Modernising insurance with IT and cloud solutions

In this Mind Shift podcast episode, Tony speaks with Claudia Sass, the new Business Development Manager for Sapiens. Claudia brings an impressive background spanning IBM, Microsoft, and SAP, offering deep insights into how technology is reshaping the insurance industry. From her early days in programming to driving cloud adoption and data analytics at Microsoft, Claudia's experience highlights the critical evolution from legacy systems to cloud-first environments.

Claudia discusses her passion for data analytics and how AI is meaningless without a solid foundation in data. She explains how today’s data landscape has shifted dramatically from structured datasets to vast, unstructured sources such as IoT, telematics, and social platforms. For insurers, the ability to process and extract real-time insights from this flood of information is only possible through cloud computing. “Cloud and data are inextricably linked,” she says.

Tony and Claudia also explore how cloud adoption is accelerating in South Africa, despite the insurance industry being a few years behind global counterparts. Claudia makes a strong case for SaaS-based models and why insurers must move beyond traditional lift-and-shift strategies to achieve true business transformation.

In closing, Claudia outlines the evolving skillsets companies must nurture—focusing on innovation while leveraging partners like Sapiens and Microsoft to deliver technical expertise. This conversation is a powerful overview of the future of insurance, where data, cloud, and collaboration drive competitive advantage.

Key Highlights:

• Claudia’s career journey spans IBM (legacy systems), Microsoft (cloud transformation), and SAP (ERP and business applications).
• Her passion for data analytics ties into the rise of AI, “data is the foundation for AI.”
• Cloud computing is essential for processing vast, unstructured data (e.g., telematics, IoT, video, social media).
• South African insurers have historically lagged in cloud adoption but are now accelerating the shift.
• Cloud enables real-time insights, scalability, and market agility, especially for InsurTechs.
• Born-in-the-cloud businesses (like PPS Glue, Time Bank, Naked) scale faster and innovate more quickly.
• Larger traditional insurers face legacy constraints but are increasingly moving to cloud-native SaaS solutions.
• Internal company focus should shift to innovation and risk, while technical execution is outsourced to providers.
• The demand for data scientists exceeds supply; partnerships are crucial for filling capability gaps.