By Katherine Wellman, vice president of product at Cambridge Mobile Telematics

The auto insurance industry is in the midst of major disruption powered by technology and vibrant new players. Disruption gives way to fresh ideas that can have both profound and positive impacts on our lives and businesses. But, through the noise, we need to ask ourselves: what will actually make a difference in the long-run?

A few weeks ago, we saw Root Insurance become a unicorn with its latest round of funding and a $1 billion valuation. This proves what we have seen over the past several years: that smartphone telematics, big data and analytics are the future of insurance.

While we are eager to see how insurance startups like Root, Lemonade and MetroMile will advance the industry, it’s important to not get lost in the hype. Real change in the industry will take more than startups — it will take a systemic shift in how the big players do business and how they use technology to make it happen.

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