Insurance may be one of the UK’s most technologically active yet least understood sectors, especially as a destination for tech talent. While engineers flock to fintechs and big tech firms, insurers are building real-time pricing engines, high-volume data pipelines and AI-enabled customer platforms.
The disconnect, according to Ian Truman (pictured), chief technology officer at Acorn Group, is not capability but perception. “Price comparison websites were a big change when they came in and became the go-to place for customers to compare insurance quotes,” he said, pointing to a shift that forced insurers to fundamentally rethink how they operate.
That shift did more than reshape distribution. It introduced a level of technical complexity that now underpins much of the market. Integrating with aggregators requires real-time pricing, large-scale data enrichment and robust API strategies, while customer expectations have evolved alongside digital channels such as web chat and mobile apps. “The API revolution is a really big part of it,” Truman said, describing the need for systems that can operate seamlessly within wider digital ecosystems.
More recently, artificial intelligence has accelerated that evolution. “AI, ChatGPT - it's disruptive, but it's another distribution channel,” he said. The implication is that insurers are not lagging behind technological change; they are adapting to it in real time.
What makes the perception gap more striking is the nature of the work itself. Far from simply maintaining legacy systems, insurers are tackling a wide range of modern engineering challenges, many of which mirror those found in fintech and large technology firms.
“You need to be able to get a product to market quickly,” Truman said, pointing to the growing reliance on SaaS and PaaS platforms. These environments support rapid deployment, integration via APIs and increasingly sophisticated digital customer experiences.
The industry is also dealing with the complexity of data at scale. “Data exchange and ETL processes at high speed are another big area that everyone is really focusing on,” he said, alongside streaming technologies and advanced analytics tooling.
For firms like Acorn, this is not peripheral work. “Technology is core to the business strategy; it's not a support function,” Truman said, noting that his own team has expanded fourfold in recent years as new capabilities are introduced.
The result is a sector that is, in practice, increasingly competing with fintechs and big tech firms for talent, even if it is not always perceived that way. The problem is not whether insurance can compete with technology firms – it is whether it is even considered in the first place.
That argument reflects a broader shift in how the industry is positioning itself to potential hires. “The diverse nature of technical skills, experiences and opportunities insurance companies can offer means it’s an attractive career path now,” Truman said.
Much of the underlying technology is similar. Cloud infrastructure, data-driven decision-making and customer-centric platforms sit at the heart of both industries. “The tech we're using is a lot of the same tech space and exciting new world that fintech and big tech firms are using,” he said.
Yet visibility remains an issue. While fintech brands market themselves as innovation-led, insurance has been slower to reshape its image. That gap is becoming increasingly important as competition for skilled engineers intensifies.
Part of the problem may be self-inflicted: for all its technical progress, insurance has been slower than fintech to tell that story.
Geography is also shifting the conversation. Truman points to the North West as an emerging hub for innovation. “The Northwest is becoming a UK powerhouse for tech innovation,” he said, placing insurance firms within a broader ecosystem that includes AI, cybersecurity and fintech.
The industry’s technological evolution is not uniform. While some firms have embraced cloud-based architectures and modern platforms, others are still working through legacy transformation.
“I think probably quite a lot,” Truman said, when asked how much effort remains focused on modernisation. “The competitive nature of our game means they haven't got a choice.”
For smaller brokers in particular, the consequences of delay are stark. “If they don't, I think they're going to struggle,” he said, adding that those who fail to modernise risk being overtaken by more technologically advanced competitors.
In that sense, technology is no longer a differentiator. It is increasingly a baseline requirement.
The gap between perception and reality may become a defining issue for the sector. As technologies such as AI continue to evolve, the ability to experiment and adapt will separate leaders from laggards.
Crucially, he does not see automation as a threat to jobs, but as a driver of growth within technology teams. “Every time I've introduced a new technology, I end up employing more people,” he said, reflecting a pattern of expansion rather than replacement.
The real differentiator, he argues, lies in how effectively organisations combine human expertise with technology. “You have to blend human and tech,” Truman said. “If you do that, and do it well, that will be a big separator.”
For an industry still fighting outdated perceptions, that may be the most important shift. Much of the technology is already there. The challenge now is making sure people know it.
