How is private equity approaching the insurance technology opportunity differently than traditional venture capital? What happens when risk capital wants to move upstream in the value chain, and AI enables it to actually get there? Guest Joe Zuk is an Operating Partner at Altamont Capital Partners, where he leads corporate and business development across a portfolio of insurance and insurance services companies. With 23 years of industry experience, Joe spent 10 years as a reinsurance broker and underwriter, then 8 years with two MGAs building P&C verticals and corporate development functions. At Altamont, he oversees portfolio companies including Accelerant Holdings, Augment Risk, Embark General, Fleming Holdings, Ascendex Underwriters, Kuvare Holdings, and Hadron Holdings. Key Topics The Insurance Stack is Compressing - Risk capital (reinsurers, ILS, carriers) is moving upstream toward origination. Traditional 8-layer distribution is collapsing into 3: origination, translation, risk capital. AI is the enabler, but relationships still matter. AI Solves Operational, Not Structural, Problems - The industry went through shiny object syndrome with AI. Real ROI comes from mundane efficiency: submission triage, claims processing speed, underwriting augmentation from unstructured data. Not flashy, but measurable. Why PE Beats VC for Insurance - Insurance requires patience, regulatory expertise, and operational discipline. VC timelines are destructive. PE operating partners understand the regulatory cadence and can navigate it competently. The Founding Team Playbook Has Changed - Today's insurance startups need a CTO or head of data as a founding hire, not just an underwriter and a producer. Talent comes from adjacent industries (fintech, healthtech) not just insurance veterans. Now Is the Best Time to Build - Technology maturity, available talent, incumbent inefficiency, and collapsed barriers to entry mean founders can build insurtech companies that compete on quality and speed with much larger organizations. Hiring for Curiosity Over Credentials - Altamont prioritizes intellectual curiosity and adaptability, especially for tech-forward roles. Domain expertise still matters, but learning velocity matters more. Trust Cannot Be Automated - AI compresses workflows, but it doesn't compress trust. Relationships, sales, and concierge service remain core differentiators in insurance, even as the stack contracts. Notable Quotes "AI can compress workflows, but it doesn't compress trust." "The insurance stack is compressing from eight layers down to three: origination, translation, and risk capital." "We went through a period of shiny object syndrome with AI. The real ROI is in the mundane operational efficiency." "I believe there's never been a better time to be an entrepreneur in the insurance market." Resources • Altamont Capital Partners: https://altamontcapital.com/ • Joe Zuk: https://joezuk.com/ • Follow Joe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joezuk/ • Horton International: https://www.horton-usa.com/ Subscribe & Review Catch every episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast wherever you listen. Subscribe and leave a review to stay on top of insurance innovation, PE strategies, and the future of underwriting. #InsurTech #Insurance #InsuranceInnovation #Leadership #ExecutiveLeadership

Introduction What happens when carriers can predict where risk exists but have zero control over how that risk changes after the policy is written? Valkyrie Holmes, CEO and Co-Founder of Faura, returns to the Insurtech Leadership Podcast to answer that question with a new playbook: turn policyholders into active risk managers, and retention follows. In this episode, Holmes unpacks Faura's retention engine for high-risk consumers, the two-page resilience report reshaping how homeowners engage with their own property risk, and why MGAs have become her favorite distribution partners. The conversation covers carrier trust, first-party data strategies, composable platform architecture, and what it takes to lead a scaling insurtech as the youngest person in every room. Guest Bio Valkyrie Holmes is the CEO and Co-Founder of Faura, a climate risk intelligence platform that evaluates property survivability across all five NATCAT perils: wildfire, hurricane, hail, flood, and earthquake. Holmes skipped college, interned at NASA and SpaceX, and co-founded Faura in 2023. The company has raised $3.5M in seed funding from Harlem Capital, Building Ventures, MetaProp, and Dorm Room Fund, won the State Farm Pitch Competition at InsureTech Connect, and secured a strategic partnership with Insurity to embed resilience analytics into P&C underwriting workflows. Key Topics • The Retention Engine - Faura's new approach to turning policyholders from passive premium-payers into active risk managers through engagement and behavioral data • Two-Page Resilience Reports - Homeowner-facing reports that prioritize easy action items first, building momentum before introducing harder mitigation steps • QR Codes and CA Compliance - How carriers use Faura's walkthrough module as a compliance tool for state-mandated wildfire discounts in California • First-Party Property Data - Filling modifier gaps in carrier datasets by partnering with homeowners for ongoing risk information in exchange for incentives • MGA Strategy - Why MGAs move faster, require less consensus, and have become Faura's ideal distribution partners over tier-one carriers • Composable Platform Architecture - Building a system flexible enough to customize endpoints, reports, and fields for any carrier, broker, or distribution partner • Differentiation in High-Risk Markets - What carriers need beyond price to retain policyholders as competition increases in FL, CA, and emerging catastrophe zones Notable Quotes "Historically, many carriers have been very good at predicting where risk exists, but have very little control over how that risk changes after the policy is written." • Valkyrie Holmes, CEO/Co-Founder, Faura "If you're re-entering a market or trying to take up market share, what is the reason someone stays with you over switching to another carrier for a fifty-dollar premium reduction next year?" • Valkyrie Holmes "Talk to everyone. Talk widely. And then narrow to your mission." • Valkyrie Holmes Resources Guest: • Faura: https://www.faura.us/ • Valkyrie Holmes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valkyrieholmes/ Host & Organization: • Joshua R. Hollander on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ • Horton International (USA): https://www.horton-usa.com/ • Insurtech Leadership Podcast (LinkedIn Showcase): https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show Subscribe & Review If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe on your favorite platform and leave a review. The Insurtech Leadership Podcast is available on YouTube, Podbean, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Introduction What if the biggest friction point in insurance isn't underwriting or distribution, but the moment a policyholder actually gets paid? For an industry built on the promise of financial protection, the claims payout process remains stubbornly analog, slow, and vulnerable to fraud. In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Joshua Hollander sits down with Andrew Jernigan, Head of Insurance, North America at Pliant, to dissect how card-based payout infrastructure is reshaping claims operations. From single-use virtual cards that eliminate fraud vectors to tokenized wallet payouts that meet policyholders where they already transact, Jernigan makes the case that modernizing the last mile of claims isn't just an ops upgrade, it's a revenue strategy. Guest Bio Andrew Jernigan is the Head of Insurance, North America at Pliant, a card-as-a-service platform modernizing claims and benefit payouts for insurers and payers. Prior to Pliant, he was the founder and CEO of Insured Nomads, a company built to serve globally mobile professionals with embedded insurance and financial wellness products. Jernigan brings a rare combination of carrier-side operating experience and fintech product instincts to the claims payout problem. Key Topics • Card-Based Claims Payouts - How single-use and virtual cards replace checks and ACH transfers, reducing settlement time from days to seconds • Fraud Reduction Through Card Infrastructure - Why single-use cards with merchant category restrictions eliminate common payout fraud vectors • Interchange as a Revenue Lever - The economics of card-based payouts: insurers can generate interchange revenue while reducing operational costs • Tokenized Wallet Payouts - The near-term future where claims land directly in Apple Pay or Google Wallet, removing the need for physical cards entirely • Branded Payout Experience - How carrier-branded payment cards turn the claims moment into a customer experience and retention touchpoint • Implementation Simplicity - Why modern card-as-a-service platforms can integrate in weeks rather than the months-long cycles of legacy payment systems • Communication as Retention Strategy - The hidden cost of poor claims communication and why payout speed alone doesn't solve the customer experience gap Notable Quotes "Use other people's money. That's literally the best advice in payments." • Andrew Jernigan, Head of Insurance, North America, Pliant "People are tired of believing that insurance is going to be like pulling teeth. They're waiting for innovation to happen." • Andrew Jernigan "It's not just speed. It's control. A single-use card means the money can only go where it's supposed to go." • Andrew Jernigan Resources Guest: • Pliant: https://www.pliant.io/ • Andrew Jernigan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjernigan/ Host & Organization: • Joshua R. Hollander on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ • Horton International (USA): https://www.horton-usa.com/ • Insurtech Leadership Podcast (LinkedIn Showcase): https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show Subscribe & Review If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe on your favorite platform and leave a review. The Insurtech Leadership Podcast is available on YouTube, Podbean, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Introduction What happens when you stop trying to make claims adjusters faster and instead redesign the entire workflow from first notice of loss? Most insurers are layering AI co-pilots on top of legacy processes, but Ravin AI is arguing for something more disruptive: a fully automated claims pipeline that collects evidence, detects fraud, applies business rules, and routes decisions before a human ever touches the file. In this episode, Eliron Ekstein, Co-Founder and CEO of Ravin AI, breaks down how their Ravin Inspect platform automates up to 80% of auto claims, and why the economics of full automation are fundamentally different from incremental efficiency gains. Guest Bio Eliron Ekstein co-founded Ravin AI approximately eight years ago out of Shell Ventures, where he led new business development in Shell's Digital Ventures unit in London. What began as a concept for scanning vehicles at petrol stations has grown into a $35M+ funded insurtech operating across multiple continents. Eliron holds an MBA from London Business School and has spent the past decade digitizing automotive and transportation workflows. Ravin AI now serves insurance carriers, fleets, and remarketing customers globally with its patented DeepDetect technology. Key Topics -Full Automation vs. Co-Pilot Augmentation — Why Ravin's "pilot, not co-pilot" approach delivers fundamentally different economics than AI tools that assist adjusters within existing workflows. -Ravin Inspect: End-to-End Claims Pipeline — How the platform gathers policyholder data, vehicle images, location, speed, and fraud signals upfront to build a complete claim file before human review. -80% Auto-Adjudication Target — The threshold at which automation rewrites carrier unit economics, from staffing models to cycle times to customer satisfaction scores. -Purpose-Built AI vs. Generic GenAI — Why domain-specific computer vision and decision logic outperform general-purpose large language models for claims adjudication. -Integration Without Disruption — Ravin's approach to plugging into existing core systems and claims platforms without requiring carriers to rip and replace. -International Market Entry — Lessons from expanding an Israeli-founded insurtech into the U.S. and Australian markets, including regulatory and go-to-market differences. -Fraud Detection as a Byproduct — How automated evidence collection at FNOL creates a stronger fraud signal than retroactive investigation. Notable Quotes "Our pilot is not a co-pilot — it will run the claim up until the very last minute where you have to give a final approval." — Eliron Ekstein, Co-Founder & CEO, Ravin AI "We can actually gather all the relevant data from you — images, location, speed, fraud detection — and build a complete file that already includes business rules according to which you can settle the claim." — Eliron Ekstein "This is more of a radical approach that results in significant benefits, significant speed." — Eliron Ekstein Resources Guest: Ravin AI: https://www.ravin.ai/ Eliron Ekstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elironekstein/ Host & Organization: Joshua R. Hollander on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ Horton International (USA): https://www.horton-usa.com/ Insurtech Leadership Podcast (LinkedIn Showcase): https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show Subscribe & Review If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe on your favorite platform and leave a review. The Insurtech Leadership Podcast is available on YouTube, Podbean, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Episode Overview How many insurance organizations have launched an AI pilot, watched it work in the lab, and then watched it quietly disappear in production? Today we're dismantling the myth that AI adoption is a technology problem—and making the case that it's a workflow problem. Guest Jake Sloan, VP of Global Insurance at Appian, is an operator first. He has run large-scale insurance operations, owned a $150M P&L, and delivered transformations that only happen when you understand how work actually moves—handoffs, exceptions, controls, and accountability. At Appian, he leads the insurance vertical for a process automation and low-code platform focused on claims, underwriting, and operational process orchestration. Key Topics • Pilot Purgatory: Why 90% of AI Projects Stall — Pilots work in controlled environments. Then reality hits: no data pipeline, no workflow integration, no governance, no frontline buy-in. Organizational alignment—not technology—is the breaking point. • The Orchestration Layer — Appian's core thesis: build an orchestration layer first. It sits between your legacy monolith and the next chapter. Additive, keeps work flowing during transformation, and creates the foundation where AI and automation actually stick. • Email as Infrastructure — Underwriters spend 40%+ of their day in inboxes. The AI mailbox use case embeds AI into a workflow that extracts data, routes work, makes decisions, and triggers actions. Underwriters gain 2–3 hours a day back. • Claims Velocity: Days to Hours — One global insurer went from 24–72 hours (FNOL to assignment) to minutes. Digital intake feeds orchestrated workflows. AI triages, categorizes severity, flags fraud risk. The adjuster gets a complete, pre-organized package. • Alignment = Culture, Not Just Tech — Appian's workshops put business, IT, data, and operations in one room to design the ideal state and work backward. Underwriters don't get replaced—they become superhuman. Admin work gets stripped away. • The Talent Problem Is a Workflow Problem — Entry-level insurance work is repetitive email categorization. When AI handles the mundane, these jobs become analytical and attractive again. The organizations winning reskill existing teams and position domain expertise as more valuable. • The 90-Day Deployment Mindset — Pick one workflow. Build the orchestration layer. Plug in AI. Show ROI in 90 days. Then iterate. Key Quotes -"When you go to scale it, it's like, well, we don't have the data pipeline. We don't have the workflow. We don't have the governance. We don't have the buy-in from the frontline team. And so it just stalls." -"It's not about the AI itself. It's about the workflow that the AI sits inside." -"We're not here to replace underwriters. We're here to make them superhuman." -"Get started. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Start with a use case, build the orchestration layer, plug AI into it, show value in 90 days." Resources • Appian: appian.com • Jake Sloan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobpsloan] • Joshua R. Hollander, Host: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ • Horton International: https://www.horton-usa.com/ Subscribe & Follow Never miss an episode. Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube. Follow the show on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show #InsurTech #Insurance #InsuranceInnovation #FutureOfInsurance #ExecutiveLeadership Subscribe & Follow Never miss an episode. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform—Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube. Follow the show on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show #InsurTech #Insurance #InsuranceInnovation #FutureOfInsurance #Leadership #ExecutiveLeadership

Episode Overview What does it actually take to run a digital insurance operation at the system level—not at the chatbot layer, but at the transaction layer? Joshua R. Hollander speaks with Wayne Slavin, CEO and Co-Founder of Sure, about the infrastructure required to deliver true digital insurance in an AI-agent world. Wayne describes Sure's role as "what Visa and Mastercard were in the early days of credit cards"—building the rails for digital insurance distribution. Key Topics 1. What "Digital Insurance" Really Means Digital insurance is not about moving forms online or replacing phone calls with web interfaces. True digital insurance is straight-through processing from quote to policy issuance to payment—mirroring the speed and frictionlessness of e-commerce transactions. Wayne explains: "If that transaction requires some asynchronous process, some process that is interrupted, that we are actually not doing digital insurance." The benchmark: the entire process happens within minutes, not days or weeks. 2. API-First Infrastructure vs. Legacy Core Systems Sure's platform differs fundamentally from monolithic core policy administration systems (like Guidewire or Duck Creek) because it was built API-first with data normalization at its foundation. Legacy cores encourage over-customization, which locks insurers into inflexible, non-compliant systems. Sure's approach standardizes policy data across product types (homeowners, renters, fine art, landlord), enabling rapid changes and integrations. Unlike legacy systems, Sure doesn't force carriers to choose between their existing tech and innovation—it coexists alongside legacy infrastructure. 3. Model Context Protocol (MCP) and AI Agent Integration In February 2026, Sure announced the industry's first MCP server integration, enabling Claude AI agents to interact directly with Sure's infrastructure. MCP is a standardized protocol that allows AI agents to connect to business systems without custom integrations for each use case. This means insurers and brands no longer need 6-12 months of engineering to embed insurance; AI agents can quote, bind, manage, and renew policies conversationally. 4. Why Non-Endemic Brands Will Build Insurance The next major insurance distributors won't be insurance companies. They'll be brands, e-commerce platforms, fintechs, and technology companies with massive customer bases. Wayne's economic thesis: if a brand can convert customers to insurance at 20-30x the typical rate (vs. giving customer data to a third party), the unit economics change entirely. Large brands now have a path to retain customers and data while building insurance revenue. 5. The Transaction Layer as Moat Insurance isn't like retail or travel—regulatory consequences are real, policy admin systems are complex, and compliance layers must operate end-to-end. Sure's competitive advantage lies in building the foundational transaction layer that carriers either cannot replicate internally or would take years to engineer. This infrastructure layer is what enables AI agents to work reliably within compliance and regulatory constraints. 6. Insurance as an Ecosystem The future isn't a single insurer offering multiple products—it's an ecosystem where brands, platforms, and technology companies collaborate on insurance delivery. AI agents, powered by Sure's infrastructure, enable this distributed, composable insurance ecosystem. Key Quotes -"What digital insurance really means is truly a straight-through process where you're starting to get a quote that quote will be a real quote. It's not an estimate. It will become a real policy. You will pay real money. You will get a real coverage document. And the timing of all of that is pretty close to what you expect from regular old e-commerce." -"The next big insurance distributors won't be insurance companies. They will be brands. They'll be technology companies. They'll be fintechs. They'll be AI companies. They'll be companies that are currently sitting on large customer bases that don't have insurance products today." -"Before MCP, if an AI agent wanted to interact with an insurance system, you'd have to build a custom integration for each system, each use case. MCP standardizes that." Resources • Sure: https://sure.com • Wayne Slavin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayneslavin • Horton International: https://www.horton-usa.com/ Subscribe & Connect Tune in to the Insurtech Leadership Podcast for deep-dive conversations with insurance executives, founders, and innovators shaping the future of insurance technology. • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ • Podcast Showcase: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show #InsurTech #Insurance #InsuranceInnovation #Innovation #FutureOfInsurance #Leadership #ExecutiveLeadership

What if your insurance product didn't need a claims adjuster? When you remove the blame from the coverage equation, everything changes. In this episode, Randel Bennett walks through how no-fault embedded insurance—specifically parametric insurance woven into the solar energy business—is reshaping how performance guarantees work in commercial infrastructure projects. About the Guest Randel Bennett is CEO and co-founder of Qixent, a Chicago-based insurance exchange platform and licensed MGA enabling carriers and partners to launch and distribute insurance products at speed and scale. Randel's insurance career spans traditional carriers (Allstate in product management), startup ventures (co-founder of Sigo Seguros, focused on non-standard auto for Hispanic buyers), and reinsurance infrastructure (VP of Strategic Partnerships at Swiss Re, working with dozens of MGAs and insurtechs on alternative distribution and new product development). He is currently pursuing an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and holds a degree from Florida International University. Key Topics No-Fault Embedded Insurance: From Blame to Guarantee Traditional insurance asks: "Whose fault was it?" No-fault embedded insurance removes the blame entirely. By embedding a parametric trigger (a predefined event and payout) directly into a service or product, you convert insurance into a guarantee. When solar panels underperform due to weather, the data triggers an automatic payout—no claims adjuster, no friction. The customer gets paid faster; the carrier transfers weather risk cleanly. Data as the Foundation of Underwriting The critical edge in performance guarantees is determining expected production with precision. Qixent uses weather data, historical production records, satellite imagery, and panel specifications to establish a baseline for each project. This data-first approach allows predictable, sustainable pricing and removes the guesswork from underwriting. As Randel notes, "data is really the core of everything that we do." Annual Reconciliation vs. Event Triggers Qixent's model allows flexibility: real-time payouts for significant weather events, but the dominant approach in commercial solar is annual reconciliation. Over a 12-month period, Qixent compares actual production to expected production. If weather caused a shortfall, the guarantee covers the gap. For 20–25 year projects, this cadence keeps both sides—EPC and asset owner—on stable, predictable footing. From Commercial Solar to the Energy Transition Qixent's 3–5 year vision extends beyond commercial solar into residential solar, battery storage, EV charging, and fleet electrification—any space where a performance obligation faces weather, grid reliability, or supply chain constraints. The underlying infrastructure is designed to be vertical-agnostic: "If we can measure it, we can guarantee it." Founder Lessons: Humility, Problem-Market Fit, Co-Founder Complementarity Randel's advice to insurance professionals considering entrepreneurship: Lead with humility (startup resources are scarce; you become the team). Solve a real, unmistakable problem (the performance guarantee gap in clean energy was Randel's unsee-able insight). Find a co-founder who complements your blind spots (Randel brings insurance and relationships; Glenn brings technology and operational rigor). And protect work-life balance—burnout tanks companies faster than capital constraints. Notable Quotes • "In the no-fault embedded space, we're removing the blame entirely... When their solar panels underperform due to weather, for instance, the data says, hey, this is what happened. And that triggers a payout. And that's it." • "Data is really the core of everything that we do... because of that, we can price it in a way that's affordable and sustainable for the long term." • "We're not just a tech company. We're an insurance company that uses technology. And that distinction matters." • "When you come from a large organization, you're used to having resources at your disposal... When you go to a startup, you are the team. You are the infrastructure. And that requires a level of humility that a lot of people aren't prepared for." • "If we can measure it, we can guarantee it. That's the big vision." Resources & Links • Qixent: https://qixent.com/ • Randel Bennett LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randeljb/ • Randel Bennett Email: randel@qixent.com • Horton International: https://www.horton-usa.com/ • Joshua R. Hollander LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ • Insurtech Leadership Podcast Showcase: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show Subscribe & Follow New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe to the Insurtech Leadership Podcast on Podbean and YouTube. Follow Joshua R. Hollander on LinkedIn for episode updates, clips, and industry commentary.

