Name: Blending tradition with innovation at large incumbents
Uploaded: 2024-10-08T16:52:56.005Z
Duration: 210.91
Description: Join Ashlyn Lackey, Director of Merging Technology and Innovation Strategy at Prudential, as she discusses the challenges of innovating in large organizations and the evolving landscape of the insurance industry.

FF.ED.14 - Ashlyn Lackey_1.mp4

FinovateFall 2024

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FF.ED.14 - Ashlyn Lackey_1.vtt

English

{{00:00:04}}
Hello, I'm David Penn,
Research Analyst with Finovate.

{{00:00:07}}
We're here at Finovate
Fall 2024 in New York City.

{{00:00:09}}
And joining me now is Ashlyn Lackey.

{{00:00:11}}
She is Director of Merging Technology
and Innovation Strategy with Prudential.

{{00:00:15}}
Thanks for joining us.

{{00:00:16}}
Thank you for having me.

{{00:00:16}}
I'm so excited.

{{00:00:17}}
Fantastic, fantastic.

{{00:00:18}}
Let's jump right into the conversation.

{{00:00:20}}
One of the things I wanted to start
off talking with you about were

{{00:00:22}}
some of the challenges that you've
experienced working in terms of

{{00:00:24}}
innovating in larger organizations.

{{00:00:27}}
Yeah, so I think that, especially as it
relates to partnerships, which is the core

{{00:00:30}}
function of my job, it is so important.

{{00:00:33}}
To have the right alignment and the
right communication early on and if

{{00:00:36}}
you don't get that that turns into
a little bit of a sticking point.

{{00:00:42}}
One thing I'm curious about
comparing the challenges working

{{00:00:44}}
with larger institutions with
the smaller institutions.

{{00:00:46}}
Is it the same sort of
problem or different?

{{00:00:49}}
I mean at the end of the day,
it's just relationship management

{{00:00:51}}
and I think the foundation of any
relationship is communication and

{{00:00:55}}
making sure you're on the same page.

{{00:00:56}}
Right.

{{00:00:57}}
And I think that's why we tend to
have some of the same Disconnects.

{{00:01:02}}
I think that the reason for the
disconnect can be different.

{{00:01:04}}
I think oftentimes you have startups
that want to move fast and break things

{{00:01:08}}
and have that Silicon Valley approach
and especially Prudential where we are

{{00:01:12}}
150 year old financial institution.

{{00:01:14}}
We don't want to do that.

{{00:01:15}}
We have made promises to people.

{{00:01:17}}
We've made commitments that
we're going to be around.

{{00:01:19}}
We're going to be with them at
some of their toughest times.

{{00:01:24}}
We're not going to want to break things.

{{00:01:25}}
We're going to make sure that we're
the ones who fix everything for them.

{{00:01:29}}
Exactly.

{{00:01:30}}
I'm curious, we're seeing
so many innovations going on

{{00:01:32}}
in the insurance industry.

{{00:01:33}}
It's sort of an industry that
for a long time was sort of quiet

{{00:01:35}}
in most people's imagination.

{{00:01:36}}
Now a lot of things are going on.

{{00:01:38}}
I'm curious, what are some of the
major pain points that you see in

{{00:01:41}}
the industry that you're really
most excited about trying to solve?

{{00:01:44}}
So I always joke that it is
not my job to break things.

{{00:01:47}}
I think that's one interesting thing
that is happening in the insurance

{{00:01:57}}
industry that I think the pandemic
did a wonderful job of accelerating

{{00:02:01}}
our digital adoption, but now we have,
how do we build on that momentum?

{{00:02:06}}
I think that there's a lot of
interesting product innovation.

{{00:02:08}}
The reality is, a lot of the way
that things are created, priced.

{{00:02:13}}
That was done for our parents
or our grandparents generation

{{00:02:16}}
and we have a different set of
wishes, wants, desires, needs.

{{00:02:21}}
Absolutely.

{{00:02:22}}
It just seems to me that, that
there's just so much area in insurance

{{00:02:25}}
that's just ripe for innovation.

{{00:02:26}}
It's just, you know, all the things,
all of the data, all of the paperwork,

{{00:02:29}}
changing all that manual stuff.

