Ep. 238: Ursula Merten: Data: The Lifeline for Business

Spot On Insurance

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Ursula Merten is the Director of Insurance Strategy & Information at omni:us, a company that utilizes AI for cognitive claims management. As Director, she helps property and casualty insurance companies better understand the data they receive from clients and find ways to automate workflows in their organization. Ursula is also a self-described insurance nerd that’s interested in how technology is continuously disrupting the industry while empowering women in business.

Ursula joins us today to discuss how AI can revolutionize the average insurance and claims process and why data is at the center of this disruption. She shares why she chose to pursue a career in insurance, the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated industry, and how she found success. She describes the best way to get data from consumers and how the pandemic made data collection more accessible. Ursula also shares what she believes are the downsides of AI and what she wants newcomers to know before venturing into insurance.

"AI can only learn from what the human tells it." - Ursula Merten

Today on Spot On Insurance:

• Ursula's professional achievements and career experience over twenty years
• What Ursula dreamed of doing when she was young and when she joined insurance
• Ursula's experience in handling claims related to asbestos exposure
• What it was like being a young woman in a male-dominated industry
• Why Ursula was initially uncomfortable with negotiating salary and raises
• How men and women look at job qualifications differently
• Why being "annoying" with questions is the new way businesses base their data
• How the pandemic enacted changes that favored data collection
• The pros and cons of having rapid technological progress
• Ursula's advice to carriers and agencies on how they should start with data
• The pitfalls of AI and how they affected various industries
• Omni:us and the solutions they provide to the insurance industry
• Ursula's advice for newcomers in the industry
• How to be confident without being seen as arrogant

Key Takeaways:

• Don't try to sell yourself without the claims to back it up.
• Previously, discarding legacy systems for newer systems was a scary investment in both time and money.
• Always ask your leaders how to move up in your career.

Ursula Merten ’s Best Babyback Ribs Recipe:

1 Slab of babyback ribs (make sure they are babyback ribs)

Peel the membrain off the bone side of the rack

Dry off the slab with a papertowel on both sides

Coat the slab with olive oil both sides

Put garlic powder on the bone side

Flip over the slab and apply pork rub seasoning on meat side

Heat the oven to 350 degrees

Place the ribs on a metal flat pan and cook for 1.5 hours in the oven

Pull the slab out of the oven and coat the top meat side of the slab with your favorite BBQ sauce

Lay the slab on the grill (no pan) and smoke on a charcoal grill for ½ hour

Pull off the grill and place back on the pan and let sit for 10 minutes

Another weird thing: we’re part Chinese (my mom-Chinese/German) so we eat our ribs with rice and we actually put extra sauce in a metal pan in the oven with the ribs and mix some hot sauce in the BBQ sauce and let it caramelize in the oven because we take the extra sauce and put it on the rice. So yummy!!!!

Enjoy

Connect with Ursula:

• Omni:us
• Ursula Merten on LinkedIn
• Ursula Merten on Twitter
• Email: [e-mail]

This episode was brought to you by…..

Insurance Licensing Services of America (ILSA), America’s Premier Insurance Compliance and Licensing experts. To learn more about ILSA and their services, visit ILSAinc.com.

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