As the insurance industry faces increasing pressure from evolving regulations, rising customer expectations, and intensifying competition, legacy processes are no longer enough. To stay relevant and competitive, insurers must modernize operations with a focus on customer-centric value streams.
Why Value Stream Mapping Matters in Insurance
A value stream includes every step—people, processes, and technologies—that transforms a customer request into a delivered insurance product or service. In insurance, this spans policy issuance, underwriting, claims processing, and customer support.
By shifting to a value stream-centric model, insurers can:
- Break down operational silos
- Improve customer and employee experience
- Increase efficiency and reduce costs
- Align processes with measurable business value
This approach helps insurers visualize and optimize workflows, reduce service delays, and integrate innovation without losing sight of customer needs.
Applying Agile Value Stream Principles
Frameworks like the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) promote value stream alignment by tying technical initiatives directly to customer and business outcomes. In insurance, applying similar principles means embedding automation, data integration, and AI into everyday operations—boosting agility while keeping customers at the center.
A well-defined insurance value stream enables:
- Seamless collaboration across underwriting, risk, and service
- Early detection of bottlenecks in policy or claims processes
- Smart automation of repetitive tasks
- Greater agility through low-code platforms and composable architecture
- Enhanced customer engagement through digital self-service tools
Common Challenges in Insurance Value Stream Integration
Despite its benefits, value stream adoption isn’t without hurdles. Insurers often operate with fragmented systems, especially after mergers or acquisitions. Without an integrated strategy, these silos slow down service, frustrate customers, and increase operational risk.
Real-World Insurance Value Stream Success Stories
Univé: Transforming Underwriting Speed
Facing long approval times, Univé Het Groene Hart partnered with LINKITSYSTEMS to develop an Underwriting Workbench on a low-code platform. By unifying key tasks in one digital workflow, they cut cycle times by 87%—from 2 months to just 5 days—while improving process visibility and scalability.
4SURE: Automating Claims Processing
In collaboration with Acumen, LINKIT launched 4SURE, a claims and underwriting automation tool. This solution replaced manual work with intelligent automation, accelerating processing times, reducing errors, and freeing up staff for higher-value tasks.
Hollard: Unifying Customer Data for Better Service
Hollard Insurance tackled its siloed data challenge by co-developing Customer Launchpad with LINKITSYSTEMS. This low-code tool gave support agents instant access to critical customer data, eliminating recurring complaints and dramatically improving service quality.
The Future of Insurance: Value Streams and Digital Innovation
To build a future-ready insurance organization, leaders must:
- Modernize legacy systems using low-code and composable solutions
- Integrate automation and AI to streamline operations
- Prioritize digital experience for both customers and employees
- Differentiate core capabilities from commodity services to focus innovation where it matters
By embracing value stream thinking, insurers can drive transformation from the inside out—creating seamless, efficient, and scalable customer journeys that deliver measurable business impact.
