"Technology really does sit at the heart of everything."
On 26th February, teams from across the protection industry will battle it out for the ultimate title: champion of Inside Track 2026 (IT26).
This educational game show is returning for a second year, once again putting advisers’ knowledge to the test over eight rounds on everything from definitions and technology to underwriting and insurance history, all while encouraging a bit of friendly rivalry…
For 2026, Inside Track is supported by Iress as the sponsor of Round 2: Technology. I spoke with Head of Business Development, Warren O’Connell, about why Iress chose to get involved.
"For us, it was quite refreshing to have something totally different last year. The feedback from the team and guests who attended was really positive, so that was the key reason," Warren says, "some of the other reasons are the exposure the event garnered and the content that was driven from it."
"Fundamentally it’s just nice to do something different, it’s a better way of collaborating."
As a technology supplier, Warren says that "sponsoring the technology round just made absolute sense."
"Iress has been building and sourcing technology in this space for many, many years. We're passionate about technology and about how we can collaborate with the industry to help build tech that will help advisers do right by their clients in an efficient and streamlined manner," he said.
Furthermore, Warren explains his belief that technology is "absolutely integral" when it comes to transforming the protection advice journey for advisers and clients.
"I think adopting tech is vital to ensure a streamlined process and that the client receives the correct cover tailored to their needs."
"We've done a lot of work this year on our partnerships; we have built an integration with CIExpert, which enables the qualitative research to be overlaid with the quantitative aspect of a product, and we've done things like adding the ex-smoker question, which sounds simple, but just by adding this question we did something to enable our users to provide holistic, relevant and accurate advice. All of these require solid and proven technology like ours," he says.
However, Warren acknowledges that there are obstacles for advisers when it comes to adopting new technology, with the biggest barrier being time.
"I would urge advisers to adopt the mantra of short-term pain for long-term gain. Iress and other technology solutions build tech designed around the adviser to enable them to do their job easier and quicker every day.
"I appreciate that learning new technology can be daunting, and there is often a little bit of time and effort that needs to be spent upfront. But I think the benefits from this can be fundamental and people shouldn't fear change, or indeed technology, because it is absolutely designed with their best interests in mind."
In 2026, Inside Track is supporting the financial education charity Money Ready with a fundraising goal of £10,000. The charity delivers programmes across the UK to help create, in its words, “a financially fluent population.”
"Protection should always be considered early, and for every life event, it shouldn't just be a once-and-done thing," Warren says. "For advisers, it's that warmer conversation, which hopefully makes it an easier conversion, and for the customer, it's ensuring that they've got the right cover in place at the right time, to cover the right things.
To improve financial literacy, especially in terms of protection, Warren stresses the importance of "engaging people early, ensuring that it's not a throwaway sale," and "using lots of the content that is out there in the market today.
"Iress has partnered with the Income Protection Task Force (IPTF) for the past two years to highlight the underserved, and we'll continue that in 2026. What that showed us last year was that now more than ever, the younger generation is looking at protection, which is absolutely great to see and a positive trend," he says.
"We need to build on that momentum to ensure that people have the right cover in place should the worst happen."
Further reflecting on financial education for advisers and consumers, Warren says: "There is so much content out there, and there's lots of content that is easy to understand. I think sometimes we try to make protection a bit too complex.
"This is a great industry that we work in. Everybody has the same goal in trying to cover more people and ensure that people have the right cover in place. Use data, use research, use insights, there's stacks of it, and use technology, it's there to help do the job better and help make it easier. Don't fear it."
To find out more about Inside Track 2026 and how you can get involved, visit the website here.
