In a recent interview at CES 2025, Biju Nair, President and EVP of Assurant’s Global Connected Living Business, shared insights into the company’s innovative strategies and achievements in 2024. From embracing cutting-edge technology to prioritizing sustainability, Assurant is setting new benchmarks in the secondary device market while expanding its horizons into other connected devices.

The Interview

Key takeaways from the discussion

• Assurant has made significant strides in using advanced AI and automation to streamline device repair, refurbishment, and grading processes, improving customer experience and sustainability.

• While smartphones are its dominant business, Assurant is expanding into processing and refurbishing other devices like laptops, tablets, wearables, and earbuds.

• Assurant integrates sustainability into its operations, from reducing carbon footprints at facilities to launching tools like Carbon IQ that track the environmental benefits of device repurposing.

Analyst takeaways

• Assurant has helped the secondary market make significant strides, driving the expansion of used devices being resold into the global market. With inflationary pressures and rising ASPs of flagships, Assurant continues to invest in its secondary smartphone segment and can democratize the price of high-end phones as well as making a positive impact on the global environment.

• Trust has always been a hurdle for the secondary market, whether people will receive a working device or get exactly what they paid for is a concern that prevent many people from buying secondary market devices. Large companies with great reputations, like Assurant, help reconcile these concerns. Providing in-store support using cutting-edge technology to make the consumer experience as hassle free as possible will further develop the popularity for second hand devices, even outside of smartphones as Biju Nair highlights.

• Assurant’s transparency in integrating AI technologies into their Nashville DCC, helps create a standard for other companies to look at their own carbon footprint to find ways to improve efficiencies, making the operation more affordable and reducing their carbon footprint to help with environmental concerns. Aside from just giving technology a second life to reduce electronic waste, the operation of these companies needs to look at ways to cut emissions from the core process and Assurant is providing a great roadmap in ways to do that.