Introduction In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Joshua Hollander sits down with Curtis Barton, CEO and founding visionary of ALKEME Insurance, to explore how ALKEME built one of the fastest-growing brokerage platforms in the country - not by outspending the competition, but by out-integrating them. Curtis shares the unconventional origin story behind ALKEME, his philosophy on alignment, and why firms that invest in people, systems, and technology will define the next era of insurance distribution. Guest Bio Curtis Barton is CEO and founding visionary of ALKEME Insurance. He began his insurance career in 1996 and founded Venture Pacific Insurance, a regional brokerage in Southern California, before co-founding Brokkrr, a digital lead generation insurtech platform. Curtis orchestrated the complex merger of seven independent agencies to form ALKEME, championing a people-powered, tech-enabled business model. Under his leadership, ALKEME has grown to a top-25 brokerage with over 1,000 employees across 50+ locations nationwide. Key Topics • Integration-first vs. rapid roll-up - Why ALKEME chose to build a unified platform from day one rather than stack EBITDA through fast acquisitions, and how that decision shapes every partnership conversation. • One class of stock, true alignment - ALKEME issues a single class of equity to every partner - no preferred, no investor stock. Curtis explains why this structure is the foundation of cohesive alignment. • The compression problem in brokerage multiples - How the spread between entry and exit multiples has collapsed, creating liquidity risk for agencies that relied on financial engineering over operational improvement. • Why agency owners join (not sell) - Most principals aren't looking for exits - they're looking for resources, technology, and scale they can't build alone. ALKEME's pitch is about what changes after close. • SOPs, systems, and reinvestment as growth levers - How deploying standardized processes and technology into historically under-resourced agencies unlocks organic growth at the producer level. • AI as augmentation, not replacement - ALKEME's approach to AI: position producers to be the most valuable asset in the transaction by giving them better tools, not replacing them with automation. • Building leadership that scales - Why Curtis believes no one is a "forever employee" and how ALKEME constantly evolves its leadership to match the company's growth trajectory. Quotes • "We just decided to do our own thing and do it differently. We ended up recruiting nine of my friends out of a cluster that we were all part of that had their own agencies." • "One dollar of organic can give you seven of inorganic capacity, and you've got to look at it from that perspective." • "There is no preferred, there is no investor stock. They have the same exact share that I have that any of our partners have. And that's called alignment." • "Most of these people don't want to sell their agency. They just know that they're going to get outscaled and out-resourced." • "We were already edging towards a people-powered, tech-enabled business, and we talk constantly about how do we position our people to be the most valuable asset in the transaction." Resources • ALKEME Insurance: alkemeins.com • Curtis Barton on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/curtis-barton-8103682/ Subscribe & Review If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the Insurtech Leadership Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Leave a review - it helps other insurance and technology professionals find the show.

Introduction In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Josh Hollander sits down with Gemma Ros, CTO at The Zebra, to unpack their 2026 State of Auto Insurance Report. They explore what's driving premium divergence across states, how affordability pressure is reshaping consumer behavior, and where regulation, loss costs, and distribution dynamics collide. Guest Bio Gemma Ros is CTO at The Zebra, one of the largest insurance comparison platforms in the United States. Born in Spain, Gemma built her career across engineering and data roles before joining The Zebra, where she leads the technology organization responsible for data infrastructure, product engineering, and AI capabilities. She brings a unique perspective as both a technologist and an insurance industry insider who sees real-time consumer shopping behavior at scale. Key Topics • State-by-state premium divergence — Auto insurance premiums are not stabilizing uniformly. Regulatory environments, loss cost trends, and competitive dynamics are creating vastly different realities depending on where you live. • Affordability pressure and coverage erosion — Consumers facing higher premiums are choosing higher deductibles, lower coverages, and state minimums — creating knock-on effects for uninsured/underinsured motorist exposure across the market. • Carrier growth signals in ad spending — When carriers increase advertising, it signals growth appetite and competitive pricing — a cue for consumers to reshop their policies. • Rate filing dynamics — New rates are being filed and going into effect daily, making the market a moving target for both consumers and distribution partners. • Telematics and ADAS impact on underwriting — Usage-based insurance and advanced driver assistance systems are beginning to reshape how risk is priced, though widespread impact is still unfolding. • Autonomous vehicles and insurance implications — The shift from driver liability to product/manufacturer liability as autonomy scales, and what that means for carriers. • Taking AI from fun to material impact — Gemma's 2026 engineering theme: moving AI adoption from experimental to scalable, repeatable, and operationalized across the entire engineering organization. Quotes • "It's never a bad idea to shop around. Educate yourself — you might be leaving money on the table." • "If you start seeing a lot more ads for insurance companies on TV or on podcasts, that's a good time to reshop — the carriers are signaling they want to grow." • "My main theme for 2026 is taking AI from fun to material impact." Resources • The Zebra's 2026 State of Auto Insurance Report: Available at thezebra.com • The Zebra: thezebra.com — insurance comparison platform Subscribe & Review If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the Insurtech Leadership Podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Leave a review — it helps other insurance and technology professionals find the show.

-Introduction TomTom isn’t just “navigation” anymore. In this episode of the InsurTech Leadership Podcast, Josh Hollander talks with Vinod Poomalai, Head of InsurTech Product Marketing at TomTom, about how insurers are using location, map, and traffic intelligence to improve how they price risk, validate claims, and build telematics programs that actually produce underwriting signal. Guest bio Vinod Pumalai leads go-to-market for TomTom’s insurance and InsurTech vertical. His work focuses on helping carriers, brokers, actuaries, and InsurTech teams integrate TomTom’s location and traffic data into risk models, pricing engines, and telematics workflows—with a practical emphasis on adoption inside real operating environments. Key topics -From static territories to live location intelligence -Why “territory” is a crude proxy—and how mobility patterns add resolution to risk. -Territory risk models powered by traffic + map data -How insurers use location and traffic attributes to refine pricing and portfolio strategy. -Telematics enablement: APIs, SDKs, and flexible integration -What teams actually plug into, and what the implementation path looks like in practice. -Claims validation and fraud detection using mobility history -Using historical mobility/traffic context to validate events faster and reduce leakage. -Where experimentation becomes operational value -The difference between demos and workflows that move loss ratio outcomes. -What the insurance market is missing in location data -Why the market has been underserved—and what that creates as an opportunity. -Talent and leadership required to make it real -Product, data, and insurance domain collaboration: what “good” looks like inside carriers. Quotes -“The insurance market as a whole is very underserved when it comes to location data, traffic data, and so on.” -“At the end of the day, what our clients really care about… is loss ratios.” -“Customers are leveraging our traffic data in validating auto insurance claims.” Resources -Vinod Poomalai: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinod-kumar-poomalai/ -TomTom Insurtech: https://www.tomtom.com/solutions/insurtech/ -Joshua Hollander: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ If you found this useful, subscribe to the InsurTech Leadership Podcast on YouTube and your preferred podcast app. Share the episode with an underwriting, claims, or telematics leader on your team—and leave a review to help more operators find the show.

Introduction “AI in insurance” has become shorthand for chatbots and generic automation. This episode focuses on a more operational question: what would it take for AI to behave like a dependable CSR inside a real agency workflow — completing service work end-to-end, without eroding trust or the customer experience? Guest Bio Nikhil Kansal is the Co‑Founder & CTO of Cara, a domain‑specific AI platform built for insurance to automate servicing and assist with sales. Prior to Cara, Nikhil co‑founded Oyster, a digital brokerage built around customer experience and risk placement. Earlier in his career, he worked as an infrastructure engineer at Stripe, helping operate global payments at high reliability. Key Topics (with context) -Beyond “chatbots” to an AI CSR: Why the bar is task completion, not conversation quality. Delegation + trust: What changes when AI becomes a coworker you can assign work to (and verify). -System-of-record reality: How Cara is designed to sit on top of existing tools instead of forcing a rip-and-replace. -Agency workflow fit: Where service volume lives (certificates, policy changes, routine requests) and what can be automated safely. -Voice + email automation: The operational implications when AI can handle phone calls and inbox-driven work. -Cost control vs service expectations: How leaders reconcile staffing constraints with rising customer expectations. -Guardrails + change management: What “safe automation” looks like in regulated, high-trust environments. Quotes -Nikhil: “It’s a coworker that you can delegate certain tasks to — and you can trust that it gets completed end‑to‑end.” -Nikhil: “Cara is not a replacement for an AMS; it’s more of a coordinator on top of your system of record.” -Nikhil: “Cara can pick up the phone, speak to the customer, and understand what they’re calling about.” Resources Mentioned Nikhil Kansal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikansal/ Cara: https://www.getcara.ai/ Joshua Hollander: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ If you lead service, ops, or growth at an agency, MGA, carrier, or insurtech: subscribe for operator-level conversations. - Follow/subscribe on YouTube - Subscribe on your podcast platform (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, etc.) - Share the episode with the colleague who owns service capacity and staffing plans

Medical malpractice is one of the most established specialty lines—and one of the hardest to modernize. In this episode of the InsurTech Leadership Podcast, Joshua Hollander sits down with Jared Kaplan, Co‑Founder & CEO of Indigo Technologies, to unpack why MedMal is finally ready for a different underwriting and distribution model. Indigo’s bet: you can make MedMal dramatically easier for physicians and brokers without relaxing underwriting discipline—by replacing slow, form-heavy workflows with alternative data, machine learning, and tight operational execution. Guest Bio Jared Kaplan is the Co‑Founder and CEO of Indigo Technologies. Indigo is rethinking medical malpractice insurance with an approach that combines broker-friendly distribution, faster quoting, and underwriting models informed by large-scale claims data and alternative data signals. Key Topics -Why MedMal is “built to resist change”: entrenched processes, long feedback loops, and the real cost of underwriting mistakes. -Underwriting without an application: what replaces the traditional intake and how you maintain discipline. -Alternative data in a high-stakes line: how Indigo uses a broad feature set (beyond prior claims history) to improve risk selection. -Risk segmentation and value creation: lowering premiums for the “overpaid” majority while avoiding the concentrated loss drivers. -The 80/20 claims reality: the small portion of physicians that drives a disproportionate share of MedMal claims. -Brokers as the distribution partner of the future: what modern carriers/MGAs must do to earn broker trust and share. -Operating model over buzzwords: where the real leverage is—quote speed, workflow simplicity, and consistency. Quotes -Jared: “We started with the premise that you don’t need an application.” -Jared: “I would argue Indigo is the baby of both… online distribution… and underwriting using alternative data and machine learning.” -Jared: “There’s no one else there that can figure out the twenty percent of docs that are driving sixty percent of the claims.” Resources Indigo Technologies (company site): https://www.getindigo.com/ Jared Kaplan (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-kaplan-683412/ If you work in specialty insurance, broker distribution, MGAs, or underwriting modernization, this one is a pragmatic look at where AI actually earns its keep. Subscribe for more operator-grade conversations on insurtech, insurance innovation, and leadership—and if you found value here, leave a review to help more executives discover the show.

Introduction Josh Hollander sits down with Vishal Sankhla, Co‑Founder & CEO of OutMarket, to get specific about what “AI in insurance” looks like when it actually changes operations. The focus is commercial insurance workflows—where work still runs through email, PDFs, spreadsheets, and agency management systems—and how to cut cycle time and errors without creating new risk. Guest bio Vishal Sankhla has led product teams at Uber and Meta and previously served as Head of Product at Ethos Life, helping build profitable acquisition channels, the underwriting engine, and the agency partners business. At OutMarket, he’s building an intelligence layer for commercial insurance: agent-assisted workflows that make teams faster and more consistent. Key topics discussed Why AI pilots stall: fragmented data, manual handoffs, and inconsistent processes across the submission-to-bind journey. Data first, workflows second: where insurance data lives, how it breaks, and why workflow redesign is the unlock. Policy intelligence: turning policies into structure so teams can summarize coverage, surface gaps, and improve proposals. Servicing and renewals: reducing back-and-forth, re-keying, and avoidable errors with agent-assisted workflows. Integration reality: fitting into agency management systems and carrier ecosystems instead of trying to replace them. Measuring impact: cycle time, hit rate, and error reduction (not vanity metrics). Trust, privacy, isolation: what it takes to earn permission to touch sensitive client data. Quotes “Because so much of this is happening manually, I think a lot of this data tends to get very, very fragmented.” “we built workflows that now literally allow them to drag and drop, and within a few seconds, they know exactly a quick summary” “We've seen a lot of use cases where people are now winning their businesses because of some AI workflows.” Resources mentioned OutMarket Uber Meta Ethos Life Call to action Subscribe for more operator-grade conversations on insurance and insurtech. On YouTube, drop a comment with the workflow you’d most like to fix—and why it’s stuck today.

Most "core modernization" programs fail for one boring reason: fragmentation. Not the tech. The contract sequencing, the handoffs, the Excel that becomes the unofficial system of record-and the silent operational risk that follows. If you're still running underwriting, claims, billing, and reinsurance as separate truths, you're not modernizing. You're just integrating failure modes. Rob Lewis, CEO of INTX Insurance Software, has built and operated carriers and a reinsurer across Africa, Europe, and now the U.S .- and he's watched the same breakdown repeat: end-to-end change gets blocked by sunk contracts, so teams stitch together workarounds and call it progress. His most telling data point: a material share of underwriters still rely on Excel as the "core," even inside serious organizations. Join live if you want to pressure-test your own replacement path-what to replace first, what not to touch, and where "phase it in" quietly guarantees permanent manual work. #InsurTech #InsuranceOperations

Claims ops keeps buying “automation” that quietly adds work: more review, more disputes, more cycle time. The real villain is verification overhead—when you still have to check everything, “80% automated” is a new cost center disguised as progress. Ralph von Grafenstein, Founder/CEO, DocuSketch, has lived the messy middle of property claims: documentation fights, estimate friction, and payout delays between restorers and carriers. His model is blunt: shrink cycle time by redesigning the workflow and centralizing quality—not by selling buzzwords. Join us if you’re wrestling with vendor ROI, cycle-time targets, or post-cat documentation chaos. #Insurance #Claims

Your Core Isn’t Legacy—Your Stack Is

Most claims “AI programs” die the same way: you buy models, bolt them onto core, and discover your data can’t support event-driven decisions. The result isn’t bad predictions—it’s diary-driven claims, slow closes, reserve noise, and a false sense of progress. Heather Wilson (CEO) and Mubeen Rabbani (CPO) at Clara Analytics have lived this at scale: thousands of claims triaged daily, with alerts tied to measurable financial lift and operational impact. Their thesis is blunt—AI value is an operating model problem, and the hidden constraint is ingestion, normalization, and mapping across messy, multi-source claims data. Join live if you want to review your current approach: what breaks first, what to measure, and what changes when claims becomes always-on instead of scheduled. #InsurTech #Claims

Insurance isn’t short on “AI demos.” It’s short on AI that actually survives real workflows—submissions, audits, claims intake, policy comparison, compliance. Aman Gour (CEO, FurtherAI) breaks down what agentic AI actually means in practice, why “accuracy you can trust” is the real moat, and how teams move from one automated workflow to a platform-wide operating layer. What you’ll hear (high-signal takeaways) Agentic AI, defined plainly: a loop where the system executes, checks, and self-corrects until the output is right (not just “extract text from PDFs”). The winning wedge in insurance AI: workflow outcomes and reliability—not model hype. Why “one platform” matters: insurers don’t want 10 tools; they want a workspace that expands from one workflow to many. Where the real leverage is: unstructured intake + decision workflows (submissions, claims/FNOL-adjacent intake, audits, policy comparison). The operator reality: adoption happens when humans stay in control, with review points, auditability, and explainable outputs. The closing theme: speed is useless without intent—“hustle with purpose.” Chapters (timestamps) 00:00 — Intro + Aman’s background 00:36 — What FurtherAI does (where insurance ops actually bleed time) 02:22 — What “agentic AI” means (in the real world) 03:35 — The agentic loop: do → check → correct → final output 09:28 — “Not a ChatGPT alternative” (what a real platform is) 15:18 — What makes teams successful adopting AI in production 28:03 — One-person unicorn vs. small elite teams with leverage 28:56 — Closing: hustle with purpose (Margaret Mead quote) Notable Comments  03:35–04:07 — Agentic loop: execute, reflect, correct until it’s right. 09:28–09:35 — “It’s not just a data extraction platform… It’s not a ChatGPT alternative.” 28:56–29:22 — “Never doubt that a small group… can change the world… Hustle with purpose.” Guest + Company Links FurtherAI: https://www.furtherai.com/ Aman Gour (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/amangour/ About Our Guest Aman Gour, CEO of FurtherAI — a Y Combinator-backed startup bringing automation and AI to the most unglamorous, yet mission-critical parts of insurance. Aman’s a two-time founder, product builder, and storyteller-in-progress — who’s helping rewire how insurers handle submissions, audits, and claims intake. #InsurTech #Insurance #AI #AgenticAI #Underwriting #Claims #WorkflowAutomation

"Best-of-breed” feels like the sophisticated choice—until you try to run a scaled brokerage platform on it. The failure isn’t theoretical: inconsistent data, fragile integrations, impossible governance, and post-close execution drift. That’s where value leaks—quietly, expensively, and usually after the deal is already signed. I’m going live with Trevor Bunker, Chief Customer Officer, Applied Systems. Trevor sits with large agencies and broker platforms that have lived both models: system-agnostic sprawl and hard consolidation. His point is direct: if you can’t get a single view of the truth, you can’t govern performance—especially across lines, geographies, and acquisitions. Join live if you’re making platform decisions, planning conversions, or trying to de-risk integration timelines. #InsurTech #MergersAndAcquisitions

When fraud pressure rises, carriers tighten controls. The hidden cost: cycle time balloons, adjusters burn out, and your best customers feel like suspects. That’s how you leak value—quietly—over quarters. In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Joshua R. Hollander speaks with Clearspeed's CEO Alex Martin about how his view that the fix isn’t “better fraud analytics.” It’s a trust layer that changes routing early: accelerate clean cases, escalate exceptions. Watch live if you’re reworking FNOL, underwriting triage, or straight-through processing.

