Scout InsurTech Spotlight with Yariv Hasar

Yariv Hasar is the President of North America for Sapiens, a global leader in digital transformation for insurers, offering intelligent, AI-driven solutions for the insurance industry. Yariv was interviewed by Michael Fiedel, Co-Founder at Scout InsurTech and Co-Founder at PolicyFly, Inc.

Yariv, from your experience leading modernization initiatives in insurance and other industries, what are the core principles insurers should adopt to drive lasting digital transformation?

“Digital transformation is far from just a technology upgrade. It’s business strategy transformation at its core. Successful initiatives always start with aligning digital projects to business goals, like growth, customer experience, and operational efficiency. Technology should serve strategy, not drive it. Cloud computing and other tools are important, but they are only a means to an end, rather than the destination.

Effective change management is a critical factor. Transformation is never solely about deploying new technology. It requires engaging the business side, customer-facing teams, and addressing cultural resistance. People worry when they hear about automation: "What does this mean for me? Is my position safe?" 

If you do not manage that cultural shift, the initiative will eventually fail. We know that culture eats strategy for breakfast, so you have to make sure change management is just as strong as the technical side of the equation. Start with understanding who the customers are and keep customer-centricity as your guiding principle.

Another important pillar is data, which has become the new infrastructure. As we move away from servers and on-premise data centers, data is now the foundation of everything. Building a strong data lake with well-structured metadata enables automation, artificial intelligence, and advanced insights. I always tell people that appointing a Chief Data Officer is no longer optional if you are serious about scaling and innovating. Data is the cornerstone for any meaningful market disruption.

Finally, do not try to do it all yourself. Leverage the ecosystem around you. Partner with startups and disruptors who can bring speed and fresh ideas. We cultivate a network of innovative partners at Sapiens and give our customers access, because no single company can solve every problem. Be humble about what you can build internally and smart about how you tap into the broader innovation landscape.”

Agentic AI is a major topic in insurance today. What practical ways can insurers use agentic AI to transform daily operations, without losing the human element?

“I’m a big believer in technology, but I believe human cognition and decision-making cannot and should not be removed. Agentic AI is not a replacement for human intelligence. It is designed to act autonomously within defined boundaries, while serving human goals. It’s important to define those goals and keep people in the loop.

One of the most practical uses is in automating routine workflows. For example, in claims you can use agentic AI to handle triaging, policy renewals, or compliance checks. It can orchestrate intelligent workflows and bring the right data together in an easily digestible way. Then a human can make the final decision. That model – AI doing the heavy lifting and the human providing judgment – is more efficient and effective. The AI can surface meaningful data points and filter out noise, so people can focus on what matters.

Customer engagement is another area where this balance is critical. Agentic AI can provide highly personalized insights and recommendations, but let’s leave the last step to a human. Presenting two equally good options to a representative and letting their expertise and intuition prevail maintains the human connection and trust that customers expect.

Perhaps the most important Agentic AI concept is continuous learning and adaptation. You do not just deploy a model and say you are finished. You have to feed it new data, monitor outcomes, and update models regularly. This process is both a science and an art. You have to watch for things like selection bias and make sure you are not just optimizing within your own outcomes. It requires specialists and a mindset shift away from traditional IT. Static systems are the old way. Success today is about living, evolving intelligence that supports your people and processes.”

Your background spans the air force, telecom and fintech. What unique cultural or operational lessons from those industries are most valuable for driving innovation in insurance?

“My career path has forced me to constantly reflect on what I have learned and how to apply it. I believe my professional journey across fintech, telecommunications, and the air force has cultivated deep technology expertise that cuts across some of the most complex and dynamic sectors. This multidimensional expertise is precisely what drew Sapiens to appoint me President of North America, which is a region with tremendous growth potential and strategic importance. They recognized that leading disruptive innovation in such a market requires not just vision, but a proven ability to architect scalable, customer-centric tech solutions across different operational landscapes.

Early in my career, I worked on the technological side of highly structured, high stakes environments where precision and planning were absolutely essential. One of the valueable lessons was the importance of discipline and a methodical approach. When there is no room for error, you learn to plan carefully, use a structured methodology, and analyze the entire situation before acting. That mindset is critical when you are working at scale. 

I also gained a deep appreciation for system thinking. Everything is interconnected. In insurance, a change to a customer portal affects agent behavior and internal metrics. You have to think holistically about the system first and then dive into the details. And finally, being mission-focused is essential. Define the targets of your insurance transformation and keep your eye on them. All the other improvements are secondary to meeting those core business goals.

From the telecom industry, I learned the value of scale and customer centricity. When the market matures and competition is intense, your survival depends on delivering unique, personalized value to customers. That focus on customer experience and the ability to serve it at massive scale is something telecom does extremely well. It also taught me that you have to design for scale from the start. You cannot build something small and hope to figure out scale later.

Fintech provided two other critical lessons. The first is agility. In a market where conditions shift rapidly, being able to pivot in a matter of weeks is what keeps you ahead. The second is the importance of compliance and regulation. Insurance and fintech share a highly regulated environment. Any innovation you introduce has to meet that standard. And across fintech, telecom, and insurance, one truth is constant: these are ultimately industries of people and trust. The technology matters, but choosing the right partners and building trusting relationships matters even more.”

How can technology providers balance building enterprise-scale solutions, while also enabling smaller players to access innovation and compete digitally?

“Designing platforms that are both scalable and flexible is a must. Build for growth, but also for adaptation. A solution should not just digitize what you have today. It should support your vision for five or ten years into the future, and never become a barrier to your growth.

Cloud-native solutions are critical. On-premise infrastructure is too limited for the speed and scale the market demands. Configurability is just as important. A configurable platform is the great equalizer, because it lets smaller players make changes quickly and at low cost. That keeps them competitive, without requiring enterprise-sized budgets. I also believe in a phased approach. Build the essential core first, then layer additional capabilities. You do not need to build the entire universe in a single step.

Partnership is another essential element. A solution provider should not just be a vendor. They should be your advisor, bringing you the collective intelligence of the market. Smaller insurers in particular benefit when they can learn from the best practices of larger players. Joint innovation workshops and co-creation labs are excellent ways to share knowledge and create value for everyone involved.

Finally, invest in education. A well-informed client is a better partner and education lifts the whole market. We run blueprints and joint AI workshops at Sapiens with partners like Microsoft, not only to deliver solutions, but to help our clients fully understand the technology and its potential. That shared learning leads to stronger outcomes for the entire industry.”

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