Working as a technology expert and product manager in the insurance industry for the last 20 years, Sai Nagaraj Balasubramanian has ushered the industry into uncharted territory time and time again. He's seen insurance providers change their approaches to underwriting, evolve as customer-centric service providers, and reduce costs all through the use of leading technologies. Driven by ever-changing and fast-paced work environments, Sai takes on projects that are daunting, delivers flawless results, and continues pushing forward with every new technology advancement.
When he graduated with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 2003, the technological tools available to insurance providers were much different than they are today. One of his first professional exposures to the insurance industry was through the role of a quality assurance lead at CSC India. There, he was responsible for implementing a new policy administration system for auto personal lines within one of the leading insurers in the United States. He saw just how vital technology was to the advancement of insurance, and from there, he dedicated his career to advancing the industry.
In 2013, Sai began managing the implementation of insurance products in the personal and commercial sectors. As a product manager at Ernst & Young, he was able to understand and work with large insurance providers all over the country, honing in on common pain points and challenges many of his clients faced. By updating the digital infrastructure of each organization, along with bringing new platforms into the fold, Sai helped insurers cut costs, provide stellar customer experiences, and even process claims faster.
In today's world, people want accuracy and efficiency at a level that is only possible with technology. In order to process an insurance claim quickly, offer insights about how to move forward, and provide updates to the customer, providers need to employ tools and technologies that enable these functions. Unfortunately, the process to move to a new system can be tedious, costly, and have high rates of failure without the proper leadership.
Sai's track record of leading transformation projects and modernizing organizations from the bottom-up speaks for itself. He successfully proposed a data migration strategy that would move one organization to an updated system without compromising the critical production environment needed to keep operations moving. His innovative approach saved the client $3 million annually in system maintenance and reduced the need for data center maintenance, saving another $800,000 each year.
As a product manager at Newdream Data Systems, Sai advances insurance product solutions, supports data migration efforts, and works with his clients to apply technological solutions to their strategic business goals. Product managers in this space often get siloed into being thought of as technical resources, but the best product managers are so much more. Spending most of his time as a consultant of sorts, Sai sifts through business priorities, removes the noise that comes with large-scale transformations, and bridges the gap between business-focused teams and tech-focused teams.
Currently focusing on the property and causality insurance niche, Sai's extraordinary skills are taking the industry to new heights and improving claim outcomes, too. A natural leader, Sai takes time to understand each unique project before diving in. His project outcomes have an impressive rate of success and multiple clients have awarded him Bravo Awards to thank him for his business-altering efforts. Sai illustrates what it looks like to move the needle without losing sight of what's most important: the people behind it all.