AI Won’t Fix Intake Without an Operating Model

Today on The InsurTech Leadership Podcast, we’re joined by Jane Tran, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Sixfold AI—a fast-growing InsurTech that’s reimagining the underwriting process through the practical use of artificial intelligence. Jane’s journey started on Wall Street at JP Morgan, followed by leadership roles in strategy and innovation at Marsh and MetLife. She then became part of the founding team at Unqork, where she helped scale the no-code pioneer into a global enterprise before co-founding Sixfold. Now, Jane is helping insurers harness AI to understand risk faster, more accurately, and with greater transparency. We’ll talk about how Sixfold is transforming underwriting from an art into a science, what “responsible AI” really means in insurance, and how Jane’s leadership philosophy—rooted in precision, empathy, and mentorship—is shaping an exciting InsurTech.

Today on The InsurTech Leadership Podcast, we’re joined by Jonathan Shapiro, Co-founder and Director of Optalitix, a company transforming how insurers and financial services organizations make data-driven decisions. Jon’s background uniquely bridges software engineering, AI innovation, and entrepreneurial leadership. At Optalitix, he’s helped build a platform that turns data models into live, scalable applications—empowering actuaries, underwriters, and analysts to deploy AI at the heart of business workflows. We’ll explore how Optalitix is helping insurers use AI responsibly to price risk, improve customer outcomes, and build smarter systems—and how Jon’s approach to leadership and technology has shaped one of the UK’s most innovative InsurTech success stories.

Today on The InsurTech Leadership Podcast, we’re joined by Trace Meek, a third-generation insurance agency owner turned tech innovator and the CEO of Ask Fetch. After years of battling endless PDFs, Excel files, and underwriting emails, Trace built Ellie AI—a conversational assistant that can answer carrier underwriting questions in seconds. Trace’s story is one of pure practicality: taking real problems from the agency floor and translating them into intelligent automation. We’ll talk about how his team “21×-ed” their agency’s efficiency, the Garbage Can Theory that keeps operations sane, and what AI can realistically do today to help agencies scale smarter.

Today on The InsurTech Leadership Podcast, we’re heading to the intersection of automotive technology, AI, and user experience with Rauno Sigur, CEO and Co-Founder of DriveX Technologies. DriveX is an Estonia-based startup using AI-driven image recognition and remote-inspection tools to help insurers, leasing companies, and fleet managers verify vehicle condition instantly—without an adjuster ever leaving the desk. Rauno calls himself a car enthusiast, metal-music fan, and role-playing-game guy—and his passion for both engineering and authenticity has shaped DriveX into one of Europe’s most agile “spartan” InsurTech teams. We’ll talk about how DriveX is redefining trust between insurers and policyholders, where AI fits into the inspection process, and what it takes to keep a small, high-performing startup team firing on all cylinders.

Today on The InsurTech Leadership Podcast host Joshua Hollander speaks with Kobi Bendelak, Founder and CEO of InsurTech Israel—a global ecosystem builder connecting startups, investors, and insurers from over 50 countries. Under Kobi’s leadership, InsurTech Israel has launched multiple international innovation hubs, built a global accelerator that’s produced standout startups in AI, cyber, and climate insurance, and helped elevate Israel’s position as one of the world’s leading InsurTech hubs. We’ll talk about the new hubs launched in Guatemala and Slovenia, how InsurTech Israel is surfacing emerging founders from underrepresented markets, and what’s next for collaboration in the global InsurTech landscape.

Ty Harris is CEO and co-founder of Openly, a VC-backed startup reinventing homeowners insurance for independent agents. Before founding Openly in 2017, Ty co-founded Quote Hopper and spent 12+ years at Liberty Mutual, where he rose to EVP & Chief Product Officer overseeing $18B in premium across Liberty and Safeco brands, plus $3B across 17 countries. Earlier in his career, he lectured in economics and statistics at MIT and Northeastern, and began as a research assistant at Brookings. A Duke and MIT alum, Ty is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS).

In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Joshua Hollander speaks with Ali Azhar, Chief Business Development Officer at Hover, a leading prop-tech and insurtech company leveraging advanced AI and 3D spatial data to streamline property assessments and claims processes. Ali shares his remarkable personal journey—from childhood entrepreneurial efforts driven by "altruistic capitalism" to founding and scaling tech companies, including ScholarshipExperts.com, and his pivot into software sales following an impactful business failure. His candid reflections offer valuable insights into resilience, reinvention, and leadership. Ali also explains Hover’s groundbreaking technology, initially developed from military-inspired photogrammetry, and details how contractors "Trojan-horsed" Hover into the insurance industry. With over 10 million properties modeled, Hover's innovative approach significantly improves accuracy, reduces manual errors, and supports digital transformation across insurance and construction. In This Episode: [02:19] Ali’s entrepreneurial roots and how overcoming business failure led to career reinvention. [11:33] Hover’s unique technology origin story and entry into the insurance market. [20:37] Why user experience and adjuster adoption are central to Hover’s growth. [22:40] Hover’s aggressive investment in innovation—allocating 50% of revenue to R&D. [25:33] The evolution of Hover’s interior claims automation from challenging beginnings to industry-leading solution. [29:39] Critical advice for insurtech startups: Be an innovation partner, not just a vendor. Notable Quotes: “Insurance carriers are not technology businesses—they’re risk aversion experts. We have to meet them where they are.” [32:49] “The thing that always helped separate me from anyone else was I was willing to do more than what was asked.” [00:08:55] “Our bread and butter has been the exterior scoping solution. Over 10 years, we've modeled over 10 million properties.” [00:23:14] About Our Guest:   Ali Azhar is a sales and business development leader with a proven track record of driving exponential revenue growth at companies like HOVER, GoodData, and MongoDB. A serial entrepreneur, he co-founded ventures like ScholarshipExperts.com and Velocity Athletics. Known for scaling teams, adding thousands of customers, and executing high-impact strategies, Ali combines hands-on startup experience with corporate leadership. He holds a degree in Management and Marketing from the University of North Florida and champions "altruistic capitalism" in business. Resources: Ali Azhar https://www.linkedin.com/in/aazhar/ https://hover.to/ Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true https://www.insurtechassociation.org/ https://innsure.org/

What if insurance data weren’t just extracted—but earned? In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Josh Hollander sits down with Elan Nyer, CEO and Co-Founder of Ownli, to explore how policyholders can take control of their data and become active participants in the insurance value chain. Elan shares how Ownli enables consumers to share verified, first-party data—such as mileage, location, and vehicle condition—directly with insurers, creating a permissioned, transparent data marketplace. This shift not only improves underwriting and claims accuracy but also strengthens engagement between insurers and policyholders. The conversation also dives into AI-driven verification, flexible integration models, and the larger opportunity to serve untapped, non-telematics users. Elan’s vision turns traditional data collection on its head—empowering individuals to own, protect, and profit from their digital footprint. In This Episode: [00:59] Elan’s background in automotive data and connected mobility [03:01] The founding insight behind Ownli: data control and transparency [05:00] Verified use cases: mileage, parking location, and condition check-ins [09:35] Serving non-telematics users with valuable, self-reported insights [12:06] Verifying user-submitted data with AI and 11-layer model architecture [14:00] Ownli’s revenue-sharing model where users benefit from their data [16:30] Three integration paths: SDK, web portal, and standalone app [22:16] Building a verified “insurance profile” to streamline quoting and renewal [30:12] Regulatory challenges and advocating for individual data ownership   Notable Quotes:  “If I had verified mileage and condition on my policy, my claim would have been resolved in 24 hours. Instead, it took months.” – Elan Nyer “Your data is an asset—just like money in a bank. We’re building the platform to help you own it, protect it, and earn from it.” – Elan Nyer   Our Guest: Elan Nyer is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ownli, a platform that empowers consumers to share verified, first-party insurance data through a consent-first marketplace. Previously, he led teams at Mobileye and Nexar, focusing on automotive safety and connected vehicle intelligence.   Resources: Elan Nyer – LinkedIn | Ownli Josh Hollander –  LinkedIn | Horton International | Insurtech Leadership Show

In a world where digital transactions are the norm, why are many insurers still processing paper checks for claims settlements? In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Josh Hollander talks with Shannon Elsea, founder of Settlement Done Easy, about bringing a faster, more secure approach to third-party claims. Drawing on his 30 years as a personal injury attorney, Shannon highlights the inefficiencies of traditional check-based settlements and explains how digital solutions can help both insurers and legal professionals streamline the final steps of the claims process. They also explore how Settlement Done Easy bridges compliance and security requirements—like SOC 2 and NACHA—to address legal and ethical considerations. Shannon sheds light on what it takes to bootstrap a startup in insurance, the support he’s found in insurtech communities, and the potential to eventually offer same-day settlements.   In This Episode: [00:10] Introduction to Shannon - Shannon’s background as a personal injury lawyer and why he built Settlement Done Easy to cut down on payment delays. [00:49] The Real Cost of Paper Checks - Insight into why paper-based settlements are slow, prone to theft, and surprisingly expensive. [02:27] Paying Third-Party Claimants - How Settlement Done Easy addresses the compliance gap when sending funds to individuals, attorneys, and law firms. [07:04] Security at the Core - An overview of the platform’s SOC 2- and NACHA-compliant approach to safeguarding transactions. [18:34] Future of Same-Day Settlements- Exploring the potential for accelerating ACH timelines even further to meet market demand. [00:25:41] Bootstrapping a Startup - Shannon’s journey from idea to prototype, and how mentorship and startup communities provided essential support. Notable Quotes [00:49] “We built Settlement Done Easy using current technology to replace the process of paper checks through the mail with an ACH payment.” – Shannon Elsea [02:27] “The challenge is, how do you pay the third-party claimant? How do you pay the represented claimant? And that’s where Settlement Done Easy comes into the mix.” – Shannon Elsea [11:54] “Over one billion dollars worth of checks are stolen out of the mail every year in the U.S.” – Shannon Elsea   Our Guest Shannon Elsea is the founder of Settlement Done Easy, a digital platform that replaces mailed paper checks with secure ACH payments. Leveraging his 30+ years of experience as a personal injury attorney, Shannon aims to expedite insurance settlements and reduce risk for insurers and legal professionals alike.   Resources and Links   Shannon Elsea  LinkedIn | Settlement Done Easy   Josh Hollander  LinkedIn | Horton International | Insurtech Leadership Show

The insurance industry faces mounting challenges to simplify financial operations and deliver fast, seamless claim payments. In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Joshua Hollander talks with Curt Hess, U.S. Executive Vice President of Vitesse, about how the company’s treasury and payment platform helps insurers, managing general agents, and third-party administrators gain real-time visibility over funds and streamline claims payments. They explore how Vitesse’s technology addresses long-standing pain points, such as managing complex cash flows and reconciling accounts among multiple stakeholders. Curt explains how real-time insights, trusted fund management, and digitized settlements can enhance both operational efficiency and the policyholder experience. He also shares his perspective on leading cross-border teams, navigating market differences, and partnering with private equity. Whether you’re an industry veteran or simply curious about the evolving landscape of insurance finance, this conversation provides an inside look at technology solutions reshaping treasury and claims processes.   In This Episode: [00:10] Introduction to Curt Hess - Meet the U.S. Executive Vice President of Vitesse and learn why his banking and treasury background fuels the company’s expansion strategy. [02:38] Real-Time Fund Visibility - Curt explains how Vitesse’s unified technology platform offers insurers real-time insights on fund flows, improving operational efficiency. [06:51] The “Last Mile” of Claims Payments - How Vitesse enables policyholders to choose their preferred payment method and reduces claim settlement times from weeks to hours. [10:40] Addressing Long-Standing Pain Points - A look at how historic inefficiencies—like scattered funds and time-consuming reconciliations—are being tackled with new solutions. [14:40] Navigating U.S. Market Differences - Key learnings from adapting a UK-born platform for the American insurance landscape, including regulatory nuances and client feedback. [25:34] Collaboration with KKR - Curt highlights Vitesse’s partnership with private equity firm KKR and how it supports the company’s strategic initiatives and growth. [28:24] The Industry’s Future - Curt’s perspective on how insurers are modernizing financial workflows in response to factors like inflation, natural disasters, and rising customer expectations.   Notable Quotes [00:07:31] "The last thing that a policyholder wants at the time of need is to worry about where their claim is and how they are going to get paid." – Curt Hess [00:20:06] "Bringing people over is super important because unless they come over and experience it, they really may not quite understand some of those differences that need to be addressed." – Curt Hess [00:23:31] "It's really important that the culture in Vitesse across the pond is the culture we want to build here in the U.S., around having humility, driving to succeed, and ultimately having a real client focus." – Curt Hess [00:28:24] "The industry is having to adapt with a number of headwinds, whether it's natural disasters, inflation, or social inflation driving things up with legal and court verdicts." – Curt Hess   Our Guest Curt Hess is the U.S. executive President of Vitesse, a global treasury and payment solutions provider specializing in the insurance industry. With a background in banking, he brings extensive experience in financial services. At Vitesse, Curt focuses on expanding operations, particularly in the U.S., and enhancing client-centric solutions for efficient claims processing and treasury management.   Resources and Links   Curt Hess https://www.linkedin.com/in/curt-hess-81425251 https://www.vitesse.io/   Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true

Commercial insurance is a billion-dollar industry—but behind the scenes, it’s a mess. Agents are buried in outdated processes, struggling to keep up with client needs and fighting to prove their value in a system that just isn’t built for efficiency. So, what if there was a better way? What if technology could finally give agents the tools they need to move beyond paperwork and actually reduce risk for their clients?   In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Joshua Hollander sits down with Lawson Condell, CEO and founder of Riskbly, to talk about how he’s tackling these challenges head-on. Riskbly is a platform designed to modernize the fractured and siloed processes that have long plagued commercial insurance, giving agents real-time insights and better ways to manage risk.   Lawson shares his journey from working at major corporations like Oracle and Thomson Reuters to launching a platform built specifically to empower commercial agents. They dive into what’s broken in the industry, why white-label solutions are a game-changer, and how Riskbly is helping agents shift from simply selling policies to becoming true risk advisors. Plus, Lawson reflects on how his military background shaped his leadership style and what he sees as the future of commercial insurance in a tech-driven world.   If you’re ready to see how technology is rewriting the rules of commercial insurance, this is an episode you won’t want to miss. Let’s dive in! In This Episode: [00:40] Founding Riskbly – Lawson’s motivation behind creating Riskbly for commercial agents. [01:07] Challenges in Commercial Insurance – The fragmented and manual processes in commercial insurance communication. [02:37] Building the Riskbly Platform – The development of Riskbly, aimed at improving agent-client interactions. [03:41] Real-Time Insights for Agents – The platform provides agents with real-time insights and risk management tools. [04:40] The Role of Agents as Risk Advisors – The importance of agents acting as risk advisors to clients. [08:48] Product Evolution – The ongoing evolution and future features of the Riskbly platform. [09:57] Team and Development – Lawson shares how he assembled his development team for product creation. [12:50] Data Analysis Capabilities – Exploration of the platform's ability to analyze data for client benefits. [16:23] Target Audience for Riskbly – The platform caters to both existing commercial agents and newcomers. [18:01] Best Practices for Successful Agents – Insights on what makes successful agents stand out. [21:03] Risk Management Transparency – How Riskbly helps demonstrate risk management efforts to insurers for better premium rates. [22:01] Comparison with Oracle – Lawson compares his tech startup experience with his time at Oracle, emphasizing platform flexibility. [25:00] Military Experience Influence – Lawson reflects on how his military background shaped his leadership philosophy and approach to business. [29:05] Client Relationships and Value Perception – The need to continually earn client trust and adapt to changing perceptions of value. Notable Quotes [00:04:26] "I come in as the risk advising agent wanting to lower your total cost of risk. We go through a diagnosis, and I find these things. You agree on it, but in six months or a year, I come back, and you haven’t done anything. It’s a frustrating process." – Lawson Condell   [00:14:10] "We are here to support the agent. We are here to make that agent that partners with us the very best. I promise to each agency, to each agent, I’m here to make you better. My team’s here to make you better." – Lawson Condell   [00:28:13] "I think if you try to stay as close to the client and your employees as you can, and I don't mean emotionally close, I mean in the trenches with them, helping them out, figuring out what motivates them, it makes a difference." – Lawson Condell   Our Guest Lawson Condell, CEO and founder of Riskbly, a platform designed to empower commercial insurance agents with tools to manage risk, streamline operations, and deliver better value to their clients. With a background in corporate America, including roles at Oracle and Thomson Reuters, Lawson brings a wealth of experience in SaaS solutions and commercial insurance. A former military officer, Lawson’s leadership philosophy is deeply influenced by his time in the Air Force.   Resources and Links   Lawson Condell https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawson-condell/ https://www.riskbly.com/   Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurt

