Innovation at Assicurazioni Generali

Assicurazioni Generali is nominated in the Global Innovator category at the Qorus Innovation in Insurance Awards 2024. We asked the bank to present its strategy and actions in terms of innovation.

Why do you consider your company a Global Innovator?

Generali embodies a legacy of innovation, essential to our past, present, and future success. This has been proven over the course of 190 years, during which we have managed to continuously evolve in order to maintain a proactive approach in the face of innovation. Our commitment to innovation is evident in the Group’s strategic plan, where one entire pillar is dedicated to it: “Lead Innovation”. We’re upholding this commitment through initiatives such as our internal Innovation fund (with increased funding), Generali Ventures (€250M committed), our Innovation Labs where we interact with startups, and our newly launched GenerativeAI initiative that will identify and prioritise the most interesting opportunities that utilize this new technology. These initiatives will not only empower our extensive network of 15+ dedicated innovation teams, 220+ Innovation Champions, and our global community to execute bolder ideas, but they will also ensure that Generali continues to thrive in an ever-evolving landscape.

How is a culture of innovation achieved across your company?

Innovation runs deep in our company’s DNA, and we help maintain it fresh and active by living up to one of our "Lifetime Partner Behaviours" – innovation itself. Generali's innovation culture is constantly nurtured as follows: 

• We developed a “WeInnovate” methodology to guide our innovation journey, generating and prioritizing ideas effectively.

• We distribute our methodology across 3 levels of training: (1) Basic – awareness, (2) Intermediate – delivery, reaching over 16.000 people and (3) Advance – steer, cultivating a network of 220+ “Innovation Champions” (4.8/5 rating). A fourth level for senior managers is underway to ensure innovation permeates every level.

• ~45 communities facilitate cross-functional collaboration, fostering synergy among departments and managers.

• We’re communicating internally and externally to promote all our Innovation efforts, including curating “The Pulse”, a newsletter promoting projects that reaches 500 senior managers.

• A new logo dedicated to Innovation is in the works to increase visibility and the culture of innovation.

What are the major goals and results obtained from your ongoing innovation strategy?

The purpose of the “Lead Innovation” strategic pillar is to deliver exceptional experiences to our customers, agents, and employees, enhancing both our service quality and internal efficiency. The implementation of Generali’s powerful Innovation framework has yielded significant results: In 2023 we confirmed the best RNPS among peers and generated an additional 150 M€ cost reduction. Generali’s innovation projects start locally and scale rapidly into global assets spanning multiple countries. For instance, our strategic collaboration with Descartes Underwriting is now active globally and is exemplary of what insurers and insurtech can do when working together: we are redefining the world of parametric products, by testing and launching innovative products across geographies. Moreover, our sister company Europe Assistance is pioneering the use of the BoltTech platform in multiple countries. Both Descartes and BoltTech are indirectly invested by Generali Ventures, emphasizing the success of our VC initiative.

How does your company manage the overall innovation process?

Innovation is embedded in the structure of Generali, as follows:
• The Group Innovation Team coordinates efforts and scales best initiatives. It leverages on a network of 220+ champions locally.
• A dedicated BD&Partnerships team scouts new start-ups and business models, monitors and shares new trends.
• The Innovation Fund allows BUs to share the financial risk inherent in innovation (doubled in the new strategy).
• The leadership of BD&Innovation selects the most interesting VC funds using industrial assessment criteria (InsurTech or FinTech focus, geographical distribution, etc.), and passes their shortlist to the colleagues in Generali Investments, who make the final investment decisions (250M€ commitment).
• Our Innovation Labs (HITS, Future4Care) work with the most promising startups, co-developing solutions.
• Jeniot functions as the Group’s IoT center of excellence.
• We run a yearly Innovation Metrics survey, to ensure innovation is correctly monitored and measured, and that it's one of the priorities of our top 1000 managers. 
• Finally we leverage on key relationships with system actors: Qorus, PlugANDPlay, InsurTechHub, Tenity, Polytechnic of Milan, etc.