For many insurers, telematics still feels like an all-or-nothing decision. Launch a full program, build or buy an app, integrate deeply into core systems, commit significant budgets – and hope customers actually adopt it.
That perception has slowed down telematics adoption for years. Not because insurers doubt the value of telematics, but because the perceived cost, complexity, and organizational impact feel disproportionate to the initial uncertainty.
The reality is simpler and far less risky.
Telematics does not require a big-bang transformation to deliver value. Insurers can start small, choose how deeply they want to integrate, and decide internally who leads the first step – product, IT, innovation, or even an external partner. Instead of one irreversible decision, telematics becomes a set of controlled entry points.
This pilot-first, choice-driven approach turns telematics from a risky transformation project into a series of low-risk experiments, designed to generate insight quickly and scale only when value is proven.
Why insurers hesitate: cost, complexity, and adoption risk
Before launching telematics, most insurers raise the same concerns:
- High cost: Custom apps, hardware devices, and long IT projects can quickly escalate budgets.
- Technical complexity: Integrating telematics into underwriting, pricing, or claims feels disruptive.
- Adoption risk: Will customers actually download the app, keep permissions enabled, and stay engaged?
These concerns are valid, if telematics is approached as a large, monolithic rollout.
A pilot-first strategy reframes the problem.
Pilot-first telematics: lowering risk on every level
A telematics pilot is not a “mini version” of a full program. It’s a deliberate design choice focused on learning.
With a pilot, insurers can:
- Limit financial exposure by starting with a small user base
- Reduce organizational friction by avoiding large-scale change upfront
- Validate customer acceptance before committing to long-term investment
- Test real business impact, not just technical feasibility
Instead of debating assumptions internally, teams can observe real behavior in real portfolios.
Why smartphone telematics accelerates time-to-value
One of the biggest enablers of pilot-first telematics is the shift from hardware to smartphones.
Smartphone-based telematics removes several traditional barriers:
- No installation logistics or device costs
- Faster rollout across markets and segments
- Lower friction for customers already using mobile apps
- Easier iteration and feature adjustment during the pilot phase
For insurers, this means pilots can be launched in weeks – not years – making telematics a learning loop rather than a long-term bet.
Define clear KPIs before you scale
The purpose of a telematics pilot is not “to have telematics.” It’s to answer specific business questions.
Before launching, successful insurers define a small set of clear KPIs, such as:
- Risk lift: Does telematics improve risk differentiation compared to traditional models?
- Claims impact: Are there early signals of reduced claim frequency or severity?
- Engagement: Do customers keep the app active and respond to feedback or incentives?
- Operational effort: How much internal effort is required to run and maintain the pilot?
These metrics create a factual basis for scaling decisions, and make internal buy-in much easier.
Business outcomes of starting small
Insurers that take a pilot-first approach consistently see three advantages:
Faster learning cycles
Instead of waiting years for results, teams get actionable insights within months.
Lower investment risk
Budgets stay aligned with proven value, not assumptions.
Easier internal alignment
Real pilot data replaces abstract debates across underwriting, IT, and product teams.
Telematics becomes a business tool – not a leap of faith.
Different ways to start telematics: choose your level of integration
A pilot-first strategy works best when insurers can start telematics at different levels, depending on who leads the initiative (product, IT, innovation), how much they want to build themselves, and how much operational responsibility they want to carry.
Rather than a linear roadmap, these options represent different entry points and integration intensities. Insurers can choose one, combine several, or move between them as needed.
Option 1: Experience telematics in minutes (MOVE Pilot)
The fastest way to get started is simply to download the MOVE Pilot app.
- Experience real smartphone telematics immediately
- Optionally activate a MOVE SDK pilot project:
- Test with internal users or a small external group
- Choose your own colors, fonts, and upload your logo for a branded pilot experience
- View trips, scores, and signals for your test group in the MOVE Dashboard
This option is ideal for product, innovation, or business teams who want to see and feel telematics, validate user experience, and explore real data, without any integration or development effort.
Option 2: Technical validation first (SDK boilerplate, ~30 minutes)
Some insurers prefer to start from the IT side, before involving product or business teams.
- Register on the MOVE SDK dashboard
- Implement a basic boilerplate app using documentation and example code
- From developer registration to the first scored trip within ~30 minutes (target benchmark)
The goal here is not visual polish, but technical confidence: understanding how easy the SDK is to integrate, how clean the APIs are, and how strong the documentation and sample code are. Importantly, this is not a throwaway demo; it is a real first integration step toward embedding the MOVE SDK into a custom-built app or an existing insurer app.
Option 3: Build or extend your own telematics app (MOVE SDK)
For insurers who want full product ownership, the MOVE SDK enables:
- Fully custom telematics apps or integration into existing insurer apps
- Advanced use cases such as coaching, rewards, risk prevention, FNOL, and engagement
- Gradual rollout by market, segment, or use case
Here, telematics becomes a core product capability that can evolve over time – without forcing a big-bang rollout.
Option 4: Outsource implementation and operations
Some insurers decide early on that they do not want to build or operate a telematics app themselves.
In this case, implementation and operations can be taken over, including:
- Strategy and use-case definition
- UX, app development, and integration
- Analytics, scoring, and dashboards
- Operations, monitoring, and continuous optimization
This option allows insurers to capture telematics value while keeping internal complexity and operational effort to a minimum.
Start small. Scale with confidence.
Telematics success isn’t about how big you start, it’s about how intelligently you learn.
By choosing the right entry point, keeping risk low, and scaling only when value is proven, insurers can unlock telematics step by step – without disrupting their core business.
