EP 129 – Jonas Piela and Theresa Blissing – Blockchain Is Over

16 Aug 2021Posted By Michael Waitze

Host

Michael Waitze

Michael Waitze worked in Global Finance for more than 20 years, employed by firms like Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, primarily in Tokyo. Michael lived and worked in Tokyo from February 1990 until December 2011. Michael always maintained a particular focus on how technology could be used to make businesses more efficient and to drive P/L growth. Michael is a leader in the digital media space, building one of the biggest and fastest-growing podcast listener bases in the region. His AsiaTechPodcast.com show has listeners in more than 170 countries and his company, Michael Waitze Media produces some of Asia’s most popular podcasts.

Guest

Theresa Blissing

Theresa is the founder of the Asia InsurTech Podcast and a Thought Leader on innovation in insurance in Asia. She has worked for ten years for leading multinational insurers in Europe and Asia before turning to management consulting and venture building with the goal of transforming the insurance industry and helping shape its future in the region.

Guest

Jonas Piela

At my core, I am an entrepreneur passionate about contributing to the world around me. I am building a consulting firm where I strive to deliver value to insurance companies by being modest in nature, knowledgeable in what I talk about and reliable in what I do. And because I enjoy the conversations, I am the host of the Digital Insurance Podcast where I speak with insurance executives about their view on the digital transformation of the industry.

The Asia InsurTech Podcast spoke with Jonas Piela, the host of the Digital Insurance Podcast in Germany. Since April 2020 Jonas has published podcasts around digital transformation and speaks with C-level executives in the German insurance market.

Michael Waitze and Theresa Blissing took the opportunity to discuss with Jonas the differences between a mature, European market compared to Emerging Asia. The three discuss trends including blockchain technology, ecosystems, and embedded insurance.

In terms of digital maturity, Asia seems to be ahead. While Jonas reports a fairly conservative approach to InsurTech and using digital channels, the team from the Asia InsurTech Podcast has experienced a high willingness to embrace the potential of InsurTech in Asia. Many players in the Asia market leverage InsurTech concepts to get access to new market segments. That might be the reason why in the German market, insurers seem to be reluctant to change. Without the potential of new market segments, change does not come as easily.