ReSource Pro exec marvels at intersection of technology and business

“There have been a lot of double-can take, but when persons saw I knew what I was undertaking, they just imagined it was a great story to inform their friends that this 14-calendar year-aged was supporting out with technology” at do the job, Watkins recalled.

Watkins is now executive vice president and main information and facts officer of Resource Pro, a New York-primarily based organization with far more than 6,000 personnel globally that generates software program and solutions for the insurance policies field. Its purchaser base incorporates extra than 1,000 carriers, brokers and MGAs.

Watkins has been in his current part since October 2021 but has served Resource Pro in many technological innovation roles given that 2008. In advance of that he was a senior advisor for Deloitte the place he specialised in technologies approach and programs implementation. In his Deloitte days, he served as a marketing consultant to Resource Professional heading back again to the New York company’s 2003 founding.

His current job is all about looking forward and serving to Source Professional hold tempo with technology’s evolution.

“My main priority is to acquire and put into practice technological know-how and electronic abilities into all factors of our world wide operations,” Watkins stated. “I oversee our technological innovation partnerships [and] the technologies division as we recognize new technology, safeguard our systems by our information protection application and make sure our support shipping corporation has accessibility to the best equipment and information and facts they want to provide for our shoppers.”

Progress and M&A

Watkins claimed the company’s original years concerned incorporating engineering to maintain the strong expansion. Above the past many a long time, the approach has broadened towards introducing technologies that is customer facing.

“We have a rising robotic approach automation capability where by we’re automating some of our clients’ workflows, by means of simulating keystrokes and mouse movements,” Watkins stated.

Other advances contain the company’s coverage tracking company known as Plan Insights, which is developed to make it simple for consumers to have insights into their coverage checking procedure. It requires improved automation.

Not long ago, Useful resource Pro shut its acquisition of towerIQ, an insurtech with a P/C engineering platform intended to streamline workflows and capture useful marketplace details. Including this technological innovation is designed to help clients raise efficiency and improve their details, specifically center to huge current market, elaborate and specialty industrial accounts. It is the company’s to start with insurtech acquisition, Watkins mentioned, and the deal will allow for the firm to combine technology into additional of the submissions approach it completes by its shoppers. Digitization is also coming to provider supplemental types and publicity schedules.

Source Pro has built other acquisitions in the past, with a approach of increasing organically and as a result of M&A. Getting towerIQ was about the firm “solving equivalent problems but coming about it in a different way,” he said. Each businesses have comprehensive customer overlap, and Watkins mentioned integrating the technological know-how will profit Useful resource Professional customers in new approaches.

As Source Pro integrates its new acquisition and its three workers, Watkins will also continue concentrating on his typical mission.

“One of the crucial locations I’m concentrated on is how to have extra shopper dealing with technological innovation in the aged sides of our company,” Watkins said. “That’s a person of the factors that towerIQ accelerates by supplying us an company course [product] which is presently in use by a amount of our purchasers.”

An early commence

Watkins connected to technology even before than his stint as a 14-calendar year-previous IT manager.

“I located a passion in engineering when I was pretty younger,” Watkins claimed. “My moms and dads often joke that the only purpose I realized to read through was so I can interpret the ‘error’ messages I observed on display screen when I was enjoying on a laptop or computer.”

He reported he’s always been fascinated with work that blended technological innovation and enterprise.

“It’s … comprehension that technologies was far more than just the enable desk,” he stated, “and definitely becoming capable to allow main sections of company.”

To him, engineering is remarkable mainly because it is under no circumstances certainly static.

“It’s consistently evolving,” Watkins stated. “There are limitless options and the prospective to make our employees’ lives less complicated and our customers’ lives simpler, and hence their consumers, the end-insureds’ lives less complicated.”