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5 Questions with: Drew Keneally, Client Strategist

EvolutionIQ’s Client Strategy and Analytics Team partners with clients to analyze data, generate insights, and then develop tailored strategies to ensure client …

EvolutionIQ

April 3, 2023

EvolutionIQ’s Client Strategy and Analytics Team partners with clients to analyze data, generate insights, and then develop tailored strategies to ensure clients are receiving the most value possible from our AI platform. Client Strategist Drew Keneally, whose home base is in Montana, joined EvolutionIQ just under a year ago. His previous work includes the New York City Police Department’s elite counterterrorism division, where he was an intelligence specialist, and deployment strategist roles at data analytics leader Palantir Technologies and workflow management startup Vector.

What do you like most about EvolutionIQ?
It’s hard to articulate but there is a sense here that we are barrelling forward and everybody is onboard the train. We’re all working toward the same goal and we are all working hard toward it. Everyone here is very intelligent so it is a lot of fun to see what my colleagues come up with when we are developing a strategy and what I can learn from them. I felt that same energy when I was being interviewed for the job. One of the most important things to think about when you are considering joining a new company in a client strategy role is the basic question: Does the product really work as described? The leadership team I met with really instilled in me confidence about the technology. They knew that the platform and the company’s momentum were the real-deal and it really showed through. I knew I wanted to be here.

What is the primary focus of your team?
We make sure that clients are able to use the platform in a way that maximizes its value for them. It is a true partnership. The more we put into strategy and analytics and tracking usage, and KPI’s and ROI the more benefit they are going to see out of it. When we get to that nice equilibrium where everyone on the client team is using the platform daily and comfortable with it and we can see that from a data standpoint then you really see us all in sync. It comes down to information gathering, getting the entire picture, knowing to ask the right questions, articulating what the situation is, and then making a decision on that information. Currently I’m the point of contact for every single EvolutionIQ module for four of our biggest insurers.

What are some examples of the team’s work?
From the C-suite on down to the product user, I make sure that everyone has the data they need to get the most out of the product. For a CFO, for example, they’re going to want to see ROI KPI’s. But a lot goes into achieving those KPI’s and it starts with claims examiners and adjusters. It’s all about setting goals with them and making sure that not only they understand the technology and how to use it but noticing when they are not getting the most out of it. Take a claims block for a client. If I see they are actioning 70% of it and want it to be at 90%, it’s not only noticing that in the data but it’s going in and asking individuals managers and claims examiners what’s going on? Why aren’t we hitting this 90%? What can EvolutionIQ do better to get us there and what can we help you to do better? And being proactive about that is the key. Clients know that we aren’t going to wait 3-months and discuss this in a quarterly report. We’re going to address it immediately as part of our daily partnership.

What is the biggest client impact you and your team make?
On the one hand, there is a definite ROI impact we are making. CFOs can see the value of using EvolutionIQ. There are metrics that we hit time and time again. But at the same time, we have to make sure that we keep hitting those metrics and KPIs. And it starts down in the trenches. It is about change management because examiners and adjusters are subject matter experts and they have been working claims for years and years and using our AI is something completely new to help them. It’s all about democratizing best practices across their organization and really across the industry. It’s not a simple task, but one of the most fun things is when you see somebody completely change the way they thought about claims for the last decade. Once you get that, everything else falls into place and you don’t have to worry about it. If I have users in an LTD module actioning 90% of claims, I know that EvolutionIQ’s model works, that it is going to impact our ROI metrics, and that the CFO will see the value.

How do you describe EIQ and its people to friends or family who don’t know about the work EIQ is doing?
Claims examiners are experts and they’re incredibly smart and there’s honestly no way to replace them. What AI does and what EvolutionIQ does in particular is this: If I was an examiner and there was an ideal world where I could press pause on time and look at every single claim, read it, understand it, and then apply learnings I already have from looking at 10,000 claims previously, I would do that. But I can’t. However, EvolutionIQ can do it for me. It can let me confirm my hunches, or maybe challenge my assumptions. It makes me better at what I do but it does not in any way replace me or take away my role as decision maker.