In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Josh Hollander welcomes Nakita Devlin, CEO and Co-founder of Ric, who shares how her company is democratizing parametric insurance products for everyday Americans. Unlike traditional catastrophe coverage, Ric's approach focuses on immediate, predefined payouts triggered by meteorological events rather than complex damage assessments.   Devlin, drawing from her background as an insurance broker specializing in catastrophe coverage, explains how Ric is transforming parametric insurance from an enterprise-focused product into an accessible consumer offering. Their flagship flood product, launching in 2025, offers a $10,000 payout for $14 monthly, using only meteorological data for triggering events – a significant departure from traditional flood insurance's complex underwriting requirements.   Key Insights:  Reimagining Distribution: Rather than traditional insurance channels, Ric is partnering with employers to offer parametric coverage during benefits enrollment, positioning it alongside standard offerings like dental insurance Simplified Underwriting: Breaking from traditional catastrophe policies, Ric uses only meteorological data instead of extensive property information, making coverage more accessible and equitable Rapid Response Focus: Products designed for immediate payouts to cover both property damage and financial disruption, addressing gaps in traditional coverage that can take months to pay claims Workforce Resilience: Targeting employers whose workforces face climate risks, positioning parametric coverage as a business continuity tool Market Evolution: Using micro-parametric products to help insurers re-enter challenging markets with controlled exposure through capped payouts   Notable Quotes: "Insurance has a really big role to play in creating adaptability and resilience against climate change - not just for Fortune 500 companies, but for your average American." - [20:08] Nakita Devlin   "We think that for most Americans, even if you're making $100k a year, you're still living paycheck to paycheck... [they] shouldn't be penalized because they didn't know their home isn't properly protected for flood that's happening in 2025." - [38:57] Nakita Devlin   Key Topics Covered: [09:16] Journey from catastrophe broker to insurtech founder [15:10] Innovative distribution through employee benefits [24:27] Structuring capacity as an MGA [31:08] Product pivot based on market feedback [38:22] Strategic focus on meteorological data [41:03] Future of public-private climate partnerships   About Our Guest: Nakita Devlin is the CEO and Co-founder of Ric, bringing deep expertise from her background as a catastrophe insurance broker. Her experience managing large-scale disaster coverage programs inspired Ric's mission to make parametric insurance accessible to everyday Americans. Under her leadership, Ric is pioneering new distribution channels and simplified underwriting approaches to address climate resilience gaps. Resources: Nakita Delvin https://www.helloric.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nakita-devlin-38155916   Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true https://www.insurtechassociation.org/ https://innsure.org/

How do today’s leaders navigate the fast-paced evolution of the insurtech space? What does it take to leverage cutting-edge technology while building sustainable and impactful businesses? From balancing innovation with operational rigor to fostering collaboration across diverse teams, leadership in insurtech requires vision, adaptability, and a relentless focus on solving customer challenges. This episode features Ben Jennings, CEO of Embroker, discussing his leadership journey and how Embroker is leading the Insurtech 2.0 movement. Ben explores the critical balance between technological innovation and insurance expertise to deliver exceptional customer value. He also shares insights into leadership transitions, building team alignment, and creating a culture of humility and collaboration. Key Insights: - How Embroker leads the Insurtech 2.0 movement. - Practical applications of AI for a seamless customer buying experience. - The importance of radical prioritization and focus in leadership. - Balancing profitable growth with innovation. Featured Conversations: - [00:00:39] Observations on the tech-forward vibe at ITC 2024. - [00:01:33] Leading the Insurtech 2.0 movement. - [00:03:46] Using AI to transform customer experiences. - [00:08:01] Transitioning from Chief Revenue Officer to CEO. - [00:14:08] Advice for aspiring leaders on humility and continuous learning. Notable Quote: "Success in Insurtech 2.0 comes from balancing advanced technology with insurance expertise to deliver exceptional customer value." – Ben Jennings Resources: - Embroker: [embroker.com](https://embroker.com) - LinkedIn: [Ben Jennings](https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjennings) Tune in for Ben’s insights on how to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving insurtech landscape. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

What does it take to lead and innovate in the rapidly evolving insurtech space? How can companies leverage cutting-edge technology to address customer challenges while building sustainable and impactful businesses? This episode features Xing Xin, CEO and Co-Founder of Upfort, sharing how his company is redefining cyber resilience through the integration of advanced cybersecurity and insurance solutions. Xing discusses how Upfort reduces risk for small and mid-sized businesses by leveraging AI, fostering collaboration between tech and insurance professionals, and expanding into personal cyber solutions. Key Insights: - Upfort’s mission to enhance cyber resilience. - Using AI to reduce claim frequency by up to 75%. - Building a balanced team culture combining tech and insurance expertise. - Managing dual distribution strategies for enterprises and SMBs. Featured Conversations: - [00:02:12] Reflections on ITC and the evolution of the insurtech community. - [00:05:56] Upfort’s innovative approach to cyber resilience. - [00:24:40] Expanding into personal cyber solutions. Notable Quote: “Too many people start from the technology instead of the business problem. Our focus is always on solving real-world challenges through innovation.” – Xing Xin Resources: - Upfort: [upfort.com](https://upfort.com) - LinkedIn: [Xing Xin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/xingxin) Discover how Xing is leading the way in cyber resilience. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

Life insurance is being transformed through technology, streamlining processes and empowering agents and clients alike. This episode features Angus Dunn, Nick Bowman, and Xuejun Tao of Xcela, sharing how they are enhancing life insurance through AI. The conversation delves into overcoming legacy challenges, building trust through data security, and reshaping the role of agents to deliver value to clients efficiently. Key Insights: - Xcela’s mission to enhance life insurance sales and distribution. - Using AI to transform life insurance processes. - Strategies for market adaptation and building client trust. - Overcoming legacy issues in the insurance sector. Featured Conversations: - [00:02:39] Overview of Xcela's mission and collaborative development. - [00:09:09] The agent's perspective on technology adoption. - [00:20:30] Navigating long sales cycles in insurance. Notable Quotes: "Now everything is possible, and how we actually make things happen is by taking a new approach to apply AI, especially to help the specific industry." – Xuejun Tao   "I really don’t like to build products before selling them. If you can sell it, you can build it." – Angus Dunn     Resources: Xcela: https://life.xcela.ai/ LinkedIn: Angus Dunn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/angus-dunn-2827b2) LinkedIn: Nick Bowman (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-bowman-cfp%C2%AE-ms-cep%C2%AE-9bb31743) LinkedIn: Xuejun Tao (https://www.linkedin.com/in/xuejun-tao-0998594)   Tune in to hear how Xcela is revolutionizing the life insurance industry. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

How can technology simplify life insurance sales and empower agents to deliver exceptional service? This episode features Hilliard Milner, Co-Founder of Optifino, discussing how AI and holistic solutions are modernizing the life insurance industry. Hilliard explores overcoming legacy challenges, fostering growth, and the importance of providing agents with the right tools to succeed. Key Insights: Optifino’s vision to streamline life insurance with AI. Empowering agents through user-friendly platforms. Addressing legacy challenges and creating holistic solutions. Featured Conversations: [00:00:39] Optifino’s platform overview. [00:05:05] Challenges with lead generation and engaging carriers. [00:23:22] Future vision for the company. Notable Quote: “My co-founder has extensive experience in life insurance, and we specialize in complicated cases because we have the subject matter experts and our technology adds massive value.” – Hilliard Milner Resources: Optifino: com LinkedIn: Hilliard Milner Learn how Optifino is shaping the future of life insurance. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

How do traditional players in insurance leverage technology to modernize while maintaining their heritage? This episode features Steve Johnson, Founder of Insured.IO, discussing how user experience drives customer retention and supports digital transformation in the insurance industry. Steve shares insights into building a scalable SaaS platform, overcoming resistance to digital change, and fostering trust through seamless technology. Key Insights: The importance of user experience in customer retention. Transitioning from professional services to a scalable SaaS model. Overcoming resistance to digital transformation. Featured Conversations: [00:20] The impact of user experience on customer retention. [05:00] Transitioning from professional services to a scalable SaaS platform. [09:10] Overcoming resistance to digital transformation in established markets. Notable Quote: "Trust is earned one interaction at a time, and technology helps us get there faster." – Steve Johnson Resources: IO: insured.io LinkedIn: Steve Johnson Tune in to discover how Steve Johnson is modernizing insurance through a user-first approach. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

How can established insurers innovate while staying true to their roots? This episode features Carlos Cendre, Scouting and Investment Lead at MAPFRE, discussing how global strategies, partnerships, and emerging trends like embedded and parametric insurance drive modernization. Carlos highlights MAPFRE’s approach to addressing challenges like climate change and cybersecurity through strategic collaborations. Key Insights: MAPFRE’s global strategy and its significant presence in LATAM markets. Building partnerships to address issues like climate change and cybersecurity. Leveraging trends like embedded and parametric insurance. Featured Conversations: [00:05] Insights into MAPFRE’s global strategy. [06:40] Building strategic partnerships to tackle emerging challenges. [09:30] Staying competitive through embedded and parametric insurance. Notable Quote: "Innovation doesn’t replace tradition; it builds upon it." – Carlos Cendre Resources: MAPFRE: com LinkedIn: Carlos Cendre Learn how MAPFRE blends innovation with tradition to redefine insurance. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

Is collaboration the key to modernizing the insurance industry? This episode features Dorothy Kelly, VP of Innovation at Verisk, sharing how her team fosters a culture of innovation through employee-driven ideas and customer-focused solutions. Dorothy dives into how Verisk integrates cross-divisional data to create impactful products and the role of data as the currency of the future. Key Insights: Fostering innovation through employee-generated ideas. Aligning innovation efforts with customer needs. Integrating cross-divisional data for impactful solutions. Featured Conversations: [00:15] Verisk’s approach to fostering innovation. [03:30] Aligning innovation with real-world challenges. [07:00] Leveraging data to create impactful solutions. Notable Quote: "Data is the currency of the future, and we’re here to help companies spend it wisely." – Dorothy Kelly Resources: Verisk: com LinkedIn: Dorothy Kelly Explore how Verisk is leading the charge in data-driven innovation. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

How is AI transforming the insurance industry? In this episode, Leandro DalleMule, Global Head of Insurance at Planck, shares insights into moving beyond buzzwords to implement AI solutions that solve specific business problems. Leandro discusses how Planck focuses on underwriting pain points and integrates actionable insights to drive meaningful outcomes in insurance operations. Key Insights: The evolution of AI in insurance from experimental to practical applications. Transitioning from data management to AI-driven insights. Solving underwriting pain points with tailored AI solutions. Featured Conversations: [01:35] Leandro’s background in insurance analytics. [07:47] Achieving product-market fit with early AI adopters. [09:48] Focusing on carrier-specific challenges with AI. Notable Quote: "We never really framed it as, you need AI. We always try to frame it in terms of your pain points from an insurance, very specific carrier point of view." – Leandro DalleMule Resources: Planck: com LinkedIn: Leandro DalleMule Learn how AI is driving practical innovation in underwriting. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

How can insurers deliver frictionless experiences using technology? This episode features Dennis Ellis, General Manager of Insurance at Credit Karma, discussing how his team integrates credit and behavioral data to simplify insurance processes. Dennis explores Credit Karma’s focus on creating seamless user experiences and overcoming integration challenges in the insurance industry. Key Insights: Creating frictionless insurance experiences through technology. Leveraging credit and behavioral data to connect insurance opportunities. Building awareness for insurance offerings post-acquisition. Featured Conversations: [01:50] Transitioning from Zendrive to Credit Karma. [09:22] Making insurance experiences frictionless. [23:01] Connecting credit data with insurance opportunities. Notable Quote: "What we focus on in all of our products, but in insurance especially, is how do we create a marketplace that allows people to have kind of frictionless certainty?" – Dennis Ellis Resources: Credit Karma: com/insurance LinkedIn: Dennis Ellis Discover how Credit Karma is revolutionizing insurance experiences. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

How can AI enhance claims processing while maintaining the human element? This episode features Sean Merat, CEO of Owl.co, exploring the transformative potential of AI in claims management. Sean explains how Owl.co’s AI-powered solutions reduce mundane tasks, enabling claims professionals to focus on high-value decisions while ensuring compliance and ethical considerations. Key Insights: co’s approach to claims insights and automation. The importance of balancing automation with human judgment. Addressing compliance and ethical considerations in claims data. Featured Conversations: [01:50] Sean’s journey into insurance technology. [03:34] Maintaining the human element in AI-driven decisions. [05:46] Ensuring compliance and ethical standards in claims processing. Notable Quote: "Even though we're an AI company, we think that AI should be working on mundane aspects of day-to-day lives, but the decisioning should always be on the human." – Sean Merat Resources: co: owl.co LinkedIn: Sean Merat Explore how AI is reshaping claims management with Owl.co. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

How can technology simplify small commercial insurance delivery? This episode features David McFarland, CEO of Coterie, exploring how his team leverages technology to eliminate inefficiencies and empower distribution partners. David shares insights into creating “stupidly easy” solutions for small businesses, navigating the MGA market, and building strong relationships with reinsurers. Key Insights: Simplifying small commercial insurance with accessible technology. Evolution and future of the MGA market. Practical applications of AI to streamline insurance operations. Featured Conversations: [02:00] From actuarial insights to identifying market opportunities. [19:29] Making insurance operations “stupidly easy.” [27:28] Navigating reinsurance relationships and capital requirements. Notable Quote: "We seek to make life easy for our distribution partners... we really strive to make it stupidly easy to get a BOP, GL, miscellaneous professional liability for that small business owner." – David McFarland Resources: Coterie: com LinkedIn: David McFarland Discover how Coterie is revolutionizing small commercial insurance. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

How can automation address the insurance industry’s biggest operational burdens? This episode features Carl Ziadé, Co-Founder of Gaya, discussing how his company tackles inefficiencies like data entry while maintaining the human element in automated processes. Carl shares Gaya’s innovative approach to leveraging APIs and agent input to create scalable, user-friendly solutions. Key Insights: Addressing operational inefficiencies through sustainable automation. Importance of integrating technology with existing workflows. The role of AI in improving customer service operations. Featured Conversations: [02:33] Journey from Stanford Business School to insurance automation. [05:38] Solving the industry’s biggest pain points with “super copy, super paste.” [28:53] Maintaining the human element in automated processes. Notable Quote: "Data entry is the single biggest pain point this industry is struggling with... We need to get out of it." – Carl Ziadé Resources: Gaya: com LinkedIn: Carl Ziadé Learn how Gaya is streamlining insurance processes through innovation. Don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes.

In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, recorded live at the InsureTech Connect (ITC) conference, host Josh Hollander sits down with Bobbie Shrivastav and Renu Ann Joseph to discuss the launch of their groundbreaking book series, Momentum. The first book,  Makers and Builders Edition, showcases ten unfiltered stories from women making waves in insurtech, from bootstrapped founders to venture-backed entrepreneurs.    Through personal narratives and powerful imagery, this series documents the journeys of women founders who are reshaping the industry's future, addressing the stark reality of the 2% venture capital funding gap, and creating pathways for the next generation of female innovators.   Key Insights:  Overview of the "Momentum" book series and its mission to amplify women's voices in insurtech Unique structured-yet-unfiltered approach to sharing founders' experiences Strategic use of visual storytelling to make complex industry narratives accessible Celebration of diverse paths to success, from bootstrapped to venture-backed founders Impact of representation on inspiring young girls in tech and insurance Personal stories of resilience, including cancer survivors and industry pioneers Building a supportive ecosystem for women in insurtech Power of physical printed books in creating lasting impact and inspiration Plans for future editions focusing on resilience, leadership, and Gen Z innovators   Key Topics Covered: - [00:10] Introduction to Momentum and its mission - [01:09] Inspirational stories and unfiltered narratives - [02:44] Unique storytelling format combining photos and personal stories - [03:33] Launch experience and community support - [04:27] Impact of physical books on next generation - [06:08] Diverse founder journeys and paths to success - [08:59] Breaking through industry barriers and challenges - [10:08] Venture funding gaps and alternative success metrics - [11:18] Future plans for amplifying more voices - [13:33] Maintaining authenticity in storytelling Notable Quotes: "My daughter was telling me, 'How many books did you print?' I said, '150.' She asked, 'Can I be the 150th person to receive the book?' She's nine, and she's truly been my inspiration for my startups." - [03:33] - Bobbie   "There is a background on their own personal journey. How did they grow up? Why did they fall into insurance? How did they pick the ideas they worked on, and what are the barriers? It's very, very personal." - [06:08] - Renu   "One of them said, 'I did it,' because she almost backed out of writing her story, thinking she wasn't there yet. I told her, 'Your story needs to be told. You will get there.'" - [10:01] - Bobbie   "Many of these women have great businesses without taking a single penny of investor money. For me, that is a success story." - [11:11] - Renu   About Our Guests: Bobbie Shrivastav is a dynamic leader in the insurance and technology sectors, strongly focusing on promoting diversity and inclusion within the industry. As co-founder of Momentum, a groundbreaking book series, she works to amplify the voices of women, founders, and innovators shaping the future of insurtech. Through her work, Bobbie is dedicated to inspiring the next generation of leaders, advocating for resilience, creativity, and leadership in insurance and technology.   Dr. Renu Ann Joseph is a passionate advocate for diversity and innovation in the insurance and technology sectors. As co-founder of Momentum, a transformative book series, she amplifies the stories of women, founders, and industry leaders shaping the future of insurtech. Renu’s commitment to leadership, resilience, and creativity drives her work to inspire future generations and break barriers for underrepresented voices in the tech and insurance fields.   Resources: Bobbie Shrivastav https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbieshrivastav/ https://beacons.ai/bshrivastav https://themomentumbook.com/   Renu Ann Joseph https://www.linkedin.com/in/renu-ann-joseph-changemaker1/ https://themomentumbook.com/     Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true  https://www.insurtechassociation.org/  https://innsure.org/  Mentioned Momentum: Makers and Builders

