ǡ STAGE 2: Companies at this stage have access to enterprise applications; however, they face responsiveness challenges because of the software’s archaic architecture. Launching a line of business or penetrating a new geography needs agility and accuracy, an impossible task for outdated systems. Siloed data presents challenges with reliability, governance, access, inconsistent search, and incomplete views. Though companies at stage 2 tend to have well-defined processes, they still need significant manual intervention to perform repetitive, non-value-adding activities such as extracting data from paper-based documents and inserting it into the correct fields within web-based forms. CIOs looking to reduce operational expenditures, increase throughput, minimize human error, and optimize resources should automate processes across the software development lifecycle (SDLC) and invest a considerable portion of their IT budgets towards graduating to stage 3. 11 ǡ STAGE 3: A recent survey by Willis Towers Watson (WLTW) showed that 58 percent of senior insurance executives say they are behind other financial services when it comes to digital technology in particular. Hence, based on our framework, insurance companies at the third stage of the technology maturity curve are considered ‘early adopters,’ given their strategic investments in single-page responsive applications, the agile SDLC model, CI/CD practices, automation tools, and enterprise integration techniques. The role of technology evolves at this stage from an ‘enabler’ to a powerful tool for driving large-scale transformation and gaining first-mover advantage. CIOs at this stage must look for ways to expand the business, disrupt the market, and achieve a competitive edge using 4IR technologies such as the internet of things (IoT), telematics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and Big Data analytics. The idea is to replace traditional business models with new ones that enhance customer satisfaction, promote sustainable business growth, and drive product differentiation. At every stage of the insurance technology maturity curve, strategic partnerships with technology consulting and service providers can help re/insurers achieve digital transformation, cutting down on time and cost. Refer to Appendix II to learn more about ways in which insurance-focused technology experts can help re/insurers move up the maturity curve.