Every once in a while, when acquaintances jocularly question the economics of a trade publication dedicated to the subject of insurance IT, I ask them to guess how much the largest insurance carriers spend annually on IT. My interlocutors typically answer, "I dunno; maybe $10 million?" I laugh in a way reminiscent of the characters responding to Dr. Evil's pathetic ransom demand in the first Austin Powers film and say, "Try again." They give their second answer, sure that this time they vastly overshoot the mark: "OK, one hundred million!" I laugh some more.

I bring this up not so much to reflect on what insurance CIOs spend as what CEOs entrust them to spend. Given that insurers typically spend 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent of direct written premium on IT, it seems unlikely that a respectable understanding of the potential of technology for business success should be a rare commodity among insurance CEOs.

Every time we embark on Insurance & Technology's "Tech-Savvy CEOs" issue, someone is sure to remark: "Isn't that an oxymoron!" And I am always tempted to respond, "Good one! Haven't heard that before!" However, there's enough anecdotal evidence and appreciation of IT's not-too-distant historical role of order-taker to forgive a wag suffering from painful memories. Memories they must be, however.

Technology has revolutionized business, period. And the insurance industry, whatever its shortcomings, is no exception. It may be that some few technophobic stragglers exists, perhaps in smaller companies, or surrounded by capable executives who can protect them from themselves. But success is increasingly tied to astute commitment to technology investment, and not just for cost-control.

Vendors, consultants and analysts may have occasionally exaggerated the importance of tech savvy at the higher tiers of management in the past, but their exaggeration had the saving grace of being prophetic. Today, equity analysts who follow CEOs performance, and boards who hire and fire CEOs, act under the assumption that a CEO ignorant of the potential of technology is not likely to be a good CEO.

Along with other observations and commentary, you can read about the increasing expectations boards and equity analysts have of CEOs in my introduction to I&T's June 2008 Tech-Savvy CEO issue, due to be circulated electronically within the next few days. The issue will also contain written profiles of the five CEOs recognized this year, along with other special content and regular I&T features. In the meantime, we decided to take advantage of our weekly newsletter to share with our audience podcasts featuring conversations between the this year's Tech-Savvy CEOs and the editors of I&T.

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