A few years ago, office supply giant, Staples, ran a humorous advertising campaign aligned to the start of the school year. In the commercials, parents gleefully rode shopping carts through Staples stores, grabbing the school supplies that their children would need for the coming school year, all with the Christmas classic, “Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” played in the background.

Let’s see if we can’t dig that up…ahhh…HERE IT IS:

So, why am I bringing up a back to school commercial in the middle of April? Well, it’s because that commercial was wrong. And so was that Andy Williams song. Back to school isn’t the most wonderful time of the year. And Christmas – with its insane pressure and stress – certainly isn’t, either.

What is the most wonderful time of the year? RIGHT NOW…THE NHL PLAYOFFS.

Hockey may not be packing in the crowds like the NFL. And they may not have the most insanely over-exposed and over-hyped athlete on the planet <COUGH> Lebron <COUGH> like the NBA. But, damn, does the NHL do the playoffs right.

Seriously, I challenge non-hockey fans to watch a playoff game – and feel the energy and desperation and drama of the game – and NOT enjoy themselves. It’s impossible. You can’t help but love the game when so much is on the line, the best-of-the-best are squaring off and the energy is so palpable that you feel like you could literally reach out and grab it.

This grueling march that teams embark on in early April requires winning 16 games against some of the toughest competition the league can provide. Players will leave literal blood and sweat on the ice in front of raucous crowds all to get the opportunity to lay their hands on the single most recognized and most famous trophy in all of sports – the Stanley Cup.

I mean…how can it get any better and any more heart-pounding than that? Honestly, I don’t think it can!

But, since the next few games aren’t for a few hours, let’s talk about something else that makes our heart pound…insurance technology! Here is the top insurtech and insurance news from the past week, as selected by your loving Insurance Tech Insider editorial team.

‘AI is absolutely critical for us,’ Ping An Technology CEO
If you’re a frequent reader of the Insurance Tech Insider (and why wouldn’t you be?), then you’re probably well aware of the fact that artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to completely disrupt the insurance industry. The applications of AI extend beyond risk assessment and helping to better identify premiums and pricing. AI is also helping to improve customer satisfaction and improve customer experience, among other uses.

In fact, for one insurance company in China, AI isn’t just poised to disrupt their business – it already is. In this article and video from CNBC, Ping An Technology’s CEO Ericson Chan discusses the role that AI is playing in his company’s operations – which even includes helping customers involved in auto accidents get paid almost immediately.

Click on the link above and watch the video below to learn more about how AI is revolutionizing Ping An’s business.

Cracking certificate of insurance pain points with technology
Certificates of Insurance (COI) are important pieces of paper for businesses. They’re effectively proof that a company has acquired the insurance necessary to protect them and their customers from any issues that may arise during their work.

But are they really proof of anything? They’re really just proof that a company had insurance at some point – long enough to get a COI.

Now, a new company is working to create a solution to the paper COI problem that can more accurately reflect a company’s status as an insurance carrier or not. The company is called Next Insurance, and they’ve, “launched a digital COI verification feature that confirms, in real-time, a service providers’ valid insurance coverage straight from a mobile device or computer.”

Click the headline above to go to the article on Insurance Business and learn more.

MetLife seeks ‘first-mover’ tech advantage by joining MIT Media Lab
Knowing how disruptive and beneficial technology can be for the insurance industry, and anticipating that technology will play an enormous role in transforming the industry in the coming years, MetLife has embarked on a multi-year collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, which has been the source of some very exciting and useful technologies in the past.

The Media Lab is currently exploring insurance applications that utilize a handful of new technologies, from blockchain to AI. According to this article in the Insurance Journal, being a member will help MetLife get access to these technologies early, as well as give them, “access to other sponsors as well as lab faculty, research staff, events and student recruitment.”