Is voice analytics the next frontier in insurance risk assessment and fraud detection? How can military-grade technology transform insurance operations? In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Joshua R. Hollander sits down with Manjit Rana, Executive VP for UK, EMEA & APAC at ClearSpeed, to explore how their innovative voice analytics technology is revolutionizing risk assessment across multiple industries.   Key Insights: How ClearSpeed's military-derived voice analytics technology identifies risk in vocal responses Strategies for implementing new technology in the insurance industry The importance of attracting fresh talent to insurance through innovation Why disruption in insurance is likely to come from outside the industry The role of data ownership in future insurance models Manjit shares ClearSpeed's journey from military applications to insurance, offering valuable insights into their go to-market strategy and the challenges of introducing innovative technology to a traditionally conservative industry. The episode also examines how non-insurance sectors could potentially disrupt the insurance landscape through unique data assets and customer relationships In This Episode: [01:11] Career journey and transition to ClearSpeed [04:34] Explanation of ClearSpeed's voice analytics technology [12:03] Discussion of risk scoring and comparison to FICO scores [16:04] Implementation strategies and use cases [21:12] Go-to-market approach and creating FOMO in the marketplace [25:31] Addressing industry objections and concerns [30:27] Examples of industry disruption from outside players [36:28] Attracting talent to the insurance industry [38:34] The difference between digitization and true innovation   Notable Quotes:   "I honestly believe a few years down the line, this is going to be as common as a credit score. Now you're applying for a job and people are going to say, have you had a ClearSpeed test?" - [11:27] Manjit Rana   "If three of them manage to solve that problem or reduce that fraud, those fraudsters are not going away. They're just going to move to the other seven. If those other seven were already drowning anyway, this is just going to push them over the edge." - [24:39] Manjit Rana   "We don't promote that enough. We don't make insurance sound interesting and sexy enough to that next generation of smart talent, which we're absolutely going to need if we want this industry to stay relevant." - [37:04] Manjit Rana About Our Guest: Manjit Rana is the Executive VP for UK, EMEA & APAC at ClearSpeed, a company specializing in voice analytics technology for risk assessment. With over 13 years of experience as an InsurTech and Insurance Innovation thought leader, Manjit brings a unique perspective from working across multiple industries and roles, including technology companies, insurance carriers, and consultancy. He is also the Co-Founder of Synapse Ecosystems and serves as an advisor to various InsurTech companies Resources:   Manjit Rana https://www.linkedin.com/in/manjit-rana/  ClearSpeed https://www.clearspeed.com/  Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true  https://www.insurtechassociation.org/  https://innsure.org/

Fresh from InsurTech Connect 2024, where the industry gathered to discuss insurance innovation's past, present, and future, host Joshua R. Hollander brings you a special episode revisiting our three most downloaded episodes of the last year: Tom Wilde, CEO of Indico - At the forefront of bringing AI and automation to insurance workflows Bhavan Suri, Managing Director, Technology at William Blair - A leading investment banker tracking where money is flowing in insurtech Michael Nadel, Senior Director at Simon-Kutcher & Partners - A strategic consultant helping companies price and scale their solutions While these leaders view the industry through different lenses, they align on several key points: Insurance is only in the "third inning" of digital transformation Data is becoming the key differentiator in insurance, but most companies struggle to utilize it effectively The industry needs to balance innovation with practical implementation They also offer contrasting perspectives on critical issues: The readiness of AI for insurance (Wilde argues it's ready now, while others suggest a more measured approach) The future of insurance distribution (differing views on the role of traditional channels versus digital-first approaches) How to prioritize innovation investments (varying perspectives on what should come first: customer experience, middle office, or core systems) Key Insights: The evolution of AI in insurance, from mobile transformation to middle-office automation The role of deep learning and large language models in handling unstructured data Challenges in integrating new technologies into legacy systems and how to overcome them The importance of pricing strategy and market entry for insurtech startups The intersection of Insurtech and Fintech: automating payments, claims processing, and beyond The role of data in shaping the future of cyber insurance and climate risk management Key Topics Covered: [00:05] Intelligent intake challenges in insurance operations  [03:42] Evolution from PDF scraping to AI-driven processing  [07:12] The role of generative AI in insurance  [10:18] Investment trends in insurtech  [14:08] Insurtech-fintech convergence  [15:21] Data's role in new insurance products  [17:03] Tech-enabled MGAs and market evolution  [18:40] State of insurance digitization  [21:06] Growth strategy pillars  [23:03] Insurance pricing considerations  [27:07] Market entry strategies  Notable Quotes: "In insurance, data has always been king. But today, the challenge is turning unstructured data into fuel for decision-making." - Tom Wilde "The big breakthrough in AI is its ability to handle context. That's why large language models are changing the game." - Tom Wilde "I think by and large, digitization is still in the third inning for most carriers... When you get to life with annuities, that's probably first inning in terms of actual digitization." - Bhavan Suri "We’re just starting to see the convergence of Insurtech and Fintech, especially in areas like payments and claims automation." - Bhavan Suri  "Pricing is really just a measure of value, the same way that a foot is a measure of distance. When you're pricing your products, it's really all about what the customer values in this product and matching that value to the price relationship." - Michael Nadel "If you're leaving pricing to chance, you're leaving money on the table." - Michael Nadel About Our Guests: Tom Wilde: CEO of Indico, Tom has over 25 years of experience in solving complex digital content problems and is an expert in applying AI and machine learning to insurance workflows. Bhavan Suri: Managing Director at William Blair, Suri focuses on technology companies operating in the insurtech space, advising them on mergers, acquisitions, and public offerings. Michael Nadel: Senior Director at Simon-Kutcher & Partners. Michael specializes in growth strategies and pricing for insurance carriers and insurtech firms.   Resources: Tom Wilde https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomwilde/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/indico-data-solutions/  Suri Bhavan https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhavan-suri-074113/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/william-blair-company/  Michael Nadel  https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-nadel-13656123/  https://www.linkedin.com/company/simon-kucher/  Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/ https://www.insurtechassociation.org/ https://innsure.org/

In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Josh Hollander sits down with Bill Harris, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of ITC Vegas, to discuss how the event has evolved to support the continued growth and development of the InsurTech industry. With the 2024 event just around the corner, Bill shares exclusive insights into what makes ITC Vegas a must-attend experience and why those still contemplating attending should register for the 2024 event. Key Insights: How ITC Vegas has transformed from a startup-focused event to the "CES of Insurance" The introduction of curated "neighborhoods" to enhance networking and discovery New additions like ITC Agents, and the importance of the broker and agent role despite predictions of disintermediation The influence of AI across insurance, from underwriting to customer experience How the shift in climate risks, particularly the impact of water-related events, is reshaping the industry A changing talent landscape: the rise of Gen Z and more diverse leadership Strategies for maximizing your ITC Vegas experience, whether you're a first-timer or a veteran attendee Key Topics Covered: [00:15] Introduction to Bill Harris and ITC Vegas [02:49] What's new at ITC Vegas 2024: Cosmic theme and curated experiences [05:19] Evolution of networking opportunities at ITC Vegas [10:05] Growth and diversification of sponsorships and attendees [19:53] Tips for getting the most out of ITC Vegas (especially for first-timers) [32:50] Key industry trends shaping InsurTech's future [36:25] Adapting the event for younger generations in insurance Notable Quotes: "We think of ourselves as the CES of insurance. We're here to explore innovation and create real value for the ecosystem." - [03:26] Bill Harris "AI dominates every conversation, from the front end of underwriting to the back end of claims." - [32:50] Bill Harris "The broker or the agent is really a key part of that selling process, that education process of insurance and how important it is to understand this is why your premium is what it is." - [42:30] Bill Harris  “Most of these weather events are now driven by water. And it's a completely different ballgame when you're talking about wind and fire versus water." - [41:33] Bill Harris "Gen X, because we're such a small cohort of the workplace, we're being quickly replaced by millennials. And now you see the up and coming Gen Zs." - [43:34] Bill Harris  About Our Guest: Bill Harris is the Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of ITC Vegas, known for hosting one of the largest Insurtech events in the world. With a unique background spanning digital marketing and event management, Bill has been instrumental in growing ITC Vegas from a startup-focused gathering to the world's largest InsurTech event and creating valuable opportunities for the community to connect, innovate, and grow. Resources: Bill Harris https://www.linkedin.com/in/billharris3ubiq/ https://vegas.insuretechconnect.com/register/ (Registration Still Open!) https://vegas.insuretechconnect.com/app/ (Event App) Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/ https://www.insurtechassociation.org/ https://innsure.org/

In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Josh Hollander sits down with Sachin Kulkarni, EVP and Head of Americas for Commercial, Specialty, and MGA at Xceedance. With a unique background that spans from IT strategy at Marsh to leading operations at a fast-growing insurance technology services provider, Sachin offers invaluable insights into the evolving landscape of insurance technology and operations.   Sachin discusses Xceedance's journey as a domain-focused service provider, emphasizing the critical balance between technological innovation and core insurance expertise. He shares candid perspectives on the challenges of change management in the insurance industry and provides strategic advice for companies looking to leverage technology for competitive advantage.   Key Insights: The shift from people-based to technology-led engagements in insurance operations Strategies for aligning technology adoption with core business capabilities The rise of MGAs and specialty insurers, and how technology is enabling their growth Balancing onshore and offshore operations to maximize efficiency and client satisfaction The future of AI in insurance, including responsible implementation and regulatory considerations   Key Topics Covered:  [00:41] Xceedance's foundation as a service provider and Sachin's career evolution from Marsh to insurtech leadership  [03:11] Debunking the myth of insurance industry's resistance to innovation  [07:25] Ensuring technology solutions drive real business value, not just novelty  [13:42] Market segments leading and lagging in technology adoption  [18:03] How Xceedance supports insurers at various stages of growth  [21:38] Practical applications of Gen AI in insurance operations  [23:04] Navigating the complexities of AI regulation and responsible implementation  [25:31] Lessons learned in expanding from India to the US insurance market  [30:50] Advice for capitalizing on industry changes and overcoming challenges   Notable Quotes:  "We didn't want it to be a people-based engagement, but we wanted to be a technology-led engagement." - [04:06] Sachin Kulkarni  "Technology is enabling business, enabling the insurance process. It is not the business process." - [07:36] Sachin Kulkarni  "If a company does not take a step back and see how this change is being incorporated, very soon there can be no value coming out of it." - [06:15] Sachin Kulkarni   About Our Guest:  Sachin Kulkarni is the EVP and Head of Americas for Commercial, Specialty, and MGA at Xceedance. With a background in IT strategy at Marsh and extensive experience in Property and Casualty Insurance, Sachin brings a unique perspective on leveraging technology to enhance productivity and drive innovation in the insurance industry.   Resources: Sachin Kulkarni https://www.linkedin.com/in/itexecutivesachinkulkarni/ https://xceedance.com/   Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true https://www.insurtechassociation.org/ https://innsure.org/

In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Joshua R. Hollander sits down with Roman Stepanenko, founder and CEO of RecordLinker, to explore the often-overlooked world of insurance data management. Roman shares his journey from writing software at age 13 to co-founding RiskMatch, and how that experience shaped his vision for RecordLinker. Discover how RecordLinker is addressing critical challenges in the insurance industry by focusing on the unsung heroes of data management - the data administrators. Roman shares how his time as CTO at RiskMatch provided a window into the complexities of insurance data aggregation and led Roman to identify a critical gap in the market - the need for specialized tools for data administrators. Roman also provides insights into the complexities of data standardization, the impact of mergers and acquisitions on data integrity, and the future of AI and machine learning in insurance. Key Insights: How Roman's experience at RiskMatch revealed the widespread data standardization issues in the insurance industry The critical role of data administrators in insurance and why they deserve more recognition How RecordLinker is transforming data management, cutting conversion times from weeks to hours The challenges of bootstrapping an insurtech startup and building a sustainable business The future of AI and machine learning in insurance and why basic functionality improvements may be more crucial than advanced AI applications In This Episode: [01:01] Roman's journey from software development to co-founding RiskMatch [01:30] The birth of RecordLinker: Lessons learned from RiskMatch  [06:13] The hidden world of insurance data administrators and their challenges  [10:15] RecordLinker's unique approach to sales and customer acquisition  [18:43] Common data issues across agencies [23:25] The challenges of bootstrapping versus raising money for a startup [25:18] Roman shares what he looks for in candidates beyond technical skills [26:10] The impact of being a solo founder vs. a co-founder in the insurtech space  [28:32] The future of technology in insurance and the need for core system vendors to open up their platforms  [29:20] A shocking revelation: 800 variations of a single insurance company name in one database   Notable Quotes:   "If you remember anything from this conversation, please find your data admins and just say thank you. You know, say thank you. Take them out to coffee or dinner, buy them flowers, because your organization has those people and they are very hardworking." - [08:37] Roman Stepanenko “I wanted to build a business, not a startup. To me, being a startup was a way of building a business from day one. My focus was being a business that can support itself first and foremost.." - [21:07] Roman Stepanenko "The attitude is, to me, the most important thing. You can learn new technology, but I just don't know if the person will work out well or not, even if I feel good after the interview" - [25:19] Roman Stepanenko “When you are a solo founder, you have to know before you do that you are going to be the one driving the truck and figuring out how to keep track inside the truck.”- [26:10]  Roman Stepanenko   About Our Guest: Roman Stepanenko is the founder and CEO of RecordLinker, a leading machine-learning solution for seamless data linkage and conversion in the insurance industry. With a background in software development and experience as a co-founder and CTO at RiskMatch, Roman brings a unique perspective to the challenges of data management in insurance. RecordLinker simplifies record matching across disparate systems, normalizing various data types such as coverage and job titles. By integrating with AMS360 and Applied Epic, it auto-maps up to 90% of records, significantly reducing data conversion timelines. A Vertafore Orange Partner and Guidewire Insurtech Vanguards Member, RecordLinker supports diverse industries beyond insurance. Resources: Roman Stepanenko https://www.linkedin.com/in/romanstepanenko/ https://recordlinker.com/   Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true https://www.insurtechassociation.org/ https://innsure.org/

How can UK insurtech companies successfully enter the complex US insurance market? In this episode, we explore the  CT-UK Insurtech Corridor through the journey of Programmable.AI, showcasing how this initiative creates pathways for international growth and innovation. Host Joshua R. Hollander brings together John Blamire, CEO and co-founder of Programmable.AI; Mike Hendy from the UK Office of Business and Trade; and Gene Goddard from MetroHartford Alliance and the CT IFS. They discuss how the Corridor is bridging the insurance technology landscapes of Connecticut and the UK, fostering transatlantic opportunities for insurtech companies. Key Insights: Programmable.AI's journey from the UK to Connecticut's insurance hub Focus on the Insurtech Corridor as a strategic initiative for innovation and growth The role of the CT-UK InsurTech Corridor in facilitating market entry Challenges faced by UK companies entering the US insurance market, including regulatory complexities Support provided by MetroHartford Alliance, CT IFS and the UK Office of Business and Trade Importance of tailored strategies and partnerships for successful market entry. How Connecticut-based companies can leverage the Corridor for UK expansion Discussion of risk analytics and fraud detection technology in the insurance industry. Emphasis on the significance of collaboration among startups, established companies, and government entities. Key Topics Covered: [01:57] Programmable.AI's risk analytics and fraud detection technology [05:41] Challenges in insurance industry [10:16] MetroHartford Alliance's role in supporting incoming companies [12:06] Insurtech Corridor strategy [14:00] UK Trade Office's assistance for UK companies expanding to the US [16:24] Benefits of the InsurTech Corridor for companies [19:13] Regulatory environment challenges [20:17] John's firsthand experience navigating the US market entry [25:38] Bespoke services provided by MetroHartford Alliance [26:25] CT IFS initiative [29:06] Regulatory advantages in Connecticut for insurtech companies [31:00] Opportunities for Connecticut insurers in the UK market [33:24] Programmable.AI's progress and future plans in the US   Notable Quotes: “As a small British company, entering the US is not for the faint-hearted, and if you don't prepare properly, you prepare to fail. The InsurTech Corridor provided us with invaluable support and connections.” - [19:28] - John Blamire   “Our partnership with the companies that are in the IFS space, in the tech space, is to help attract new talent into our great state and into the Hartford region.”[13:26] ] - Gene Goddard   “The Insurtech Corridor was a very logical agreement between the UK and Hartford, Connecticut, because Hartford is the self-styled capital of the US insurance industry, and London is the capital of the insurance world.” - [14:57] - Michael Hendy   “I think they're very lucky to have Gene and Susan in MetroHartford Alliance and all of their members. It's a really interesting partnership and I think it's very, very successful.” - [19:48]  Michael Hendy   “We want to see more Insurtech startups coming into the corridor because the more startups that come, the more the ecosystem builds, the more power it has, and the better we can actually help each other.” - [34:00] - John Blamire About Our Guests: John Blamire: CEO and co-founder of Programmable.AI, a company specializing in risk analytics and fraud detection in the insurance sector. Mike Hendy: Senior Trade and Investment Officer for the UK Office of Business and Trade, focusing on supporting UK companies' expansion into the US market. Gene Goddard: Chief Business Investment Officer for MetroHartford Alliance, dedicated to promoting economic development in the Hartford region.   Resources: InsurTech Corridor https://www.insurtechcorridor.com/  John Blamire https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-blamire/ https://www.fraudgraph.ai/  Gene Goddard https://www.linkedin.com/in/genegoddard/ https://metrohartford.com/ https://connecticutifs.com/  Michael Hendy https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikehendy/ https://www.flowcode.com/page/ukinboston  Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true https://www.insurtechassociation.org/ https://innsure.org/

In a world where technology drives daily innovations in industries from travel to health care to manufacturing, why should insurance be any different? How can innovators and insurers collaborate to create meaningful, sustainable change?   In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Josh Hollander sits down with Stephen Brittain, Director and Co-founder of Insurtech Gateway, to explore their unique approach to incubating and investing in early-stage insurtech startups. Stephen, with his product design background and entrepreneurial spirit, offers valuable insights into the intricacies of nurturing innovation in an industry known for its caution.   Based in London and Sydney, Insurtech Gateway is an incubator and venture builder dedicated to supporting early-stage founders in refining their business models, achieving product-market fit, and navigating the complexities of distribution. They also manage a series of early-stage venture funds to facilitate this journey.   Key Insights: The distinction between Insurtech Gateway's incubator model and traditional accelerators Balancing rapid innovation with the measured pace of the insurance industry How non-insurance sectors are driving change in risk management and insurance Strategies for founders to validate ideas and gain traction in the insurtech space   Stephen shares Insurtech Gateway's journey from its founding in 2016 to its current role in nurturing startups and building a resilient insurtech ecosystem. He offers a candid look at the challenges of introducing disruptive ideas to a risk-averse industry and the strategies they've developed to bridge that gap. The episode also examines how a strong product background influences InsurTech Gateway's methodology.   In this Episode:   [00:34] Insurtech Gateway's mission and unique position in the market [02:37] The origins of the incubator and its evolution [05:34] Insurtech Gateway's bespoke collaboration strategy with startups [12:31] Examples of successful portfolio companies (e.g., Flood Flash) [19:37] How Stephen's product background influences their approach [21:31] Changes in the insurance industry since 2016 and ongoing challenges [25:08] The role of innovation partners from outside the insurance market [33:35] Strategies for working with both insurers and non-insurance partners [37:05] Emerging trends in corporate risk management and self-insurance [40:50] Opportunities for listeners to engage with Insurtech Gateway   Notable Quotes: "We saw the speed of innovation and change of digital, and we were seeing the lack of agility in the insurance market. The first thing we should do would be to find a place to attract those innovators from outside." - Stephen Brittain “'The hardest thing to swallow for me has been the indicators that I get early and get super excited about, but I'm still five years ahead of the decision-makers who are going to make this happen”  - Stephen Brittain “The last eight years have been a huge growing up exercise for me, making me realize quite what a battle I've been trying to fight over attracting disruptors and then settling disruption into the big scale of insurance”  - Stephen Brittain About Our Guest: Stephen Brittain is the Director and Co-Founder of Insurtech Gateway. With a background in product design and innovation, Stephen brings a unique perspective to the insurtech space. He has been instrumental in shaping Insurtech Gateway's approach to identifying, nurturing, and scaling early-stage insurtech startups. Stephen's experience spans from creative direction at Hambro Perks to supporting numerous startups through early-stage development and testing.   Resources: Stephen Brittain https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenbrittain/ https://www.insurtechgateway.com/   Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show https://www.insurtechassociation.org/ https://innsure.org/

