me where you're going. But congratulations on the new role.
1:33.6	Thank you first and foremost. It is genuinely day 10. I am buzzing with excitement and energy.
1:39.3	But I'm going through what you do. When you start the new organisation in terms of meeting the global
1:43.8	teams, getting up to speed properly on what we do and then start a new organization in terms of meeting the global teams, getting up to
1:45.1	speed properly on what we do and then building out the plan for how we go make insurance
1:51.3	lovable. You know, my mission still stands. Your comment about not knowing them is really
1:56.9	intriguing to me. And part of the reason I'm here, we have a phenomenal reputation
	...

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