C-Suite Perspectives On AI: Matt Mallory Of Mallory Agency On Where to Use AI and Where to Rely Only on Humans
An Interview With Kieran Powell
Human-Centric Advisory: Human involvement should always be prioritized in advisory roles. Human advisors’ personalized touch and expertise are invaluable in understanding and meeting client needs effectively.
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance and integrate into various aspects of business, decision-makers at the highest levels face the complex task of determining where AI can be most effectively utilized and where the human touch remains irreplaceable. This series seeks to explore the nuanced decisions made by C-Suite executives regarding the implementation of AI in their operations. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Matt Mallory.
Matt Mallory is a proven property and casualty leader with a demonstrated record of advising middle and large market clients with both domestic and international exposure. His primary practice is advising larger restaurants, real-estate development, hospitality, and technology clients. Within those specialties, his team has deep expertise in building insurance programs that scale with growth, substantially transferring their risk and reducing cost.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Mallory Agency was founded in 1907 to complement a preexisting real estate business and has been in my family for four generations. The agency has predominantly represented local clients, individuals, and families for their personal insurance and small business owners for years.
As the 2000s arrived, the Mallory Agency deliberately pivoted towards middle-market growth. This occurred while the agency maintained its private ownership and independence in an increasingly consolidated market. Unfortunately, my dad, Rick Mallory, passed away suddenly in 2018, and I took over the business five years ahead of schedule. I’m an entrepreneur at heart and took everything I learned from my father and business mentor to overcome my emotional loss, various business obstacles, and a global pandemic.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I honestly feel like I was making countless mistakes each and every day, but if I had to focus on just one, it would definitely have been not knowing how to read my own P&L. When leading your own company, it is critical to have financial fluency, but to me, all I saw was a bunch of numbers on a page. I can’t understate how important it is is to not only know your numbers, but also to understand the ebb and flow of your business; otherwise, it is very difficult to run and grow the company, or make smart decisions. The entire experience was a crash course in business, and I had to learn fast!
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
By far, the most exciting thing happening is our growth! Mallory Agency has grown by at least 10% annually since 2020, with last year’s growth achieving an unparalleled jump to 20%.
The pace of change is exhilarating, and Mallory Agency is committed to embracing opportunities, pushing boundaries, and shaping the future of marketing and insurance. We are poised for substantial growth in 2024, with expectations of at least 25%- 30% expansion. Our dynamic team, dedicated to delivering excellence, will lead the way in our key focus areas of restaurant, hospitality, and real estate.
We recently opened a new office in Auburn, Alabama. With its logistical proximity to Atlanta and vibrant atmosphere fueled by a major Division I SEC school, Auburn has been on the agency’s radar for years. We see tremendous potential in this community, and the strategic move aligns with the firm’s unique approach to doing business.
Thank you for that. Let’s now shift to the central focus of our discussion. In your experience, what have been the most challenging aspects of integrating AI into your business operations, and how have you balanced these with the need to preserve human-centric roles?
Integrating AI into business operations presents several challenges, especially in industries like insurance, where the relationship between brokers and clients is vital. One major hurdle is determining where to begin and how to keep pace with rapidly evolving AI technologies.
The key to successfully integrating AI while preserving human-centric roles is balancing technological advancement and personalized service. While AI can undoubtedly enhance various aspects of insurance operations, it should complement rather than replace human expertise. The human touch remains essential in understanding client’s needs, providing tailored advice, and empathetically addressing their concerns.
One approach to achieving this balance is to view AI as a tool to augment human capabilities rather than supplant them. For example, AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data to identify trends and patterns, enabling brokers to offer more informed recommendations to clients. Additionally, AI-powered tools can streamline routine tasks such as data entry and risk assessment, freeing brokers’ time to build relationships and provide strategic guidance.
In addition, integrating AI into insurance operations should be guided by a commitment to enhancing the client experience. By leveraging AI technologies for geo-placement analysis or loss mitigation strategies, brokers can offer clients more comprehensive and tailored insurance solutions. However, it’s crucial to ensure that these technological advancements are transparently communicated to clients and that their input and preferences remain central to the advisory process.
Can you share a specific instance where AI initially seemed like the optimal solution but ultimately proved less effective than human intervention? What did this experience teach you about the limitations of AI in your field?
While there isn’t a specific situation, we have explored the possibility of using AI to enhance the efficiency of transferring data between different stages of the insurance process, particularly in communicating with underwriters. The allure of AI in this context is its potential to automate data transfer processes, thereby reducing errors and streamlining operations.
However, as we delve deeper into implementing AI for data transfer, we encounter several challenges that highlight its limitations. Despite AI’s capabilities in processing vast amounts of information, it needs more nuanced understanding and contextual awareness, which can only be provided by human intervention.
One key concern is the potential for errors and omissions when relying solely on AI for data transfer. In the insurance industry, even minor inaccuracies in information could have significant consequences, leading to underwriting issues or client dissatisfaction.
Additionally, accountability raises questions about who would be responsible for errors stemming from AI-generated data transfers. While AI tools can efficiently extract information from various sources, they may only sometimes discern the relevance or accuracy of the data, leading to potential discrepancies.
