As the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many insurers to embrace more technology, there has been some talk of how InsurTechs can step in and help insurers navigate the ever-changing digital space.

“I think [the pandemic] has brought a lot of the market to the InsurTech space,” says John Swigart, co-founder and CEO of InsurTech startup Pie Insurance, on episode 16 of The Insuring Cyber Podcast. “Frankly, it’s hastened the digital transformation that was already happening.”

Pie Insurance is a small business focused Insurtech that sells commercial insurance. Swigart says the digital transformation in insurance, hastened by the pandemic, is leading to changes in the InsurTech space as well.

Swigart said one of the biggest InsurTech challenges is “to prove that we actually can be good insurance businesses, as well as technology businesses.”

Niall Williams, intelligence analyst at technology insights platform CB Insights, says later in this episode that one solution to this challenge could be increased partnerships between insurers and InsurTechs. Williams sees InsurTech companies as being able to help insurers digitize every aspect of the insurance value chain from improving back office operational efficiency to increasing the accuracy of risk models, or even creating new products

Check out the rest of this episode to see what else Swigart and Williams have to say, and be sure to check back for new episodes publishing every other Wednesday along with the Insuring Cyber newsletter. Elizabeth Blosfield, the East region editor for Insurance Journal, moderates the podcast and edits the newsletter.