{{00:02:31}}
There's such a great deal
of opportunity there.

{{00:02:33}}
Speaking of which, maybe by way of
wrapping up, in terms of emerging

{{00:02:36}}
technologies, we've heard about a lot
of things here, whether it's embedded

{{00:02:38}}
finance or, of course, Of course, AI.

{{00:02:40}}
What are some of the emerging technologies
that you find most interesting,

{{00:02:43}}
again, in the context of what you do?

{{00:02:45}}
So, right now, I'm very excited
about the potential of generative AI.

{{00:02:49}}
I know that it is in a little bit of that
disillusionment stage for some, but at

{{00:02:55}}
least on our end, we are seeing a lot of
excitement around how we can make people's

{{00:03:00}}
lives easier in terms of our employees,
how we can save time, we can save

{{00:03:04}}
money, so I'm pretty excited about that.

{{00:03:06}}
Again, it's a really exciting area
that's going on in financial services

{{00:03:10}}
writ large, and again, the idea of
insurance with all that's there, and

{{00:03:13}}
the relative sort of need for innovation
in the area, it'd really be interesting

{{00:03:17}}
to see what happens with, again,
technologies like AI and so forth.

{{00:03:20}}
So, thank you very much for spending
a little bit of time with us today.

{{00:03:23}}
Thank you.

{{00:03:24}}
And thank you for joining us as well.

Hello, I'm David Penn,
Research Analyst with Finovate.

We're here at Finovate
Fall 2024 in New York City.

She is Director of Merging Technology
and Innovation Strategy with Prudential.

One of the things I wanted to start
off talking with you about were

some of the challenges that you've
experienced working in terms of

Yeah, so I think that, especially as it
relates to partnerships, which is the core

To have the right alignment and the
right communication early on and if

you don't get that that turns into
a little bit of a sticking point.

One thing I'm curious about
comparing the challenges working

with larger institutions with
the smaller institutions.

Is it the same sort of
problem or different?

I mean at the end of the day,
it's just relationship management

and I think the foundation of any
relationship is communication and

And I think that's why we tend to
have some of the same Disconnects.

I think that the reason for the
disconnect can be different.

I think oftentimes you have startups
that want to move fast and break things

and have that Silicon Valley approach
and especially Prudential where we are

We've made commitments that
we're going to be around.

We're going to be with them at
some of their toughest times.

We're going to make sure that we're
the ones who fix everything for them.

I'm curious, we're seeing
so many innovations going on

It's sort of an industry that
for a long time was sort of quiet

I'm curious, what are some of the
major pain points that you see in

the industry that you're really
most excited about trying to solve?

So I always joke that it is
not my job to break things.

I think that's one interesting thing
that is happening in the insurance

industry that I think the pandemic
did a wonderful job of accelerating

our digital adoption, but now we have,
how do we build on that momentum?

I think that there's a lot of
interesting product innovation.

The reality is, a lot of the way
that things are created, priced.

That was done for our parents
or our grandparents generation

and we have a different set of
wishes, wants, desires, needs.

It just seems to me that, that
there's just so much area in insurance

It's just, you know, all the things,
all of the data, all of the paperwork,

There's such a great deal
of opportunity there.

Speaking of which, maybe by way of
wrapping up, in terms of emerging

technologies, we've heard about a lot
of things here, whether it's embedded

What are some of the emerging technologies
that you find most interesting,

So, right now, I'm very excited
about the potential of generative AI.

I know that it is in a little bit of that
disillusionment stage for some, but at

least on our end, we are seeing a lot of
excitement around how we can make people's

lives easier in terms of our employees,
how we can save time, we can save

Again, it's a really exciting area
that's going on in financial services

writ large, and again, the idea of
insurance with all that's there, and

the relative sort of need for innovation
in the area, it'd really be interesting

to see what happens with, again,
technologies like AI and so forth.

So, thank you very much for spending
a little bit of time with us today.

FinovateFall

Expert Insight

Join Ashlyn Lackey, Director of Merging Technology and Innovation Strategy at Prudential, as she discusses the challenges of innovating in large organizations and the evolving landscape of the insurance industry.