Michael FurlongIndio Technologies

Executive Interview - 1 of 15

This article is part of a series of interviews with InsurTech Executives involved in the distribution of property/casualty insurance about their missions, how they are changing the industry, and the implications for carriers.

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Carrier Management editors reached out to 15 InsurTech executives involved in the distribution of property/casualty insurance to ask questions about their missions, how they’re changing the industry and the implications for carriers.

The chief executive officer of one of the “InsurTechs to Watch,” Michael Furlong of Indio Technologies, provided these answers.

1. Describe your company and its mission. What does the company do?

Michael Furlong, CEO and Co-Founder, Indio Technologies

“Every dollar we invest in our company is an investment in empowering the broker.”

Related articles:

• Selective Disruption in the Insurance Industry (written by Furlong)
• No Disrupters Here: Agents and Brokers Have a Future
• Reading the Tea Leaves for Insurance Distribution

Michael Furlong, CEO and Co-Founder, Indio Technologies: Indio Technologies Inc. is a management software platform for property/casualty insurance brokers. The platform streamlines the application and renewal process for brokers and their clients by digitizing thousands of carrier applications into a TurboTax like experience. As a result of collecting application data in a digital format, brokers experience a significant reduction in operational costs, inefficiencies, and errors & omissions, while being able to drastically improve the insurance buying experience for their clients and providing underwriters an easy-to-read, fully completed application.

2. Who does your technology serve? (Agents and brokers only; Agents, brokers and carriers; customers directly, etc.)

Furlong (Indio Technologies): Insurance brokerages.

3. Who pays for the technology you offer? Is the cost considered commission income or a service fee?

Furlong (Indio Technologies): Insurance brokerages pay a service fee for this technology.

4. Are you disrupting (replacing) or empowering traditional distribution?

Furlong (Indio Technologies): Indio empowers the traditional distribution channel by providing insurance brokerages with the tools and technology needed to meet the growing demand for an online, digital insurance buying experience.

5. What should P/C insurance carriers know about you?

Furlong (Indio Technologies): Indio works with over 40 of the top 100 U.S. based brokerages, streamlining their processes of collecting application and renewal data from their insureds. By utilizing Indo’s platform, agencies are now collecting carrier application data in a standardized digital format. Billions of dollars of application premium flow through the Indio platform on an annual run-rate basis

6. Bonus Question: What does the future of commercial insurance distribution look like?

Furlong (Indio Technologies): For the future of commercial insurance distribution, we see two trends continue to play out. The first is that carriers will continue to have success going direct on small business and continue to gain a larger share of the market. The second is that brokers will continue to play a very integral role for large and medium-sized businesses and will further evolve into risk advisers. We see brokers adopting technology, such as Indio, as a way to alleviate their organizations of administrative, data gathering tasks and focus more of their time consulting their clients, growing their businesses, and building stronger carrier partnerships.

[Editor’s Note: As of Dec. 4, 2019, insurance technology firm Applied Systems announced plans to acquire Indio for an undisclosed price.]

Read about more InsurTechs to Watch (The Distribution Channel)