Innovation at Cincinnati

The insurance industry is constantly changing. Customers’ expectations and needs evolve, and new risks emerge, inspiring us to innovate.

It’s an exciting time – with change comes chances to deliver improved service, explore new ideas and apply forward-thinking to ensure we’re offering the agencies we support and the policyholders we protect the best options to meet their needs and exceed their expectations. In the last few years we’ve:

• joined a number of insurance industry ecosystems to foster collaboration with agencies and startups. Being part of BrokerTech Ventures, based in Des Moines, Iowa, and Plug and Play Tech Center, in Silicon Valley, give us a first-hand view of insurtech, brokertech and fintech startups.
• developed a process by which associates from around the company can deeply focus on specific projects that improve processes, software and methodologies. Since 2015, ignITe teams have met to collaborate on projects to increase agility, improve speed to market and enhance efficiency across our organization. 
• established a Strategic Innovation Group that uses innovation to generate significant business results, implementing an innovation framework and process to guide activity throughout our organization. Associates from around the company spend half of their time for three months working on innovation ventures. Sponsored by specific business areas of the company, these innovation venture teams make sure we are solving real customer problems and then rapidly test different small-scale versions of the solution.
• partnered with the University of Cincinnati as tenants of UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub, which includes innovation teams from Cincinnati’s leading companies, and opened an Innovation Studio at our headquarters in Fairfield, Ohio, to foster new ideas. Associates interested in innovation meet regularly to discuss trends in insurance technology and to collaborate on ventures that keep Cincinnati Insurance focused on the future.

Our Innovation Studio