Claims management company Proclaim says the digital revolution will bring “dramatic change” and leave those who ignore technological advancement out in the cold.

The independent specialist business, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last week, says the past two decades have been “an audition” for what it is to come in the next five years.

“This time the changes will be far more dramatic – data insights, automation and predictive modelling will create a schism in the market between those with and those without tech,” MD Jon Broome writes in a blog post.

The changes also bring huge opportunity, he says, particularly for smaller, more agile companies such as Proclaim.

Mr Broome recalls leaving his position at Chubb on a Friday in 1999 and starting his new business on the following Monday with “no clients [and] no infrastructure”.

“Claims at the time was, in most cases, sadly neglected, so on one hand that represented an opportunity, but on the other we had the aspirational aim of lifting standards, largely by combining smart people and good internet-based systems,” he said.

He says culture was a key differentiator.

“One of the benefits of coming from Chubb was an understanding of the importance of corporate culture.

“I knew pretty much from the start that the only way we could differentiate ourselves from the big companies in the space was to build a source of sustainable advantage in our culture.

“We wanted to have a distinct personality, which we could only create through having a distinct purpose and set of values, and being discriminating in the people we hired to ensure they fitted the values.”