ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Some innovation stories start with a big concept.
This one started with the metaverse.
Which, to be fair, has had its fair share of hype.
But the interesting part of this Beyond Boundaries episode is what happened next.
In this episode of the Beyond Boundaries Series by Sønr, Matt Ferguson, Managing Partner at Sønr, speaks with Adrián Díaz de Ilarraza, Head of Mid Corporate, Generali Global Corporate & Commercial (GC&C) Iberia & LatAm, live from ITC Europe in Barcelona.
The conversation follows Generali GC&C’s journey from early metaverse thinking to a practical innovation project using virtual and augmented reality in risk engineering.
And the use cases are very clear.
Virtual reality to train risk engineers.
Augmented reality to help clients visualise potential losses inside their own environments.
Because risk engineering has always been about helping clients prevent losses before they happen.
But traditional approaches have limits.
A risk engineer visits a site.
They identify hazards.
They prepare a report.
The client receives a PDF.
And sometimes, that PDF ends up sitting in a folder.
Useful, yes.
But not always felt.
That is where augmented reality becomes interesting.
Instead of only explaining how a claim could happen, Generali GC&C can show it in the client’s own environment.
The risk becomes visible.
The recommendation becomes more tangible.
And prevention becomes easier to understand and act on.
The same logic applies to training.
Senior risk engineers hold deep knowledge, but training junior engineers across different sites, locations and risk environments takes time and resource.
Virtual reality creates another route.
A way to bring risk scenarios into a training environment.
A way to make learning more consistent.
And a way to scale expertise without removing the people who make that expertise valuable.
In this episode, we cover:
* How Generali GC&C moved from metaverse concept to working risk engineering solution
* Why VR and AR are being used for two very practical use cases
* How immersive technology can support risk engineer training
* How augmented reality can help clients better understand potential losses
* Why collaboration across internal teams, innovation funding and external partners matters
* What it takes to move from experimentation to a broader global project
Big picture: this is innovation doing what it should do.
Not replacing expertise.
Not chasing novelty.
Not building a shiny tool for the sake of it.
But making risk easier to see, understand and prevent.
Want to go deeper?
Read the full article on the Sønr website here:https://sonr.global/beyond-boundaries-transforming-loss-prevention-from-metaverse-concept-to-reality/
Explore the full Beyond Boundaries 2025 report here:https://sonr.global/beyond-boundaries-2025/
📧 Want to get involved? Reach out at hello@sonr.global
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit beyondboundariesseries.substack.com
