From carnival-themed stands and puppy play zones to bike-powered blender stations and star-studded keynotes, the BIBA 2024 conference was a much-anticipated hit. The two-day event did not disappoint as the Applied team gathered around the stand and welcomed customers, prospects, partners and long-time friends with cappuccinos in the morning and freshly mixed cocktails in the afternoon.

With the conference behind us, along with the second-day haze, let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the week, starting with the main reason we gather together:

The Networking

There are few insurance-focused conferences that rival BIBA in its networking opportunities. While the educational sessions are extremely valuable, which we will highlight later, the annual conference is known for welcoming all the major players from brokers and insurers to technology companies and industry networks. It’s said that you can have three months’ worth of meetings in a single day at BIBA with everyone in the industry in one town and glorious exhibition hall.

The Applied Team was thrilled to meet with our existing broker clients and insurer partners as we continue to build our panels, and to have so many engaging conversations with brokers, insurers and technology partners that we are yet to work with. It was also wonderful to talk with customers in person in our “Customer Corner”, where we supported our brokers to unleash even more value from Epic. BIBA was also a great opportunity to connect with many of the industry networks, including Bravo Network, who we recently announced their ability to handle client money for Applied Epic brokers.

Inspiring Presenters and Educational Sessions

This year’s BIBA conference was packed with celebrities, including astronaut Major Timothy “Tim” Nigel Peake and former footballer Rio Ferdinand OBE, among others, who were there to inspire us with their stories of overcoming challenges and always driving towards a better future. Not to mention pull a tear from everyone in the crowd.

There were also sessions focused on technology and leveraging data to drive better business results. Across the board, the sentiment remained consistent in regard to data and AI: there is a wealth of knowledge to be gained from data when the right tools are used, but it is critical to begin with the question and then use practical technology to find the answer.

As a company focused on providing our broker clients with simple, modern experiences that solve the industry-wide challenges, we wholly agree that data and AI are incredibly valuable tools to complement brokers as they service and sell. And we are there, as your indispensable growth partner, to help you find the best way that data and AI can drive your unique business.

What’s Next

The theme of this year’s BIBA conference was What’s Next. What’s next for insurance brokers? What’s next for software houses? What’s next for the insurance market as a whole?

If you ask us at Applied, we are very excited for the future of insurance and the insurance broker, in particular. Brokers are becoming more and more technology-minded and finding new ways to automate the time-consuming administrative parts of the business while focusing on their client relationships.

BIBA 2024 has injected a sense of excitement, as it does every year, and kicked off many new partnerships that will continue to push the industry forward. As we look forward to the rest of the year, we cannot wait to share with you all of the ways that we are enabling our clients to drive their businesses forward. If this year’s BIBA has showed us anything, it’s that there is never a dull day in our industry, and we should always look out for what’s next.