LAS VEGAS — The likelihood that technological advances are changing the nature of commercial insurance was a persistent theme at this year's ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum.

Indeed, the effect of technologies as diverse as social media, predictive analytics and self-driving cars was examined in detail at the annual gathering May 6-8 at the MGM Grand Resort in Las Vegas.

During a panel discussion of insurance industry analysts, Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, vice president and distinguished analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based technology research firm Gartner Inc., said one of the most marked changes she detected within the insurance industry during the past year was a belated yet burgeoning awareness among insurers that technology-driven change is inexorable.

“The awareness of the magnitude of change is greater now than in the past,” she said. “Insurance companies are no longer in denial.”

Chuck Johnston, Hartford, Conn.-based research director at insurance advisory firm Celent L.L.C., a member of Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.'s Oliver Wyman Group, said chief information officers at insurance companies are beginning to regard innovation as a prerequisite of the job, even at the cost of disrupting long-standing business practices.

“There is a growing recognition that disruption is OK,” he said. “Businesses must move.”

Matthew Josefowicz, partner and managing director at Novarica, a division of New York-based Novantas L.L.C., cautioned that ambitious technology-centric plans can be stymied by cultural inertia at large organizations.

However, he did say that the industry as a whole has made progress on the “bread-and-butter” issues, such as replacing legacy core policy administration, claims and underwriting systems.

With modern core systems in place, insurers can turn their attention to more transformative technology efforts, such as automating the underwriting process.

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Mr. Josefowicz said such innovations are not evenly distributed throughout the industry. While direct writing of policies with limited human intervention is now common in areas such as personal lines automobile, automated underwriting of large commercial polices is, for now, just an aspiration for most insurers.

“Further out on the horizon, there is the potential for fully automated underwriting in more lines of business,” he said.

During a separate panel discussion, Donald Light, San Francisco-based director-Americas property/casualty practice for Celent, agreed that commercial lines insurers willing to make the necessary investments can replicate the successful use of social media and analytic technologies by leading personal lines insurers.

Mr. Light said commercial insurers should target lines of business that are most apt for automation, such as lines that have large numbers of submissions but low premium levels. “The best bets are the high-volume products,” he said.

About 1,300 people, including insurance company executives and technology providers, attended the ACORD LOMA Forum. Keynote speakers included investigative journalist/author Bob Woodward, social media expert and author Charlene Li and theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku.

Next year's event will be held in May in Orlando, Fla.