Fragmentation is usually discussed as a weakness. However, I believe that for the Georgian insurance market, it can also be an advantage.
The Georgian insurance market has made real progress in recent years. Regulation is stronger, governance has improved and insurers are operating in a more mature environment. But progress should not make us too comfortable.
Geopolitical instability, inflation, cyber risks, climate events and fast-moving technology are changing the way insurers need to think and act. In my view, there are four reasons why Georgian insurers now need to rethink leadership.
1. Strategy must look beyond compliance
Georgia’s insurance market has made real progress over the past decade. Regulation is stronger, governance has improved and supervision is more sophisticated. This really matters because it has helped to create stability.
However, stability can also become a comfort zone. Too often, leadership discussions still stop at compliance, reporting and audit processes. These are necessary, but they are not a strategy.
After years of building stronger foundations, Georgia’s market now has to move from simply creating stability to using it more strategically.
AI is already changing underwriting and claims. Customers now expect faster, simpler services. Climate and geopolitical risks are influencing pricing, investment decisions and long-term planning.
It’s crucial that boards protect today’s business, but they also need to ask what will make that business relevant tomorrow.
2. Risk management must become faster
Risk itself is familiar territory for insurers. What has changed is the speed at which it moves. We’re all aware that cyber threats emerge overnight; economic shocks spread quickly; and global market disruption can affect even small local markets. However, risk frameworks based mainly on periodic review are no longer enough when the environment changes between review cycles.
In a market as connected as Georgia’s, external pressure can reach insurers quickly, whether through reinsurance, inflation or regional uncertainty.
Insurers need to detect change earlier, challenge assumptions more often and react before pressure becomes crisis. This is also changing what we mean by resilience. Where once resilience was about avoiding risk, it has now morphed into something much more dynamic. Resilience now means being prepared and able to move quickly when risk happens.
3. Digital transformation must change the experience
Digital transformation is widely discussed in insurance. But, despite this, it is still often treated as process improvement. Moving communication online or digitising paperwork is useful, but it doesn’t transform insurance on its own. Real transformation changes how insurance is distributed, bought and experienced.
Georgia is already seeing this shift. Platforms like “Frani” allow customers to compare offers from several insurers and buy different products through one digital platform. API integrations with insurance companies are also making real-time information exchange possible, reducing administration and improving the customer journey.
The point is, it’s not just about convenience. Customers now compare insurance with the speed and simplicity they experience from banks, e-commerce platforms and technology companies. Insurers need to start understanding that digital transformation is about securing their competitiveness.
4. Culture must support faster decisions
With regards to transformation the biggest problem is often not the lack of tools, but the way organisations are structured and how slowly decisions are made. Insurance has traditionally relied on hierarchy, control and clear approval lines. And it is undeniable that these are all useful for stability, but they are not useful when speed and adaptability are required.
The insurers that move faster will be those that connect underwriting, compliance, technology and customer experience instead of keeping them in separate conversations. Innovation comes from people with different expertise working towards the same objective, and not from one department.
Georgia’s size can be an advantage here. Smaller markets often have fewer layers, but only if leaders are willing to use that flexibility.
Georgia has room to move
Fragmentation is usually discussed as a weakness. However, I believe that for the Georgian insurance market, it can also be an advantage.
Larger and more mature markets are often slowed down by legacy systems and institutional habits. Georgia, in contrast, still has flexibility. Our market has already shown that it can innovate, digitalise and modernise. The next stage will be defined by leadership not just by capital strength or regulatory compliance. How clearly companies read the market, how quickly they adapt and how willing they are to change before they are forced to will be key.
This is the moment for insurers in Georgia to use the market’s flexibility as strength, and to build leadership models fit for a more fragmented, faster and less predictable future.
Mako Kvaratskhelia
GrECo Georgia
