More than 100 marketing, technology, innovation, and business leaders from the insurance and financial services industry gathered in downtown Des Moines on October 24 and 25 for Denim Summit 2018.
In addition to the main day of events, Denim held an opening reception at their new headquarters in downtown Des Moines on the evening the of the 24th.
Below is an overview of the Denim Summit 2018 speakers and sessions.
The day kicked off with opening remarks by Lt. Governor Adam Gregg who shared multiple examples of Iowa successes and rankings from Forbes and US News.
“Iowa is, in terms of GDP from the insurance and financial services industry, number two in the nation,” Gregg said. “We are a hub for the insurance and financial services industry and we’re also a hub for innovation. I think that’s what makes Denim such a good fit for Des Moines. And I think that’s what makes Des Moines a great place for the conversations you’re having here today.”
Following the opening remarks, Denim’s CEO Gregory Bailey sat down with Tiffany Tauscheck, Chief Strategy Officer Greater Des Moines Partnership, for the Denim Outlook. Bailey discussed Denim’s recent growth, the launch of Smart Campaigns, furthering their previously announced partnership with Majesco and plans to raise more capital in the future.
At the conclusion of the Denim Outlook, Tim Hoskins, President of Quester took the stage to talk about using artificial intelligence to capture the voice of the consumer. Hoskins discussed the future of AI, how different generations feel about AI, and shared multiple case studies of Quester using AI to help clients.
“It’s not a matter when we use artificial intelligence, it’s a matter of how,” Quester said. “We can’t use AI to just optimize how we run our businesses internally. We have to use AI to communicate with our consumers. I’m a big believer in combining AI data with human virtues so that when the consumer is ready to have a conversation, we know more about them and are better prepared to deliver to where they’re at.”
Following Hoskins speech were two back to back Fireside Chats.
In the first of the two, Bailey sat down with Lori Bochner, VP Marketing for Sammons Financial Group, Miguel Edwards, CIO for the Life and Health Division of Kemper, and Dustin Yoder, CEO of Sureify to discuss how to engage customers at the digital edge.
For the second fireside chat, Denim’s CTO Charlie Turri took the stage with Jason Andrew, CEO of Limelight Health, Bernard Gerwel, SVP of American National Insurance Company, and Derek Hyde, CTO of AscendIA Ventures to talk about the API economy.
The final keynote presentation was delivered by Scott Campbell, Senior Vice President & Chief Client Officer of American National.