For years, insurers have looked to startups, partnerships and emerging technologies as a way to accelerate innovation. But as artificial intelligence reshapes how customers discover, buy and interact with insurance, simply adding new technology to existing systems is no longer enough. The challenge is becoming much more fundamental: insurers need to rethink the core infrastructure, capabilities and strategies that sit underneath their businesses.

In this video excerpt from episode 233 of Scouting For Growth, Sabine VanderLinden sits down with Carlos Cendra Falcón, Scouting and Investment Lead at Mapfre, to explore what it takes for incumbent insurers to become truly transformational in an increasingly AI-driven industry. From scouting ventures across different markets to understanding how AI agents could change insurance distribution, Carlos shares why insurers need to look beyond “shiny” digital experiences and focus on the underlying knowledge, data and risk capabilities that create genuine value.

Drawing on his perspective at the intersection of Mapfre, venture capital and the startup ecosystem, Carlos explains why partnership alone cannot deliver transformation, how machines talking to machines could fundamentally change insurance distribution, and why returning to insurance’s core purpose – helping people understand and manage risk – may be the key to building the next generation of insurance businesses.

Sabine and Carlos discuss:

• Why working with startups and ventures can no longer be treated as a shortcut to innovation, and why insurers need the internal capabilities to bring new ideas into the organisation and create meaningful transformation.
• How AI is changing the insurance ecosystem, from customers searching for products through AI tools to autonomous agents and machines increasingly interacting directly with insurers’ systems.
• Why the future of insurance distribution will require hybrid models, with insurers adapting to new ecosystems, geographies and ways of engaging with customers rather than trying to own every customer interaction.
• Why “shiny” digital experiences are becoming less important in an AI-driven world, and why structured information, accessible data and the ability to communicate with machines will become increasingly critical.
• Why the next generation of insurers will be defined by their ability to use their knowledge of risk to help people manage the risks they face, not simply by how effectively they digitise existing processes.

As AI changes the way people discover, compare and purchase insurance, incumbents face a choice between digitising the existing model and fundamentally rebuilding the capabilities underneath it. This conversation explores why the insurers that succeed will be those that embrace the changing ecosystem while staying anchored to the industry’s core purpose: helping people navigate risk.

Listen to the full episode now on Apple, Spotify and Podbean.

To browse the full catalogue of Scouting for Growth episodes, click here.