Software Pioneer Guidewire, With Ties To Exton, Goes From Intriguing To Instrumental

Daring to take on one of the most despised challenges in the vast insurance industry has turned one man’s imagination into a globe-spanning property and casualty insurance software development enterprise with an Exton office — in a mere decade’s time.

Guidewire brainchild Marcus Ryu “spotted an opportunity” in investigating insurance companies’ claims divisions “where his colleagues saw pain,” an Insurance Times feature explained.

“You were buried in data and paper. It was a gruelling task, joyless and miserably difficult to do,” Ryu said in the article. “But it stimulated my imagination.”

That, together with a niche generally overlooked by other software developers at the turn of the millennium, combined in 2001 to launch the company that now serves more than 200 insurers both locally and in 20-plus countries.

“People in the industry universally despised their incumbent IT suppliers. They felt poorly served,” Ryu said in the feature. “There was no innovation; the software was expensive but didn’t really deliver any business value. It was more of an impediment than an enabler.”

Guidewire not only changed that but passionately pursued filling that void.

“We will make every customer succeed or die trying,” Ryu said. “It is a religious principle. Our existence depends on our reputation. There is nothing we can do with skillful marketing and sales that will compensate for a bad reputation because everyone in this industry talks to each other.”

With $260 billion of general insurance premiums now reliant on Guidewire’s claims, underwriting, policy and billing products, the company’s next big solution is tapping into Big Data for the insurance industry and meeting customers’ increasingly high service expectations.

Read more about the story behind Guidewire in the Insurance Times here.