Isaac Kagiri, head of ICT at AAR General Insurance Uganda, reflects on a decade-long climb through the ranks and why real-world tech leadership is built on continuous execution.
A decade ago, Isaac Kagiri, fresh out of University, walked through the doors of AAR Insurance Uganda as a volunteer. At the time, he had no idea that he would one day be sitting at the helm of the ICT department at the insurer.
His journey to the head of ICT position is a perfect replica of the proverbial journey of a thousand steps as Isaac moved through operational ranks taking on roles as network and security administrator, system support officer, before becoming IT manager in 2017.
His entry into management has remained etched in mind, as it was during a major core system implementation. Despite finding the experience challenging at the time, today he credits it for imparting lessons that became key in his career journey.
“Those challenges really opened up the door for me to learn a lot and since the implementation of that core system I've implemented around four systems,” he says.
The most recent system implementation took place at the start of this year, where Isaac and his team supported AAR’s strategic expansion from medical coverage into full-fledged general insurance, including motor, fire, travel, marine, and property coverage etc.
Balancing automation with ROI
Lately, Isaac’s work has included a lot of integrations with financial partners as well as system automations. For him, digital transformation is not about adopting tools for their own sake. It is about removing operational friction to drive measurable efficiency.
Working at an insurance company, a major focus for Isaac and his team is automation of the claims pipeline between healthcare providers and AAR’s central databases. This way, price verification and claims processing that previously took time becomes quicker.
"Turnaround time is going to drastically improve. If I was spending five days processing a batch of claims from providers, automation would allow us to shorten that window significantly and pay providers much faster," he explains.
Nevertheless, he ensures that every technology is carefully evaluated before adoption to ensure it brings value.
"Automation requires capital, but you have to look at the value versus what you are injecting. For an initiative to deliver real value, the return on investment must make sense for the balance sheet,” he says
Bridging the industry skills gap
As AAR expands its digital footprint, Isaac faces a challenge of finding talent with real-world experience.
"We have so many graduates coming from university, but they have not had serious projects where they have put their minds to getting practical experience. It is hard to pick out someone at a senior level right away," he says.
The solution, Isaac believes, lies with IT departments building the talent pipeline, something he is already doing at AAR Uganda.
"We train interns directly. By the time an intern leaves here, they are someone who can actually handle enterprise responsibilities," he says.
Grounding emerging tech in real operations
When it comes to industry trends like artificial intelligence, Isaac cuts through the hype. While acknowledging the rapid adoption of AI in customer engagement tools and automated lead generation within CRMs, he notes a gap in core insurance workflows.
"Where I see AI working right now is in customer service experience and data analysis. In core insurance operations, like claims fraud detection and automated underwriting risk analysis, commercial AI solutionsare increasingly coming up and are beginning to gain traction. However, insurers still face challenges in finding solutions that are sufficiently tailored to local data, healthcare and insurance practices, and that can integrate seamlessly with existing core insurance systems and workflows.
When not at work, Isaac describes himself as outgoing and likes to fill his time with activities that speak to his heart from spending time with his family, to watching matches in the English Premier League, and running his ICT consultancy.
“With the everyday stress of work, I have to make sure I go and shed it off with friends. I like the Premier League. If there is a game, just know I'll be out until it is done,” he says.
He is also looking forward to his master's graduation in late October, having recently completed his studies. He also hopes to complete a CISO certificate he started to stay ahead of regulatory demands.
