This is the story of an old man who tells a young guys that his professional activity has not future!
Last year, I was attending the thirstiest anniversary of a reinsurance company, a client of mine, high above the lake of Zurich in the wonderful SwissRe’s Center for Dialogue. It was a sunny day and the view of the Alps, the trees in full bloom and the excellent finger food offered an idyllic setting for networking.
Our company’s manager introduced me to a consulting actuary who had done a good job in training our own actuarial team. John was in his late twenties and was visibly interested in acquiring more clients. He thought that I could help him.
Now, I have always been more than willing to sponsor young people. I told him so but added that my help would have a price. I read a big question mark in his eyes and laughed. No, I did not mean money! I told him that for two reasons he did not qualify. More question marks and a sad face. My reasons, I added, was that he was a one-man show and that his profession was going to disappear due to artificial intelligence.
I saw that he was shaken in his hope for a successful career and recalled a similar conversation with another Swiss actuary who had just laughed at me and changed the subject. John first tried to justify the fact that as a freelance consultant he had more flexibility and could devote more time to his clients than managing a team of people. Also, he did not want to join an established consultancy. With respect to Artificial Intelligence, he doubted the possibility of using it for complex formulae.
Well, I said, you think about my sponsoring conditions and consider the fact that a friend of mine in Spain, an actuary, has used ChatGPT to calculate the solvency ratio of their company.
Last week, I met John in London. We were attending a risk managers’ event. He had grown a beard but, more importantly, he asked me to have a look at his new website.
I did so and remained speechless. In slightly less than one year, John had created a limited partnership, found nine highly qualified partners and was offering AI-based solutions to the market, in addition to the usual actuarial services!
I thought of telling you this story, my young friends, to show the many opportunities insurance offers to people who see problems as new opportunities.
And also to tell you that I, paultheinsurer, can feed you with other stories and material to help you in your professional life.
Paul
PD: Meet PAVEL and ask him questions about insurance
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