Rob Lewis, CEO of INTX Insurance Software, said reinsurance operations remain constrained by fragmented architecture and manual workflows, arguing that platforms must unify data, workflows and intelligence across the economics of risk to address significant inefficiencies.
INTX is a unified insurance platform that helps carriers modernise operations, connect data, and accelerate product innovation.
In an interview with Reinsurance News, Lewis highlighted that while reinsurance has evolved into a primary lever for capital efficiency, growth and profitability for many organisations, the systems supporting global reinsurance operations have failed to keep pace.
He noted that more than 70% of insurers still rely on Excel spreadsheets or homegrown systems for critical processes, while over half of policy workflows require manual intervention, resulting in operational inefficiencies and material financial exposure.
Lewis explained, “The industry has traditionally focused on recoverables leakage as a one-to-two percent problem. The reality is far broader. When organisations examine the full economics of reinsurance program structuring, treaty execution, facultative placements, accounting accuracy, capital utilisation, and operational inefficiencies, the value at risk often expands to three to eight percent or more of ceded premium.”
He emphasised that the consequences extend beyond operational inefficiencies to include trapped capital, delayed decision-making and reduced underwriting capacity.
Lewis continued, “At scale, that quickly becomes significant. A carrier ceding $500 million in premium may be exposing $15 million to $40 million in annual value loss. At $1 billion, the impact rises to as much as $80 million. These inefficiencies should be understood as material structural constraints.
“The root of the problem lies in how reinsurance systems evolved. Many platforms in use today originated from broker environments designed to manage policies rather than risk transfer. Reinsurance functionality was added incrementally, often as an overlay rather than a core capability. The result is a fragmented ecosystem with underwriting in one system, claims in another, billing elsewhere, and reinsurance managed across spreadsheets and disconnected tools.”
Lewis noted that modern reinsurance platforms must be able to reflect constant change, including reinsurers entering and exiting programmes, adjustments to loss layers, evolving commission structures, and real-time visibility into exposures and recoverables.
“Static systems, particularly those dependent on manual workarounds, cannot support that level of responsiveness,” said Lewis. “This is where embedded intelligence changes the operating model.”
“Modern platforms should not just digitise existing workflows, but also must understand the relationships between policies, treaties, claims, accounting, and capital positions in real time. Intelligence becomes valuable when it is embedded within the operating environment itself, enabling organisations to anticipate impacts rather than reconcile them after the fact.
“Rather than treating reinsurance as a standalone function, leading carriers view it as a financial control layer embedded across the insurance lifecycle. That shift requires unifying data, workflows, and decision-making within a single operating environment,” he added.
Lewis explained that in practice, this means moving away from siloed systems toward platforms that can centralise reinsurance operations while integrating with existing infrastructure. It also means enabling real-time data processing so that changes to treaties or placements are immediately reflected across underwriting, claims, and financial reporting.
“Flexibility is equally important. Reinsurance structures are inherently complex and highly specific to each carrier. Systems must be configurable enough to accommodate that complexity without requiring extensive redevelopment or reliance on specialist technical resources. The ability to add new products, adjust programme structures, and onboard additional reinsurers quickly is now a standard operating requirements.
“Just as importantly, these systems must be accessible. For too long, reinsurance technology has required deep technical expertise to operate or modify. Modern platforms should enable users to manage complexity directly, with appropriate governance and controls, rather than needing to route everyday change through IT or external vendors,” said Lewis.
He underscored that artificial intelligence (AI) will accelerate this transformation, but only when it operates within a unified data environment.
“Reinsurance decisions depend on contractual terms, policy relationships, claims activity, financial transactions, and capital structures. Without that context, intelligence remains superficial. The next generation of reinsurance operations will combine automation with contextual understanding, enabling organisations to interpret treaties, identify exceptions, surface exposure concentrations, and support faster, more informed decisions,” said Lewis.
By reducing manual intervention and eliminating data fragmentation, Lewis said carriers can eliminate many of the inefficiencies that have historically constrained reinsurance operations.
He noted, “Productivity losses, estimated at up to $450,000 annually for some organisations, can be materially reduced. More importantly, decision-making becomes faster, more accurate, and more aligned with real-time risk exposure.
“This is particularly relevant as carriers seek to scale. Growth in premiums, expansion into new lines, and increased reliance on reinsurance structures all place additional strain on existing systems. Without modernisation, complexity increases linearly, while operational capacity does not.”
As carriers seek new forms of capacity, expand into emerging risks, and optimise the deployment of capital, reinsurance will only become more sophisticated.
Robert emphasised, “The organisations that succeed will be those that treat reinsurance as an integrated operating discipline rather than a disconnected administrative process. By unifying data, workflows, and intelligence across the economics of risk, they will gain the visibility, agility, and financial control required to compete in the next generation of insurance markets.
“Reinsurance has always been about managing uncertainty. The systems that support it should provide the clarity, responsiveness, and intelligence needed to turn that uncertainty into sustainable growth.”