Is there a future for insurance document delivery beyond mobile apps? Discover how Aerogami is revolutionizing the industry's digital experience and what it means for insurers and policyholders alike. In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Joshua R. Hollander sits down with Bradley Adams, co-founder of Aerogami, to discuss the innovative approach to digitalizing insurance documents. Bradley, with his unique blend of partnership expertise and product development skills, offers valuable insights for industry leaders navigating the shift towards more user-friendly digital experiences.   Key Insights: Transforming insurance policy PDFs into engaging mobile experiences Striking a balance between digital convenience and data security Anticipating the evolving landscape of insurance document delivery Strategies for pivoting a startup and entering the insurtech space Bradley shares Aerogami's journey from its origins in higher education to its current focus on insurance, offering a candid look at the challenges and opportunities in implementing digital solutions for complex insurance documents. The episode also delves into practical applications across various insurance products, examining how Aerogami's solution is streamlining processes and improving the policyholder experience in an increasingly digital world.   In This Episode: [00:22] The startup ecosystem in Providence, Rhode Island [01:38] Aerogami's pivot from higher education to insurance [03:43] Entering the insurance industry with a digital solution [05:11] Initial product development and evolution [08:12] Engaging with insurance domain experts [13:35] Go-to-market strategy in the insurance sector [17:36] Future strategy and product development plans [18:44] Integrating AI into insurance policy experiences [20:02] The future of apps and technology in insurance [23:04] Navigating the complexities of the insurance industry [24:59] Balancing customer feedback with product development [27:17] Aerogami's fundraising strategy and growth plans   Notable Quotes [17:36]  "There are plenty of other products suffering from the same problem with insurance, and the good news for us is that many of these products are already connected to some type of insurance organization."-Bradley [20:25]  "Apps could be a dangerous business. You've seen the security leaks and other ways that data has been compromised through these experiences."-Bradley [26:29]  "If we try to go too hot too fast, we're just going to spend a lot of other people's money without really building anything that anyone's going to use."-Bradley   Our Guest Bradley W. Adams is the co-founder of Aerogami, a company transforming insurance policy PDFs into engaging mobile experiences. Formerly Director of Partnerships at KeynectUp, he excels in partnership and product development, user experience, and team management. A Bryant University alumnus, Bradley emphasizes turning innovative ideas into impactful solutions through collaboration and organization. Resources and Links Bradley Adams https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradleywadams/ https://www.aerogami.co/   Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.insurtechassociation.org/  https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true

Is AI the future of P&C insurance? Discover how generative AI is revolutionizing the industry and what it means for industry leaders. In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Joshua R. Hollander sits down with John Loeber, co-founder and CEO of Limit, to discuss the transformative potential of AI in the insurance sector. John, with his unique blend of mathematical expertise and AI innovation, offers invaluable insights for industry leaders navigating this technological shift.   Key Insights: Leveraging AI for enhanced document analysis and policy comparison Striking the crucial balance between AI implementation and human expertise Anticipating the evolving landscape for insurance professionals Strategies for building and leading high-performance teams in an AI-driven environment   John shares the development journey of Limit AI, offering a candid look at the challenges and opportunities in implementing AI solutions for complex insurance tasks. The episode also delves into practical applications across underwriting, claims handling, and customer service, examining how AI assistants are streamlining processes and improving accuracy in an increasingly complex regulatory environment. Key Topics Covered: [00:44] The evolution of AI in insurance: from concept to reality [01:48] The ChatGPT effect: Catalyzing generative AI in insurance [03:19] Limit AI launch: Reimagining brokerage and underwriting [08:09] AI in specialty lines: Tackling complex risk assessment [10:25] The AI-human synergy in insurance operations [15:25] Navigating data privacy and ownership in AI-powered insurance tools [20:07] Overcoming technical hurdles in developing insurance-specific AI models [23:12] Leadership strategies for driving AI transformation [27:30] Building resilient, adaptable teams for the AI era [29:52] Fostering trust and vision as a leader in times of change [32:24] Organizational design considerations for AI-focused startups   Notable Quotes: "Generative AI is really good at reading and analyzing documents and answering questions, which is tremendously exciting and transformative for our customers." - [05:42] John Loeber  “All of those insurance professionals are super busy, and most of them don't have assistants, but they would benefit from having somebody that's always available and helpful.” - [11:24] - John Loeber “Almost everyone wants to know that they are working toward something, and so as a leader, it's really important to present a clear and cohesive vision of what is being worked toward.” -[29:56] - John Loeber   About Our Guest: John Loeber is the co-founder and CEO of Limit, a company at the forefront of bringing artificial intelligence to the insurance industry. A graduate of the University of Chicago with majors in Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, John combines a strong technical background with a passion for innovative software development. His academic focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning, coupled with diverse interests in quantitative finance, climate science, visual arts, and ethics, brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to his work in insurtech.   Resources: John Loeber https://www.linkedin.com/in/jloeber/ https://johnloeber.com/ https://www.limit.com/ Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true https://www.insurtechassociation.org/ https://innsure.org/

In this episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Josh Hollander interviews Valkyrie Holmes, CEO and co-founder of Faura, a company providing climate and property analytics to help insurance companies and homeowners reduce natural disaster risk. During the conversation, Valkyrie discusses her company's innovative approach to reducing natural disaster risk for insurance companies and homeowners. With a background in data science and space technology, Valkyrie pivoted to sustainability after receiving a grant, initially focusing on wildfire prevention. Faura provides climate and property analytics, helping insurers make informed decisions on premium pricing and risk reduction. Valkyrie also touches on the importance of hyper-personalization in insurance policies, the integration of Faura's technology into existing systems, and the company's business model.   Key Topics Covered: [02:15] Valkyrie's background in data science and space technology, including internships at SpaceX and NASA [02:31] How Faura pivoted from wildfire suppression hardware to software-based risk analytics after receiving a grant focused on sustainability  [06:06] The shift towards hyper-personalization in insurance, moving from life and auto to property insurance [09:52] Faura's approach of using digital self-assessments and a "resilience score" to help price policies and incentivize risk reduction [35:57] Expansion from wildfire risk to other perils like wind and flood [13:15] The challenge of pricing risk in an era of increasing natural disasters [26:26] Integration options, including APIs and policy management system connections [29:13]Attracting young people to the insurance industry by highlighting its underlying role in society [32:28] Valkyrie's approach to LinkedIn content and social media engagement [36:52] The MetaProp accelerator program Faura is participating in in New York Notable Quotes:   "Insurance underlies everything we do. It's hard to realize that it underlies everything we do." - [29:47] Valkyrie Holmes "The more value you give people in your content and the more you believe in that content, the more it will speak to people." - [32:51] Valkyrie Holmes on social media strategy   About Our Guest: Valkyrie Holmes is the CEO and co-founder of Faura, with a background in data science at SpaceX and NASA. She pivoted to sustainability and insurtech after receiving a grant from 776, developing Faura's climate risk analytics platform.   Resources: Valkyrie Holmes https://www.linkedin.com/in/valkyrieholmes/ https://www.faura.us/ Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true https://www.insurtechassociation.org/ https://innsure.org/

Have you ever wondered why financial operations within the insurance industry are notoriously complex? The intricate processes involved can be overwhelming, from data reconciliation to commission payouts.   In this inaugural episode of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast, host Josh interviews Qiyun Cai, CEO and co-founder of Fintary, a financial operations platform tailored for the insurance industry. Qiyun shares her remarkable journey from technology investing and AI product development to the insurance sector, where she co-founded Amplify, a digital brokerage for life insurance. The challenges of financial operations in insurance, such as data reconciliation and commission payouts, inspired the creation of Fintary in 2023. Fintary focuses on life and health insurance brokerages, offering AI-driven automation to streamline financial processes and drive business outcomes. Qiyun emphasizes the importance of industry-specific solutions, the need for modern tools to attract young talent, and the potential for technology to transform long-standing industry practices.   If you're interested in the intersection of finance and technology, this is a conversation you won't want to miss!   In This Episode: [00:09] Qiyun's background and decision to start Fintary [01:33] Challenges in financial operations in the insurance industry [03:56] Focus and segmentation of customer segments [05:09] Product capabilities and industry-specific workflows [08:38] Use of AI and newer technologies in financial operations [09:03] Product roadmap and comprehensive approach [13:39] Target customer segments and organization size [14:32] Multi-line platform and expansion into different lines of business [15:45] Unique needs and use cases for different insurance lines [17:25] Incorporating technology and product development principles [19:04] Funding and customer agreements for company growth [21:14] Opportunity and challenge in innovating in the life insurance industry [22:27] Go-to-market strategy and product adoption [22:44] Typical entry point and ultimate buyer in organizations [23:33] The product delivering business outcomes [24:53] Evolution of the industry [27:41] Attracting talent to the organization [28:56] Closing remarks and call to action   Notable Quotes [02:45], "I just realized how cumbersome it is to run financial operations in the insurance industry."-Qiyun [06:28] "A lot of these companies have been looking for solutions; it just doesn't solve their end-to-end workflow needs."-Qiyun [21:21] "When we show our product to our customers, people say, 'This is what I've been thinking about, and you've built what would solve my problem.” -Qiyun [25:08]  "When I started in the industry, I realized how it has been around for many years, with organizations running in a very specific manner for quite some time."-Qiyun [26:08]  "Now is the time where there has been a lot of consolidation, and many businesses are going through a phase where they want to professionalize the business."-Qiyun   Our Guest Qiyun Cai is the founder and operator of Fintary, focused on building automation solutions that make a meaningful impact on businesses. Previously, she co-founded Amplify Life Insurance, a digital platform enhancing financial security. She was the first product manager at Spoke, creating an AI-enabled service desk, and an investor at Scale Venture Partners, specializing in B2B enterprise SaaS, IT infrastructure, and mobile technologies. Qiyun excels in combining technology and business innovation.   Resources and Links Josh Hollander https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ https://www.horton-usa.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insurtech-leadership-show/?viewAsMember=true Qiyun Cai https://www.linkedin.com/in/qiyun-cai-b3837315/ https://www.fintary.com/

Michael Nadel is a Senior Director at Simon-Kucher & Partners, an insurance veteran with over a decade of experience consulting with insurance clients to solve their most difficult challenges. Michael has helped large insurance carriers with topics spanning areas such as innovation, strategic road mapping, Insurtech partnerships, digital distribution strategies, and large-scale digital transformation efforts. He has a deep expertise in property and casualty space, as well as the warranty and surety business. Michael talks today about how work with insurtechs to find new growth opportunities and bring innovations to market effectively. Carriers and other incumbents' biggest asset is their customer base and they can leverage these relationships to get direct market feedback on the value, price and fit of new offerings before committing to implement and scale them.  Previously at CNA Michael led the innovation function focusing on Insurtech partnerships and growth opportunities, and at Accenture led large scale digital transformations for fortune 500 financial services firms. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Bhavan Suri is Managing Director at William Blair, an advisory services firm that helps companies including insurtechs to secure growth liquidity and financing.  Its team of technology bankers has deep ties to the insurtech sector with more than $20 billion in capital raised across 50 M&A and capital markets transactions. Bhavan worked for several tech companies including Elytics and Answerthink and has developed a deep understanding for the industry forces shaping the tech market. He now focuses on advising technology companies that operate in the Insurtech space. Some of the companies he advised include Guidewire, Duckcreek, CCCS, Intelligent Solutions, and Sapiens. Bhavan talks through straight-through-processing, the key domains and verticals in the insurance space today, and how they stack up on digitalization. His insights dive into combining business and technology into new offerings, how to work with IP ownership and developer teams, and proving out new market opportunities.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Randel Bennett is founder and Principal Consultant at Qixent Insurance Services, turning insurance concepts into tangible, successful products by bridging gaps in pricing, underwriting, and coverage. Randel describes the common thread of insurance being highly regulated. Product managers are the "mini-CEO" of their state, which creates a product-centric approach and change is driven by regulation. The product manager has high knowledge of the minute details about their product. He talks about insurtech entering the scene and working with product managers to satisfy the requirements and also satisfy what the customer needs and wants as that changes. He says electronic paperwork is an example of the legacy insurance experience that is being changed with departments of insurance. During 2010-2020 the incumbents were still using paper, but in the past few years since Covid the acceleration towards digital finally found mass adoption.  At Qixent Randel is taking insurance ideas to product and process. For example if agents and other incumbents already work with construction & contractors, Randel and his team help them delve deeper into the risk and offer new insurance products. He says solutions providers need to review their offering vs. existing profitability of that business and how it fits within the target customers' budget. Prior to forming Qixent, Randel was Vice President Strategic Partnerships at Swiss Re, co-founder at Sigo Siguros, and a product management leader at various insurance brands. Randel is a results-driven insurance industry professional with a proven track record in strategic partnerships, product development, and startup ventures. Randel resides in Chicago with his wife. When he is not evangelizing for insurance he is following sports, seeing a new museum exhibit, or planning for the next dinner he is cooking for friends. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Meet David Contorno, CEO E Powered Benefits, giving employers navigable, understandable, and affordable health plans. E Powered Benefits was born out of the continuous cost increases and a lack of transparency within their existing health plans, and gives employers a real alternative to the traditional broker-carrier model that costs too much and pays too little.   David's passion for changing this problem stems from 30 years of experience of client renewals, which showed him that the annual 'bad news meeting' and sense of dread when meeting employees and explaining cost increases to employees had to be fixed.   David says the reason is that health insurance was created to prevent humans from catastrophic loss, so wonders how why it does not protect people from bankruptcy when they face high medical bills. David's realization that broker commissions and carriers claims payments increase as the total premiums written and claims paid increase was a game changer that directly led to creating this business.     David explains that since 60% of Americans get their health insurance through their employers, the financial incentives to reduce benefits and increases costs and claims lead to worse outcomes and dissatisfaction every year for insured members. David likens the big publicly traded insurance carriers to the "house" in gambling, as long as members are playing in the house the rules are such that the house always wins.   David talks through how he went about launching the business, by studying the total healthcare costs and money outflows to build customized health plans that cost up to 65% less than traditional employer health plans. E Powered Benefits pays faster and more on claims, in particular saving money on pharmacy benefits and hospital claims, and explains why he is able to do that. Forbes has named David "One Of America's Most Innovative Benefits Leaders" for his advocacy of transparency in health plans.   Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Peter Tilbrook is Founder & CEO of Loro, a web-based toolset that provides digital product distribution. Loro acts as a policy administration system for MGAs, Insurers and Brokers, or a complimentary system to existing processes to supercharge digital distribution.  Loro addresses two key points, unlimited distribution, either through brokers or direct to consumers, without any sacrifice to underwriting control. The company is headquartered in the USA with a solution for clients on four continents and team members in five countries. The service is product agnostic, perfect for specialty commercial lines, or consumer products. Peter talks about having been both on the underwriting and broking side of insurance, software felt too limited, too slow and too expensive. His team built Loro as “the product we all wished we had” in the insurance industry, to allow distribution of all products through one intermediary or many, reaching customers directly, or immediately selling on any website. This power of distribution is what helps our customers bind the new business they are looking to reach, today, without risk or substantial investment. He also describes what "no code" truly means to insurance teams in terms of having full control over their business process. Peter describes himself as a “true insurance nerd/ professional,” having worked as a Broker for Marsh and Willis, as well as, leading an Underwriting team in Tokio Marine HCC.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

John Paul Sutrich is Co-founder of Certificate Hero, a SaaS platform for issuing certificates of insurance. Certificate Hero compares contractual insurance requirements to the insured's policy data, automating the certificate issuance process, enhancing certificate processors' capabilities, ensuring the consistent and reliable delivery of certificates in the fast-paced landscape of the commercial insurance industry.   The product reads the contract, finds and parses an insurance clause into its most meaningful components to issue a correct certificate, then compares this to the data in the agency management system, and flags areas of non-compliance for processor action. This leads directly to saving time at agencies and insurers as hundreds of millions of certificates a year. John Paul delves into the historical roots of certificate issuance, tracing it back to the era of typewritten forms. He emphasizes how this traditional process has struggled to keep pace with the complexities of today’s contractual insurance requirements. All parties to the certificate have an interest in its being accurate, yet by the time most policies are received the policy has been signed and there is no room for corrections. Certificate Hero doubles as a lead generation tool by pinpointing inconsistencies and highlighting opportunities for brokers to engage with their clients and upgrade coverages. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

David Embry is the founder and chief executive officer of Mylo, an insurtech leader that brings its unbiased, insurance quoting engine, Mind of Mylo, to distribution and agency partners to connect business owners and individuals with top-rated insurance products. He is responsible for the overall vision and financial performance of the business as well as developing strategic partnerships. Embry is a seasoned entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience leading financial and insurance companies. He brings deep expertise and innovation to Mylo. Previously, Embry served as the president of SelectQuote Benefit Solutions and managing director at J.P. Morgan.  Belen Tokarski is the president and chief operating officer of Mylo. She is responsible for optimizing Mylo’s leading-edge technology platform to deliver expert solutions to small business owners and individuals. Tokarski is a recognized leader in the insurtech industry with 20+ years of leadership in commercial operations and insurance automation strategy. Previously, she was the president of Platform Solutions for Insureon and vice president of Automation Strategy and Agency Solutions at CNA Insurance.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Joseph Schneier is CEO of Trusty.care, connecting sales, marketing, and member engagement for 150m Americans that receive insurance through Medicare, Medicaid, or Marketplace plans. The company provides an enterprise SaaS solution to the country's most direct-to-consumer health insurance sector. Joseph says that most insurtech founders do not have personal experience in this space but that it has a disfragmented distribution network and many similar challenges as the private insurance sector.  Just as a refresher, Medicare's coverage is 85% for people over the age of 65 and 15% for people living with chronic conditions, Medicaid covers low-income individuals and marketplace plans or Obamacare Plans that primarily focuses on small businesses or people who work for one.   These plans comprise a whopping 150m Americans or almost half the country's population, making the US one of the largest socialized, government-connected healthcare systems in the world. Although the government is the payer, most of the underlying plans are in turn managed by private insurers (think Aetna, Humana) and marketed through TV ads. Joseph previously built and exited companies in the education space and is now applying the same lessons to the healthcare space. Mr. Schneier has been at the forefront of innovations in global and domestic education, government, value-based healthcare, and insurance technology for over 20 years. He has built companies and products studying value-based care with complex populations, co-founded and exited two companies, and is a Fellow at Columbia University’s MBA Entrepreneurial Program. He continues to focus on care for older Americans and has founded two other companies in this space—Cinematic Health, which trains CNAs, Home Health Aides, and Personal Care Assistants, and BellAge a company working with Area Agencies on Aging on longevity initiatives. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

