This week, I took the stage in Neenah, Wisconsin, joining nearly 200 leaders of SECURA Insurance. In my keynote, I discussed the ongoing shift from digitization to ‘data’fication, what that means for the future of the insurance industry, and how this shift is creating new opportunities for insurers to better serve their customers.

In addition to the keynote, I delivered a separate workshop for the leadership team. We explored the leadership characteristics that make big technical migrations successful. SECURA, like many companies, is working hard to build the future. We discussed what leaders can learn from Amazon’s Day 1 mentality and how we can avoid the trap of Day 2. Leaders need to maintain a long-term focus, obsess over customers and their needs, and boldly innovate to meet those needs. We also ran through a pre-mortem exercise to identify and prioritize risks and build and implement preemptive mitigation strategies.

It is no longer enough to have the best people or the best technology. In order to thrive in the decade ahead, organizations need strong leaders, creative employees, and the newest technology. These three things need to work together to unleash an organization’s full potential. Technology alone will not drive growth. Most great transformations require new workflows.

The strategic use of data is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for businesses looking to stay competitive in today’s rapidly evolving market. By leveraging the power of data in new ways, businesses can develop innovative solutions that truly meet the needs of their customers, resulting in greater customer satisfaction and ultimately, increased profits.

It’s an exciting time for the insurance industry, and I was thrilled to be part of the conversation at SECURA’s event. SECURA has a rich 123-year history, and the leadership team is doing an artful job of embracing this history while also building the future.