In today’s modern world, tech can happen anywhere. That's why “Getting to Noyo” is so important as we reach out to learn more about the innovators and entrepreneurs in the benefits industry! Hosted by Gary Davis, National Practice Leader at Noyo, this YouTube series explores the leaders and visionaries helping usher in a new era of modern benefits.

For our first episode, Gary welcomed Shannon Goggin, CEO and Co-Founder at Noyo, for a fireside chat on the origin of Noyo and the role we play in the growing benefits technology ecosystem. From serving employees better through technology, to the trends to watch in the coming years, this episode celebrated all things benefits tech.

Here’s a recap of their conversation, with the full-length video below:

Where does the name Noyo come from?

Shannon: “The irony of using ‘Getting to Noyo’ as a pun name for this show and another beloved tradition that we have inside our company, is that the name started as a pun. Which was, know your technology, know your benefits, and we used it originally as a placeholder when we were getting the company started and just brainstorming, what are we trying to do. And I personally was getting stuck on calling it Newco or TBD and I just needed something. So we used Noyo as our joke shorthand and we grew to love it and it stuck.”

What really good idea was Noyo founded on?

Shannon: “It’s pretty simple. Benefits are really important, they’re extremely complicated, they’re very expensive, and technology can solve a lot of those problems. And what we try to do at Noyo is focus on making it possible to give much much better consumer experiences around benefits. So people who get their insurance through their jobs can go to the doctor and get coverage and not have to worry about a big scary bill or seeing the wrong person and it’s just so difficult today. So what Noyo does is, we build all the plumbing under the hood to make the right information available at the right time at the right place. Ultimately, we do it for the consumer experience.”

What technology trends will serve benefits customers better in the coming years?

Shannon: “A big piece of it is helping people know what the right thing is for them at the right time. Everyone’s family is different, everyone’s health needs are different, everyone’s risk aversion is different. It’s pretty challenging when you take a new job to look at your options and figure out which thing is right for you and how much coverage you need. Not just from the things in your job, but what do you put in your 401(k) versus in your health savings account versus your cash savings. These are the decisions families talk about every day and they’re really complicated. I think that’s a big place where technology can help people understand what is your coverage, what are your options here, and map that against what you need.”

Related read: Four key benefits trends to watch in 2023

What’s next for Noyo?

Shannon: “One thing I’m really excited about is we work on a very complicated part of the business. We work as close to the metal as possible, as they say, which is we’re building the infrastructure underneath a whole bunch of other applications. And what that means for Noyo is we have spent years building really complicated software, really complicated systems, and it’s like building the engine to an extremely powerful car. And that is incredibly difficult, it takes a lot of R&D, it takes a lot of collaboration. We have a really talented product and engineering team who are here, who have been creating this really powerful engine. What we’re going to do this year is start building at a really rapid clip a bunch of the features and the tools on top of that engine that people can start to use. So what are our customers can expect from us and what I’m excited about is we’re going to start churning out really quickly a bunch of magic features that people who have been excited for from Noyo — you know, where’s my coverage, what’s included, notice things that are wrong before they become problems, we’ve got a whole bunch of things in the queue that are going to start popping out quickly and I’m really excited about that.”

Related read: It’s now easier than ever for ben-admins to offer a seamless enrollment experience

Watch the full conversation