John Morlan founded Smarter Risk that simplifies and streamlines the assessment, reporting, and development of risk control programs. Smarter Risk is a self-serve platform for communicating and improving insurable risk. It enables small business owners to qualify for the best rates, insurers to offer their most competitive prices, and agencies to leverage risk control as a competitive advantage. The product helps small and medium sized business assess their risk controls to inform surveys and the underwriting process. The self-assessment workflow auto-generates recommendations for improvement, and dynamically changes the risk report. Insurers can evaluate how the business has improved over time. John describes how the company is confirming new applications markets such as risk control consultants by streamlining the onsite examination and report-writing processes, and brokers/agencies treating risk as a blue ocean opportunity. John talks about being a first-time founder, building a product that humans can easily adapt to and use. He takes enormous value out of the "Insurtech 2.0" community and the support and advice they have given over the past year since company founding. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

If you are an actuary or lead actuaries or data scientists in your organization, this is episode is for you! Jessica Leong is the CEO of Octagram, a consultancy that brings together a deep knowledge of commercial insurance and data analytics to drive results. Octagram focuses on pricing for P&C carriers, making sure that insurers getting value out of data analytics and AI. Jessica says building AI models isn't that hard, it's just about math and coding. But learning new behaviors, changing ways of working and driving value for the organization is much harder. She has been exploring how to measure and replicate successes in making part of the organization successful. Jessica expresses that having a point of view as a leader is what brought her from contributing team member to team leader. She focused solely on the business problem whether such as improved premium, reduced loss and expense ratios to drive a successful team, unlike most carriers who let their actuaries and data scientists build models. Then it's down to the company's leadership to decide whether they value solving problems more than shiny models, and the durational patience over years to measure success and failure and turn those into learnings. Jessica previously led Data & Analytics at Zurich North America and was also President of the Casualty Actuarial Society serving over 9,000 members. There she understood how actuaries were reserving and helping point the development of the actuarial profession to solving business problems.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Serial entrepreneur Ian Paterson is CEO of Plurilock a publicly traded cybersecurity company. Plurilock identifies and prevents, "insider threats" securing the enterprise and ensuring compliance with requirements in financial, healthcare, and government. Plurilock works with financial services as a heavily regulated industry. Ian says insurance is different than banking because of the heavier load of data such as personal health information. The data creates another layer of risk to secure, for example in veterans health claims an insurer has added technical complexity that goes beyond just writing a policy.  Ian says insurance companies strategy needs to address these technical complexities including strategy, the types of business coverage insurance, security controls and training. Ian also talks about the use of generative AI to create modern cyber attacks. Plurilock uses behavioral biometrics such as keystroke to invisibly authenticate users without added friction. The product addresses work-from-home on a continuous basis, so if someone walks away from a computer during a remote session, the software detects a change in behavior and can instantaneously decide to re-secure the session and data exchange. Ian previously founded data monetization platform Exapik (acquired), and was Director of Insights for Terapeak (acquired), a venture-backed analytics firm. He is an author of three patents on digital identity and data analytics. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Joshua Stankard is the founder and CEO of NotaryLive, a pioneering remote online notary software company. NotaryLive makes document notarization instant, secure, and paper-free, helping businesses go digital and free themselves of paper. Notarization has been the last archaic step for businesses to digitize.  Now small and large businesses can easily notarize documents online. NotaryLive started as a side project to digitize the last holdout of the paper-bound era, and became so popular that Josh launched another company to make this a core product.  It's legal and acceptable in every state.   In terms of compliance, a business from any state can now legally use a notary from any state using an online service. A few states require approval of the digital platform for use by notaries, but this is the minority of states and already has been resolved in those states. NotaryLive provides large enterprise integration, white label or direct small business services. The use case for notarization has a place in insurance but applies equally across any industry. The company differentiates pricing depending on whether a company uses its own internal or network of notaries, or provide the notarization services via a subscription model.  Josh formerly founded State Vital Records over a decade ago—a platform that revolutionized how users order medical records. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Paul Monasterio co-founded Kalepa in 2018 with the mission to help commercial insurance underwriters bind business with confidence. Kalepa's AI-powered Copilot software enables underwriters to focus their time on the highest ROI opportunities and to quickly evaluate and optimally select risk. Paul talks about finding the balance between underwriters saying yes to everything versus saying no to everything, to focus their time on selecting exactly the right opportunities that bring profitability and reduce claims risk. The first decision an underwriter has to make is where to use their time - so Copilot helps triage opportunities based on their attractiveness and alignment to the strategic book priorities.  Paul also discusses technology tools and changes applicable to commercial insurance, focusing on the right opportunities and understanding risk exposures in the right context. He sees that underwriters need to be better armed to address the complexity and nature of claims and new lines. He does not see a world in which there are fewer underwriters, or less work to do. instead, he sees winning carriers and MGAs as those who understand where to use technology to augment their underwriters' skills and not fall into the trap of thinking tech will drive personnel cost savings. Kalepa is backed by IA Ventures, Inspired Capital, and leaders in technology and financial services. Kalepa was recognized as one of the most innovative insurtechs in the world as part of FinTech Global Insurtech 100 in 2022 and 2023, one of Benzinga's Best Insurtechs in 2021, and as a Cool Vendor by Gartner in 2020. Prior to founding Kalepa, Paul was an executive at Facebook/Meta, Mastercard, and Applied Predictive Technologies, developing novel applications of data and technology to solve the most critical problems of Global 1000 firms in insurance, banking, and the public sector in the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Paul also founded Forg, a microfinance organization fostering micro-entrepreneurship in South East Asia. Paul graduated with a PhD in Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT and holds Bachelors degrees with Highest Honors and Highest Distinction in Mathematics and Nuclear Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Jeff Shi is founder of Insurtech Groups, connecting consumers with industry partners. by help consumers to better understand their policies in an effort to meet each of their unique needs.  Jeff talks about insurtech enhancing client experience vs. disruption. Insurtech Groups is consumer-facing technology that seeks to evolve the $100B insurance space across claims, service, billing and brokers.  Jeff foresees many more people joining from the insurance world and insurtechs becoming really good at making money from insurance rather than technology. Enhancing the client experience for the customer, carrier and agents is more important than 'aiming for the fence' with a new disruptive model. Jeff describes how Insurtech Groups has stayed more conservative working with a fixed cost model rather than trying to scale too quickly on highly variable costs. The team builds revenue and growth into everything they do. He talks about the amazing leadership at innovative large carriers like Geico, Progressive and Liberty Mutual, and how he hires on those same principles. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Troy Stewart is President and COO of Brush Claims an insurtech that is streamlining the claims management process. Troy describes having started as a claims adjuster to now serving as President & COO of this successful business model, with his vision of tech driven, human-led claims. In 2015, the company started building its own proprietary technology to remove bottlenecks, solving for escalations and time delays. By 2019 this traditional claims company had already fully transitioned from its legacy claims management system to its homegrown Hub applications, with a secure claims portal for policyholders, and a scoping application used by adjusters and contractors to pass information to the desk adjusters.  Troy recently spent eleven weeks at Lloyds of London's seventh innovation lab cohort, and brought back that knowledge to the US market, to refine its solution and create a consistent interface across carriers. It all starts with taking a holistic view across an entire process, and not cause disruption downstream. Technology can help bring more speed but the time savings of a new workflow may cause consumer pain and more calls to the call center.    Troy says that in a catastrophe situation, customers want to move quickly past the uncertainty after filing a claim and have certainty around what is coming next. Technology allows better communication and more options to correspond with claims teams and move the process forward more effectively, using a more data-driven indemnity methodology to make a determination.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Drew D’Alelio is a senior associate at Connecticut Innovations working on the Climate Tech Fund. He has a passion for combating climate change, innovative financing, and economic development. At CI Drew manages the entire investment cycle, from sourcing, due diligence, all the way through to portfolio management, and has invested in companies focused on insurtech, EV charging, circular economy, grid intelligence, and more. Drew holds a MPP and MBA from Yale and a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern. CI’s $100 million climate fund launched in the summer of 2022 to catalyze Connecticut’s climate innovation economy, thanks to the support of Gov. Ned Lamont and CI CEO Matt McCooe. The fund plans to invest in 25-30 early-stage climate tech companies across a variety of sectors, including energy, mobility, circular economy, food and agriculture, insurtech, and more. Since last summer the Climate Fund team has been busy: adding nearly ten companies to the portfolio as well as launching Climate Haven, a New Haven based incubator to help the earlier stage Connecticut climate tech companies scale. Portfolio companies include Bright Feeds, which is turning food waste into animal feed, AmpUp, which is an operating software for EV chargers, Budderfly, which works with corporations across the country to reduce their utility bills with energy efficiency upgrades, and Rethought Insurance, which is a leading flood insurance startup, protecting homeowners and businesses across the country from rapidly rising flood risk. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Did you know that over 1900 companies and 8000 agents are using Canopy Connect to increase conversion in insurance sales and verification? Today we talk to Tolga Tezel, Founder & CEO at Canopy Connect, who was an early engineer at Dropbox. He helped build Nova Credit for US newcomers to obtain fair access to credit through their international data. These experiences drove him to discover other areas where consumers have a difficult time getting value and convenience from their own data. From 2019 he began interviewing literally hundreds of insurance agencies and learned that getting accurate, comprehensive data from their prospects and customers was painfully difficult. Tolga says that consumers want insurance to be personalized, seamless and easy, and they want basic control over their data, and carriers need better data to write better risks. Canopy Connect provides the technical infrastructure to do so. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Jamie Yoder is President of Sapiens North America, a leading global provider of software solutions and services for all sectors of insurance.  Jamie talks about the over-hype cycle of AI and ChatGPT, where companies tend to over-estimate the impacts in the short-term but grossly underestimate the impacts in the longer term. The technology has now caught up such that it can be applied to huge amounts of data and be practically applied to create insights and answers out of unstructured data. He also talks through how Sapiens approaches IT and the business in an organization and gets past the initial excitement about the latest trends and into incorporating these new technologies to solve a sizable business opportunity. Sapiens removes existing impediments to implementation in an organization to produce a business result and capture the value of new technologies rather than prove an unrealistic business case.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Michael Hennessy founded Diathrive Health to helps patients and plans manage diabetes and its costs, with test strips that are 90% less expensive than market.  Diathrive seeks to reverse the traditional model and give patients better care and outcomes while reducing the cost. Michael heard early-on "To not go into healthcare because the insurance companies are ruining it." But he found his finance and VC background could be put to work for both healthcare plans and patients, filling the gap between preventative services and patients' everyday lives.  Diathrive performs an up-front claims analysis on an individual patient and guarantees a reduction in spend between $1,000-3,000 per person per year, putting 100% of its fees at-risk to achieve results that on average can save a carrier 70-80% per year. Michael says the science is in performing a complex claims analysis and applying the behavioural standards on diabetes to remove financial and administrative barriers for the individual at no-cost to them.   Diathrive works without prescription and without a wait time, and allows physicians to not work. in a fee-for-service model, providing more time to focus on providing direct care for patients. The company distributes over health plans as the diabetes solution, benefits management organizations, brokers-consultants and also direct to employers including municipal government.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Aaron Steffey and Chris Kolger are co-founders of Propeller Bonds, an insurtech managing general underwriter (MGU) equipped with a proprietary instant issue surety bond platform housing nearly 7,000 instant issue surety bonds. Propeller is a tech company built to simplify, automate, and distribute surety bonds more efficiently for agents and carriers. Aaron manages the company’s strategy, fundraising, and growth efforts, and Chris oversees the Propeller's daily underwriting operations and technological advancements of the platform. The company sold its first bond in 2020 and now has 3,500 agents signed up to the platform, signing thousands of bonds per month and responsible for fulfillment. Aaron describes how the company built in from the "ends" and have listened to and created new product variations for creative agents where needed.  Chris talks through why speciality surety bonds such as oil & gas or cannabis can be written at much better pricing with Propeller. The tech helps increase ROI for agents and brokers who often ignore surety but can include it as a piece of a viable business for themselves. Chris sees a future where the MGA model continues to reduce friction between broker and carrier.   Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Daniel McChesney, MD is the Founder and CEO of TripDoctor, pioneering digital health insurance and health care access for expats and nomads. As a world traveler and long-time expat, he saw an opportunity to improve the healthcare access issues of his fellow expats and nomads through better insurance products. Expat insurance is a much larger market than travel insurance, a market of $25B where the rate of Americans moving abroad having tripled since the pandemic. TripDoctor is responding to that demand with an insurtech that makes expat healthcare simple, acting as a digital broker with access to the best plans and doctors for expats in their country-of-choice. TripDoctor is a graduate of the Global Insurance Accelerator. The company's mission is to make expat healthcare simple, affordable, and accessible, and to improve the quality of life for expats.  In the longer-term, the company will help drive down the cost of care by keeping people out of the emergency department and utilizing more telehealth and outpatient visits.  TripDoctor understands the local market policy standards and costs of care and expats situation, coupling them to products that make sense in that market, and connecting them with the best providers in that market. Daniel describes a classic insurtech story of how the company pre-GIA would meet with carriers and ramp up meetings until they reached the predictable "no" person, either a threatened PnL owner or IT. And how the company realized through GIA they would write insurance themselves. The company launched in Mexico, where expats are concentrated in five cities, building a network of physicians through neighborhoods where expats live. They work with local insurers to create products that are both attractive and accessible to expats.  In terms of growth markets, TripDoctor is seeing high demand for other types of insurance beyond healthcare, for example in commercial business lines, as well as life products that work outside the US and work with reputable carriers.   Daniel has +20 years of experience in early-stage MedTech, digital health and other healthcare ventures, Prior to TripDoctor, he co-founded DeciBio and helped to grow it into the industry standard for molecular testing and next-generation sequencing data analytics.   This episode was recorded live at Insurtech Insights New York 2023 in conjunction with InsurTech Association. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Bobby Touran is CEO of Rainbow (www.userainbow.com), insurance that rewards businesses for putting safety first and evolves with small business’ ups and downs. Bobby talks about how this latest company is transforming insurance into a positive, risk-preventing force for small businesses, starting with restaurants. Previously, Bobby was CEO of Pathpoint, a digital surplus lines brokerage focused on small commercial E&S business.   Rainbow is operating as an MGU formed at the end of 2022 focused more on small commercial insurance and delivering a customer-centric experience leveraging technology.  Rainbow is distributing through agents and focuses on continuous underwriting, specializing in a class of business and creating an "underwriting advantage".  Last year's market headwinds helped the company focus on creating a differentiated value proposition and front-load building their insurance product, filing and experienced underwriting operators to immediately meet market capacity. Bobby talks about how he's "fallen in love with the insurance industry," and reveals the journey of the company's rapid growth, from bringing on new coverage products and agency focused quoting features to expanding across the states. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Nicholas Bowman is the Founder and CEO of Motif Insurance building the first data clearinghouse for the independent life insurance market. Motif seeks to create a comprehensive ecosystem that harnesses the power of data and AI/ML to revolutionize how carriers, IMOs, brokers, and consumers interact and manage life insurance policies. In this episode Nick describes how being agent and understanding the pain points has helped to transition into working with carriers to help improve the life insurance process.  He forecasts the shift towards independent broker networks. More than 80% of customers want to talk with an agent, yet accessing online information will help modernize life insurance in particular the renewals process and the back-end of life insurance that has largely been neglected by insurtech to-date.  The old adage may be that, "Life insurance is sold, not bought" but agent servicing is labor-intensive and involves assessing changes in the customers' circumstances, and complex retirement planning issues. Nick has worked as an agent, taught insurance for the CFP Board, and most recently worked for Lion Street, a large Independent Marketing Organization with 1,000 agents.  This episode was recorded live at Insurtech Insights New York 2023 in conjunction with InsurTech Association and our friends Joanna England Sebastian Tollak Megan Kuczynski. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Alice Melendez is CEO of BOON, an insurance marketplace for multi-family residential buildings. In this episode, Alice describes how she is simplifying the process of issuing and managing all insurance lines within a building, providing cross-risk visibility for carriers and real-time risk alerts. BOON solves for managing risk for a single building, which can involve the support of multiple carriers such as for personal lines, commercial lines, or financial lines. The service manages the sector like a digital MGA, connecting all the systems and documentation for carriers, and benefiting all stakeholders from brokers to end consumers and mortgagees.  This platform connects multiple carriers and their distribution channels, enabling the handling of personal, commercial, and financial lines of different carriers related to a building on a single platform.   Alice is an architect who has grown up in the insurance industry and founded Boon to address the challenges encountered in multi-family properties. She combines her expertise in construction, risk management, and insurance to deliver a comprehensive solution for the industry. This episode was recorded live at Insurtech Insights New York 2023 in conjunction with InsurTech Association and our friends Joanna England Sebastian Tollak Megan Kuczynski. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

