More than 300 insurance professionals attended Resonate 2026, the Insurance Innovation Summit, last week which canvassed international and domestic insuretech and AI trends, the regulatory environment and discussed a new report on Open Insurance.
Organised by Simfuni, the half day event on Auckland’s North Shore featured 20 speakers, across four sessions alongside four insurtech demonstrations with attendees coming from across the sector, including life and health insurance and insurance advisers and brokers.
Simfuni CEO and Co-Founder, Shaun Quincey told RiskinfoNZ that New Zealand has a significant global competitive advantage in insurtech. “Our startups have exceptional access to insurance industry decision makers and venture capital. Resonate brings these people, conversations and solutions together to deliver better outcomes for the insurance industry and New Zealand as a whole.”
He said that for the third year running, the summit “…brought together the key ingredients to help evolve the insurance sector, particularly life insurance. Getting technology decision makers into the room to see the world-class solutions being built in our own backyard is incredibly exciting.”
Quincey noted too that 40% of New Zealand’s insurance technology startups have to export from day one. “Our insurance industry has welcomed them with open arms, helping them develop and strengthen their technology for international markets.”
Paul O’Leary, the Executive Director at InsurTechNZ said the past two years have seen a surge of new start-ups join the ranks of more established insurtechs “…and all of them need ways to build relationships so they’re front of mind when insurers are ready to partner.”
He says Resonate has become an anchor event for New Zealand’s insurtech ecosystem. “Insurance leaders meet founders and operators who bring new perspectives, and insurtechs gain visibility with the organisations they want to work with.”
In a panel discussion during the event FMA Director Michael Hewes and its Head of Financial Advice, Romil Ghelani were asked by facilitator Madison Malone what good AI adoption looks like as opposed to poor AI adoption.
Hewes noted the FMA’s stance is that the use of AI in financial institutions doesn’t outsource any form of accountability.
He meets with boards across the financial services sector, including financial advice firms and insurers, regularly and this, he says, is one of these boards’ key questions.
“We expect boards to understand where the risks lie with AI and we’re asking boards what their level of education and understanding of AI is. What could go wrong for customers and how you will repair that?”
A bad use case, he says, is not having that strict governance process of AI in place. “We know when things go wrong, they go wrong very quickly and at a very,very large scale.”
The event also included an international perspective on the trends, challenges and opportunities shaping insurance and insurtech around the world, featuring Anna Cranney, the Partnership Manager, Insurtech Australia, and Finn Magee the CEO of Insurtech Canada, via video links.
Quincey asked them where tech can help improve the affordability of insurance with Cranney pointing to accessibility, product evolution and development and transparency for customers.
He also asked about the AI tools the most advanced advice broker groups they work with are using, and how does that work with the human element?
Magee pointed to optionality being the “secret sauce” noting that technology offers advisers more time for face-to-face work with their clients, suggesting advisers use technology for the tedious work.
Resonate also saw the launch by Deloitte Partner, Consulting, Kylie Bryant of a consultative and industry-wide report on the future of open insurance in New Zealand From exploring to enabling: A blueprint for Open Insurance in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Deloitte says this is the second paper in its series with InsurTechNZ and it explores how New Zealand’s Open Insurance ecosystem can work together to implement Open Insurance through greater coordination, standardisation, and collaboration.