Recap: Qld YP Breakfast Seminar, NIBA Lunch Gala, and the NIBA / UAC Expo 2023

Last week, on Wednesday 19 July, the Queensland broking community came together at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre to network and celebrate their achievements, including the announcement of the Qld winners of the Vero-sponsored 2023 Qld Young Broker of the Year and the QBE-sponsored 2023 Qld Broker of the Year 2023 award.  

Qld YP Breakfast Seminar

The day started with a YP breakfast seminar which featured an engaging discussion facilitated by Jodie Krafft, Chair of the Qld NIBA Young Professionals Committee.

The keynote speaker for the breakfast seminar was Emma Liversidge, General Manager of Analytics at RACQ. The world is awash with news of great applications for Generative AI, demonstrating enormous potential for doing the jobs of today faster, better and with greater outcomes. Emma’s presentation focused on how the power of AI can be harnessed to achieve great outcomes.

Key lessons on harnessing the power of Generative AI

• There are already over 55 models of AI.

• AI can be used to generate great data however it is important to check the information is correct with human review and critical thinking to verify the outputs.

• Be careful entering data into a public AI model (such as ChatGPT) as the data may be used or shared with other users.

• AI can be used as an assistant, peer or manager with a wide range of uses, some of these include: organising emails, research, data analysis, content creation, project management, claims handling, fraud detection.

• AI hallucination can occur. This is when the system generates an output that’s inaccurate due to insufficient or noisy data.

• ChatGPT is a generic tool so is not always accurate or effective at doing all tasks. More specific or custom tools can be more effective at doing certain jobs.

• It’s important to have a strategy in place when implementing AI into your workforce. We must understand AI before trying to use it.

• AI models are based on the input of data at a point in time with models being updated periodically (somewhat irregularly). As such, it is important to keep in mind that information derived from the model may be based on out-of-date data.

• A lot of the time the data put out comes from an amalgamation of other sources.   If being used for media purposes, it should be checked to make sure that you aren’t infringing on any copyright.

Useful tips to remember when working with AI

• Consider what personal data you input into a public model. Redact as much as possible.
• Become very good at prompting (there are lots of guides around on this)
• Look at terms and conditions to understand how your data and interactions may be being used
• Keep learning, the space, tools, and practices are shifting daily
• Data and AI is now everybody's business
• For internal applications of Gen AI look at protected environments and finetuning to enable.

Some real world use cases and tools that use AI

For designers and illustrators: Canva, MidJourney (can create AI art from text prompts)

For audiophiles: Podcastle (can help clean up your existing audio recording)

For copywriters and idea generation: GPT4 (ChatGPT), Jasper.ai, CopyAI

We would like to thank Emma for her time and insights and Jodie for facilitating the session. Congratulations to the Qld Young Professionals Committee and Steve Pursur from the Qld Divisional Committee for helping put on such an engaging and insightful session.

NIBA / UAC Qld Underwriting Expo

After the breakfast seminar, attendees headed to the NIBA / UAC Qld Underwriting Expo.

It was an extremely positive turnout, with 114 Exhibitors, the largest that Queensland has ever had, and a total of over 450 registered brokers who attended the Expo. 

NIBA Qld Gala Lunch

The much-anticipated NIBA Qld Gala Lunch took place in the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. The winners of two Qld region broking awards were announced at the event.

The Gala Lunch also proved an opportunity to support a charitable cause. Money raised at the event will go towards supporting Dig In, a volunteer-run organisation that provides hot, nutritious and wholesome meals to some of the most vulnerable people experiencing meal insecurity in Brisbane. Every Saturday afternoon, Dig In's incredible team of volunteers cook and package up to 500 meals. 

The QBE-sponsored 2023 Qld Broker of the Year award was awarded to Lisa Shanta from SB Protect Insurance and the Vero-sponsored 2023 Qld Young Broker of the Year award was won by Taylor Burstow from East West Insurance Brokers.

NIBA CEO Philip Kewin congratulated the Qld winners, adding that the awards had become an integral part of recognising and celebrating the talent that’s present in the broking profession: “We wish Lisa and Taylor all the best for the upcoming national awards in October, and would like to congratulate all the finalists for their commitment and dedication towards the profession.”

Elliot Hill, Managing Director – Business, QBE Australia Pacific said: “On behalf of QBE, I’d like to congratulate the winner of this year’s QLD Broker of the Year award, Lisa Shanta of SB Protect Insurance. This award recognises those who have made a significant impact to their customers and local communities, and we’re pleased to acknowledge Lisa's efforts in meeting and exceeding her customer’s needs.”

“Taylor truly stood out amidst this year's competitive field," said Peter Roberts, Vero's State Distribution Manager QLD. "He continues to demonstrate strong commitment to his clients, the broking industry and the broader community. We at Vero are thrilled to support exceptional brokers like him."

Lisa and Taylor will now go on to compete in the national awards. The national QBE-sponsored Broker of the Year award and Vero-sponsored Young Broker of the Year award will be chosen from five region winners and announced in October at the NIBA Convention.

Thank you to all our valued sponsors.