Name: Jeff Drye
Title: DCIO, McGriff Insurance
Base: Statesville, North Carolina
How did you become involved with ID Federation and SignOn Once? I first became involved with ID Federation about 15 years ago. Jim Rogers of The Hartford (also a board member) and I were involved in setting up ID Federation for authentication between The Hartford and BB&T Insurance, the first between an agent and a carrier. In 2020, I became a board member.
Why are you passionate about SignOn Once? Credential management is a challenge for most industries, and anything you can do to simplify that process is a win. SignOn Once facilitates this process.
What do you love most about the insurance industry? I’ve met a lot of great people working in the industry, and a lot of us have been here a long time. It’s a little like Hotel California — once you get in, you can’t get out. Also, when you work in insurance, you provide products that help people on some of their most difficult days. Helping people in this way is very rewarding.
Can you describe how the use of technology has changed since the COVID pandemic? Historically, the insurance industry is slow to adopt technology. But since the pandemic, people in the industry are realizing that technology is critical. We need to create solutions such as more customer-facing self-service options. But we also need technologies that will support the ongoing remote workforce that is likely to continue even after the pandemic.
What advice about the industry would you like to share with others? We need to address the problem of the aging out of insurance professionals. There are many opportunities in the insurance industry for young people starting their careers. Companies can find ways to generate interest among college students, such as creating internship opportunities. At McGriff, we’re creating college internships in our IT department.
What book, author, or podcast has inspired you or impacted you professionally? A few years ago, I read The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford, which is an introduction to the agile methodology. This book encouraged me to bring the benefits of agile and create a goal of bringing agile to McGriff. It was the first step in our agile journey.