This research teaches us the importance of approaching AI implementation cautiously and recognizing its limitations in contexts where human judgment and discretion are essential. While AI holds promise in enhancing efficiency, it’s crucial to balance its potential benefits with the need for human oversight and intervention, particularly in areas where accuracy and accountability are paramount.
How do you navigate the ethical implications of implementing AI in your company, especially concerning potential job displacement and ensuring ethical AI usage?
Navigating the ethical implications of implementing AI at Mallory Agency is paramount. One of the primary ethical considerations we prioritize is maintaining honesty and transparency in our AI implementation. It’s crucial to avoid exaggerating or polishing information to artificially inflate AI systems’ capabilities. Instead, we strive to present a realistic portrayal of its strengths and limitations, fostering stakeholder trust. There is a fine delineation between the human element of the advisory, and then you couple in and enhance that with AI, but they’re running in parallel.
Furthermore, we recognize the potential for AI to disrupt traditional job roles and lead to displacement. To address this concern, we provide opportunities for employees to prioritize strategies for reskilling and upskilling our workforce.
Could you describe a successful instance in your company where AI and human skills were synergistically combined to achieve a result that neither could have accomplished alone?
We recently attempted to use AI technology to help draft a client pitch, thinking it would streamline the process and effectively enhance our communication. Instead, we found that while the AI content was eloquently written, it failed to accurately articulate the terms and conditions of the insurance policy we were suggesting. I think it’s prudent for us, and everyone thinking of using AI in their field, to use caution when trying to integrate AI assistance into your work. There is no doubt that AI can excel in certain tasks, but this instance highlighted for me that we shouldn’t completely eliminate the human element of our work, especially where human insight and judgment remains a crucial factor, such as when advising clients.
Based on your experience and success, what are the “5 Things To Keep in Mind When Deciding Where to Use AI and Where to Rely Only on Humans, and Why?” How have these 5 things impacted your work or your career?
- Human-Centric Advisory: Human involvement should always be prioritized in advisory roles. Human advisors’ personalized touch and expertise are invaluable in understanding and meeting client needs effectively.
- Client Service Excellence: Human interaction remains essential across all client-facing aspects of our business. Clients value the personal attention and tailored solutions provided by human professionals. While AI can support and enhance service delivery, the human touch ensures clients receive the attention and support they deserve.
- AI as a Supportive Tool: AI should be seen as a tool to support and enhance human capabilities rather than substitute human expertise. For example, in serving larger clients, AI tools can help present information and offer insights in innovative ways that were previously unavailable. However, the ultimate advisory decisions and client interactions rely on human judgment and experience.
- Critical Assessment in High-Stakes Areas: In areas such as claims processing, where the stakes are high and human judgment is crucial, careful consideration is needed before implementing AI solutions. While AI can streamline processes and improve efficiency, potential risks, and ethical implications must be thoroughly evaluated.
- Maintaining the Human Touch in Underwriting: While AI can enhance data collection and analysis in underwriting processes, the human touch remains indispensable in maintaining client relationships and ensuring accuracy. Automation may streamline certain aspects of underwriting, but human judgment is still necessary for complex risk assessments and decision-making.
Looking towards the future, in which areas of your business do you foresee AI making the most significant impact, and conversely, in which areas do you believe a human touch will remain indispensable?
We have integrated AI into our expertise to help provide comprehensive risk assessment and tailored liability recommendations to our clients, and have been pleased with the output. For instance, we started using AI to help forecast both geographical and financial losses based on historical data, allowing us to anticipate and mitigate potential risks more effectively. We also leverage AI to determine appropriate limits of liability based on a client’s size and growth ambitions, using our guidance with other clients of comparable size and scope and AI liability recommendations and potential loss expectations to provide a well-crafted answer from both humans and AI. So, while I do think AI is improving and will be helpful across various areas of the insurance sector in a few years, I don’t think the human touch will every fully be replaceable.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
If I could start a movement to bring the most good to the most people, it would be to empower and promote more women leaders across all sectors of society. Advocating for more women in leadership roles can create a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable world. Studies have shown that companies with diverse leadership teams perform better financially, are more innovative, and foster greater employee satisfaction. Additionally, women leaders often bring unique perspectives, empathy, and collaboration skills to the table, leading to more effective decision-making and problem-solving.
At Mallory Agency, we’re proud to say that our most recent hire is Meredith Hughes, Vice President of National Accounts. With over a decade of experience in the insurance industry, Hughes brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her new role, where she will focus on expanding the agency’s national footprint and enhancing client relationships.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Visit MalloryAgency.com or follow us on LinkedIn: Mallory Agency or Matt Mallory
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
About The Interviewer: Kieran Powell is the EVP of Channel V Media a New York City Public Relations agency with a global network of agency partners in over 30 countries. Kieran has advised more than 150 companies in the Technology, B2B, Retail and Financial sectors. Prior to taking over business operations at Channel V Media, Kieran held roles at Merrill Lynch, PwC and Ernst & Young. Get in touch with Kieran to discuss how marketing and public relations can be leveraged to achieve concrete business goals.
C-Suite Perspectives On AI: Matt Mallory Of Mallory Agency On Where to Use AI and Where to Rely… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.