David Thorne is CEO of Thumbscore, a financial wellness platform that reduces the stress of managing personal finance. Thumbscore solves for the workforce of millennials and Gen Z, who have strong financial literacy and positive financial habits but have high financial stress. In the episode, David explains why simple budgeting or micro-managing approaches are ineffective for these groups. They tend to be curious and want to be free to explore, but also value timely advice at the right moment. Thumbscore serves users at their 'financial moments of truth' providing insights, education, gamification, and the recommended next step to reduce financial stressors. Its customers are B2B2C insurance companies (for products), other financial products and services (emergency savings accounts, investments), and employers who wish to offer Financial Wellness as a Shared Service.  David is a nationally awarded software and data engineer. He was a corporate program manager for Boeing before starting his entrepreneurial journey, has an Executive MBA from Wichita State University and serves on the Hispanic Chamber board and on the Gathered board, a foster care nonprofit.  This episode was recorded live at Insurtech Insights New York 2023 in conjunction with InsurTech Association and our friends Joanna England Sebastian Tollak Megan Kuczynski. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Andrew Jernigan is co-founder and CEO of Insured Nomads, an emerging leader globally in disrupting the way insurance is designed and delivered for the modern company. Insured Nomads is positioned at the intersection of insurance and safety innovation, building a delivery model for health insurance enabling employers to provide health, medical, wellbeing and security for their team no matter where they are in the world. In this episode, Andrew shares his passion for protecting people around the world and what it takes to build a completely new insurance model, adapting an antiquated travel insurance product to the needs of remote workers. His extensive experience in the healthcare, insurance and banking industries locally provided him with the unique experiences and perspective to break boundaries through the merging of technology with humanity. In particular, how the need for remote workers in a new global workforce has continued evolving into a more flexible format for the employer and their team.   Andrew is a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to serving as CEO, Andrew is also a passionate fighter for justice through support of Not For Sale, and a Strategic Advisor for Shap, and Share Hope International, and co-host of the popular podcast, The New Nomad. This episode was recorded live at Insurtech Insights New York 2023 in conjunction with InsurTech Association and our friends Joanna England Sebastian Tollak Megan Kuczynski. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Layla Atya is CEO & Founder of Quantumerge, the only digital representation & warranty (R&W) insurance liability platform to assess, underwrite, and mitigate transactional risk. Quantumerge simplifies and streamlines the R&W insurance process for buyers, sellers, and brokers. Their core product places and underwrites M&A transactional liability policies, acting between brokers and payers to automate the workflow. Layla says the number one problem in this space is a lack of efficiency, that representations and warranties are such a manual process. The underwriter has to 'cherrypick' conditions, using their own knowledge of financial metrics and the market sector to craft a policy.  Quantumerge's proprietary model integrates deeper M&A datapoints and historical patterns into the underwriting process, and also helping avoid claims in the future. Layla is an expert in data science, risk management, and insurance and has worked in the government, public, and private sectors in the US, Iraq, Israel, and Ukraine. This episode was recorded live at Insurtech Insights New York 2023 in conjunction with InsurTech Association and our friends Joanna England Sebastian Tollak Megan Kuczynski. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Sven Gerlach is CTO and co-founder at Turris, an API-first banking platform made for the insurance industry, whose co-founder and CEO Doug ver Mulm was the former CEO of Stable insurance.  Turris is creating a user interface to help tech-enabled agencies automate all of their banking processes, addressing the painful process of account opening at a bank. Examples of basic banking processes that insurance agencies rely on can be explaining reversals or using popular payment solutions like Stripe. For operating businesses, cash reconciliation and funds administration can cost 10-20% of a small agency's time of manual, error-prone process.  Small agencies therefore tend to have to rely on the carrier statements and reconciliation process to be correct.   Sven previously worked in senior technology roles in investment banking and private equity for over a decade. This episode was recorded at Insurtech Insights (https://www.insurtechinsights.com) New York 2023, the world's largest insurtech community with nearly 100,000 followers in LinkedIn. If you haven't already we recommend to follow https://www.linkedin.com/company/insurtech-insights/. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Yuval Shafrir is the CEO & Co-founder of Urbanico (https://www.linkedin.com/company/urbanico/), the urban intelligence platform. In this episode, we explore how Urbanico adds value to the insurance industry by refining risk selection, underwriting guidelines and pricing looking 150 times closer into the personal-related risk of each written policy. By providing insurance carriers with hyper-localized urban data, urbanico adds contextual risk factors that allow carriers to personalize the underwriting and pricing practices, significantly enlarging their book of business while improving their loss-ratio. Yuval is a physicist by education and came with a product development background from his military service in an elite intelligence unit in the IDF. This episode was recorded at Insurtech Insights (https://www.insurtechinsights.com) New York 2023, the world's largest insurtech community with nearly 100,000 followers in LinkedIn. If you haven't already we recommend to follow https://www.linkedin.com/company/insurtech-insights/. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Adam Cherubini leads the partnerships and business development efforts of Send, a leading Insurtech productivity platform for managing new business, renewals and endorsements. Send is a rapidly growing InsurTech software company based in London and the United States with global reach. The company has developed an innovative connected workbench that enables re/insurers and MGAs to automate, streamline and optimize their underwriting operations.  Their SaaS platform brings complex data out of silos into one solution, providing a consolidated view throughout the lifecycle. Its automation enables new and mature carriers to eliminate rekeying, improve predictability, and work smarter. Adam has been in leadership roles at QuinStreet, Insweb, and Willis Corroon (now WTW). He has also led consulting projects at Voom Insurance, Kelly Klee, Notion, HYLA Mobile and Pie Insurance. He was a Co-Founder and CRO of Honeycomb, an innovative digital MGA disrupting traditional real estate insurance.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Max McClure is SVP Underwriting & Reinsurance at Steadily, having made the inspired jump from traditional insurers to a high-growth insurtech. Steadily is an insurtech that is bringing fast, affordable landlord insurance to rental property owners.  Steadily focuses exclusively on US-landlords as a niche, which is overlooked by bigger insurers as "product 50/100".  It is a tech-forward solution, where all of the co-founders were landlords prior to founding the company. The CEO was able to exit his prior company and invest the proceeds into building a new style of insurance for landlords. Max recognizes that bigger organizations would take months to do what Steadily can achieve in only a few weeks. For example, how legacy platforms understand concentrations of risk reactively, vs. Steadily being able to proactively create features around that to create better underwriting. The issues in landlord insurance are the use of 1990's products without a digital interface. Steadily can underwrite in 10-minutes online versus having to email back and forth with an agent for weeks. From a profitability perspective, Steadily managing this as a niche enables them to dig in much deeper and tailor the offer than an insurance manager with 50 different products.  Additionally, the regulatory environment ensures a supply of information that is sufficient for Steadily to add judgment, validate and extrapolate conclusions into creative solutions. As Steadily grows, it has begin adapting its steep upward trajectory and ensure it can accommodate high growth while maintaining outstanding profitability and customer experience. Max talks about how they've found true product-market fit, where the brand and market are now established and landlords find them vs. having to do 'sales'. He also discusses the future of underwriting, claims and profitability, the flaws of specialist tech models and how understanding the underlying business is the most critical skill of all. Max joined the Steadily team in early 2021 from TWFG where he was the Vice President of Claims and Underwriting. Previously, Max was the President of Atlas General Agency and a commercial lines underwriting supervisor with State Farm. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Karn Saroya is CEO of Re, an on-chain, fully collateralized reinsurer. Re is the world’s first blockchain-powered reinsurer is building a decentralized global reinsurance market. The protocol provides investors with access to a massive and uncorrelated asset class: insurance premiums. Re as a protocol will back insurance programs that support the risks that people, businesses and governments take to build better lives, and navigate an uncertain future. Karn’s first company, Stylekick, was acquired by Shopify in 2015. Over the next seven years he scaled Cover.com into a national insurance platform. Karn holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University with Distinction and a Master of Finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he attended as a Fulbright Scholar. He is also a Y Combinator fellow and alumnus. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

David Schapiro is Co-Founder at Planck AI based data analytics for insurance; Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee at ManyPets - a provider of pet insurance in the UK, Sweden and US; a Director at Ahoy! Insurance - a recreational marine insurer; and advisor to Quantee - provider of AI-based dynamic insurance pricing; Herald - Digital infrastructure for commercial insurance; and Sayata - streamlining the quote-bind-issue process for commercial insurance brokers and carriers. In today's episode, David talks about how to navigate the current markets, from an insurtech perspective and from an insurer's perspective.  He discusses how insurtechs can dig in to focus on business results and cut costs to extend their runway, buying themselves time for higher valuations to return or negotiating a down round with existing shareholders to protect their investment.   He also contrasts that to the view of a large insurer, who have 80% retention, less than 100% combined ratio and have the wherewithal to be patient.  The insurers in particular now face decisions as to whether now is the time to partner up or run M&A with insurtechs, and help redefine how their culture will feel on the other side of this market inflection.  A visionary and veteran CEO and Director with over 35 years’ experience with data analytics and Insurtech companies. David is well versed in leading and growing enterprise SaaS companies including Earnix and ClickSoftware (acquired by Salesforce $1.35B in 2019). From 2006-2017 David was the CEO of Earnix, a provider of analytical SaaS for the Financial Services. David led Earnix from a small startup to becoming one of the leading analytical Insurtech players providing value to many of the top global financial institutions. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Bryan Falchuk is Founder of Insurance Evolution Partners, which advises carriers and their partners on how to navigate an evolving industry facing disruption and change. He is also the President & CEO of Insurance industry trade group, PLRB, that is dedicated to helping adjusters to make expert decisions on Property and Liability claims. Bryan spent 20+ years in the insurance industry, including serving as Head of Claims for Hiscox USA and leading Growth for insurtech communications solution, Hi Marley. Bryan has also held leadership roles in corporate strategy, operations and distribution at carriers like Liberty Mutual and Beazley. He was a consultant in McKinsey & Company’s insurance practice and is on the advisory boards of several startups focused on the insurance industry. Bryan is a best-selling author and public speaker, including several TEDx Talks. His best-selling book series, The Future of Insurance, shares case studies of legacy and startup carriers overcoming barriers to change. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Bob Sargent is President and Co-Founder with me of the Insurtech Association (ITA), a membership-based non-profit organization designed to support and represent all facets of the Insurtech ecosystem. Doug Ver Mulm is Volunteer Executive Director of the ITA. In addition to his work with the ITA, Bob is also the CEO and Co-Founder of eSpecialty Insurance, a digital retail broker specializing in specialty lines insurance, and Doug is Co-Founder of a stealth startup serving the financial operations needs of the insurance industry - his second in Insurtech. The InsurTech Association, launched in March 2023, carries the primary mission of supporting creators of technology. Open to any individual or organization with an interest in Insurtech, the founding board features a diverse group of founders who have successfully navigated the challenges of launching an Insurtech company. Four board members have experienced successful exits and continue to concentrate their efforts in the Insurtech space. The ITA assists early-stage Insurtechs in navigating the inner workings of the insurance industry through various measures such as: Networking support Peer-to-peer dialogue Mentorship In-person and virtual educational events Community building General business acceleration We encourage all followers of the Insurtech Leadership Podcast to join the ITA as members and to participate in upcoming events. For more information, please visit insurtechassociation.org/events. There are also sponsorship opportunities available for companies wishing to showcase their involvement in the industry to a startup audience, network with potential customers and partners, and expand their reach. In addition to his roles at eSpecialty Insurance and the ITA, Bob is a strategic advisor to and an active investor in early-stage Insurtech companies.  Previously he founded, built, and sold a wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager specializing in Professional Liability Insurance (E&O, D&O, EPL & Cyber Risk), and was a Board member and President of NAPSLO (predecessor to WSIA), the specialty insurance trade association. Doug co-founded Stable Insurance, a commercial auto MGA focused on the rideshare and carshare space. He also spent over five years as a corporate counsel at Mercer, focusing on data security initiatives and IP issues. Before law school, Doug was a financial analyst at several investment firms in Chicago. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Tom Wilde is CEO at Indico, an intelligent intake solution automating critical middle office workflows across insurance, banking, real estate and healthcare. 'Intelligent intake' at Indico means the starting point for insurers' most critical workflows including underwriting, claims and policy servicing. The common denominator is data culled from emails or other documents, taken from an unstructured format to feed core platforms and decision systems.  The original digital transformation started with the new customer-facing mobile device, but transitioned through the back office then into the middle office of insurance where business-critical decisions take place. Tom describes actuaries as the original data scientists, taking data and turning them into decisions.  Their modern engines were designed to run on clean sets of data, but unfortunately the reality is that most data lives as unstructured and requires manual rework before it can be used. Indico was early on understanding the impact of deep learning and large language models, and were the first to build a large language model that allows customers to customize their own machine learning models and solve unstructured data challenges.  Tom feels strongly that generative AI (eg. GPT4) can easily handle the context of insurance, because the depth of context-understanding enabled by trillions of parameters can understand any context a human can. There are however three main problems to commercially scaling insurance use cases today using GPT4: it is extremely computationally expensive, insurers' data is still sensitive and proprietary, and GPT4 essentially makes up an answer (lies) when it doesn't know one.  Until these large language problems get solved, insurers will be held back from using generative AI in core processes.  Prior to joining Indico, Tom was the Chief Product Officer at Cxense, a data management provider and founder of Ramp, an enterprise video content management company. Tom worked at Fast Search, Miva Systems, and Lycos. He has an MBA in Entrepreneurial Management from Wharton. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Jason Berkowitz is currently CEO and Founder of ArrowUp, providing restaurant safety, compliance & leadership. ArrowUp helps restaurant owners reduce risk, satisfy compliance regulations and develop a culture of safety. ArrowUp's Insurtech platform strengthens the relationship between the insured and insurer by utilizing tools to promote safe habits and capture data for enhanced underwriting, ultimately lowering risk and liability for insured restaurant owners. He is addressing a market size of $16B in restaurant claim payouts annually, in a culture where lawsuits and union suits are commonplace. ArrowUp makes restaurants safer by providing leadership development, lowering turnover and building upon the culture within an organization to avoid unnecessary lawsuits. The results have been tremendous, with restaurants seeing 30-50% risk reduction based on OSHA standards for its customers. Jason has opened over 50 restaurants, served as VP of Operations for Umami Burger, and COO and Partner for Tocaya Organica.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Jackson Cromer is President of BondExchange, a leading national surety-focused wholesale insurance agency serving retail insurance agents for over 40 years. Since 2012 the wholesale MGA, based in Charlottesville, NC has been boosting its automation and tech capabilities as well as redesigning its end-to-end customer experience. The company is currently bringing in business financial data and personal asset verification via a new partnership with Finicity.   BondExchange's technology provides a one-stop-shop for agents to efficiently quote and issue bonds in all 50 states. The company is open architecture meaning it partners across multiple insurance companies and uses an easy process that is profitable for the agent. Underwriting has been fully automated via algorithmic processing of credit data, requirements on past-due amounts, the summary of liquid accounts. The company also uses a unique bond library documenting how a bond is filed, which forms must be used for reporting purposes, and with highly structured underwriting notes for example on specialty bond clauses.   Jackson describes how as trust in a relationship increases over time, premiums decrease. Therefore he is focused on customer service and adding value and capabilities in surety bonds on the platform.  Jackson digs into how he is driving technology investment, organizational growth and building brand awareness via continuous agent communications in new and existing market segments.  He also addresses how the company is focused on its internship program to develop new talent into a specialist market such as surety bonds.   Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Blair Baldwin is CEO of Boundless Rider, a specialty MGA focused on product innovation for the motorcycle, power-sports, and e-bike markets. Tribes of riders form an underserved market niche that includes motorcycles, UTVs, snowmobiles and new forms of mobility.  Because these categories represent only 2-3% of an insurer's book, they have not introduced unique new customer personas of riders. Boundless created a new brand of customer experience, and added new features to the product. One example is an e-bikes optional endorsement linked to the Boundless mobile app that enables product discounts for usage.  Blair says that the digital self-serve experience is outdated and cumbersome. They put in features that encourage safety for example requiring the use of a helmet in order to be covered.  His biggest surprise has been the collaboration with carriers to run this part of the business so that they can concentrate on larger lines of business.  Prior to launching Boundless Rider, Blair was the Co-founder/CEO of Quilt, a venture-backed insurtech that was acquired by MassMutual, where he later ran a product innovation studio. Blair started his adventures in insurtech as the Chief Marketing Officer for Goji, an early insurtech pioneer that raised over $100M in venture capital funding. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Yaron Ben-Zvi was the CEO of Haven Technologies, a subsidiary of MassMutual and SaaS company in the life insurance space. Yaron led the company from inception through M&A, building a cloud-based end-to-end technology platform for life insurance. As Founder and CEO of Haven Life, Yaron was also responsible for the strategy, vision, and management of one of the leading direct-to-consumer term life insurance businesses, whose mission was to make life insurance simple. Haven Life was recognized by US News, Investopedia, and many others as one of the best Term life insurance providers in the United States.  Previously, Yaron was also the Founder of Goalmine, an early robo-advisor that was acquired in 2012. Before that he was a Director at BuzzMetrics, where he joined as employee number ten, and helped grow the company’s key accounts until its exit to Nielsen. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

James Felton Keith is Founder of Inclusion Score, an award-winning engineer and economist who was the first Black LGBTQ person to run for US Congress. James is currently an elected member of the New York Democratic Committee and is a frequent keynote at global venues like the United Nations, Future Tech Congress, Data Protection World Forum, and the World Pride Human Rights Forum. As an entrepreneur, he established the first international diversity & inclusion certification and the first insurance policy for a lack-of-inclusion based on an "inclusion score".  James has also founded multiple companies in Insurtech, Fintech and Adtech including Harlem Center, Slay TV, LGBT Chambers, and Accrue.com. James' focus economic inclusion, and how to get equity in the hands of the people who have increasingly less, while the world becomes more productive from their inputs. James played an important role in forming the data industry by founding of Data Unions and Personal Data Week conferences. He also co-founded and edits the Ethics of Personal Data Collection series at Anthem Press. As an author, his bio-political philosophy, Inclusionism, is at the forefront of International Relations and Human Rights diplomacy. His career transitioned after founding Detroit’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce and "Pride Nights" at the four Big Box American sports franchises: NBA, NHL, MLB, & NFL. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Josh Minsky is the Founder and CEO of Suretys, replacing the need for a co-signer for first-time auto buyers with little or no credit history (eg. recent immigrants). Retail lenders want to make more loans but are concerned about risk.  Suetys insures these lenders by underwriting the individual, leveraging banking transaction data, binding a policy and enabling the lender to give a favorable interest rate to the buyer. In the rare event of debtor default, Suretys will repay the loan balance and settle a claim with its insurance partner. Finicity and Plaid with their 15,000 institutional individual-level account connections allow Suretys to review income and spending patterns and drill deeper than traditional credit scores can. Josh digs into how the team evaluate data and find proof points to back their risk decisions. Suretys is an example of a startup built on a founder's personal values and beliefs. Josh is both passionate and action-oriented about in helping working people get ahead, creating opportunities for Americans to build solid financial futures, and creating solutions that bridge the inequality gap for millions of Americans. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Shameem Shah is Chief Technology Officer at InsurIQ, providing the insurance industry with specialized resources and SaaS products design to create speed and efficiency throughout the policy life cycle.  Shameem tells the story of how InsurIQ came to be, pivoting from business process outsourcing and inventing code to becoming a pure-play software tech provider. Over time the team added submission-to-quote-and-bind processes including policy administration, digital store for direct-to-consumer, agency onboarding, license management, appointments and policy terminations. InsurIQ now assists insurance providers, managers, and distributors in achieving their digital transformation objectives in both B2B and D2C businesses, converting legacy applications (eg. excel) into containerized micro-services and migrating applications to scalable cloud environments. In the episode, Shameem talks about recent implementations of A&H Policy Administration Systems using InsurIQ's flagship PAS application for some of the leading carriers in North America. As a result of these initiatives, he describes how carriers were able to receive submissions, rate, quote, bind, and issue state-compliant fulfillment documents in a significantly reduced time frame.   Shameem spent the past 18 years working closely with underwriting, operations, and financial teams with a variety of insurance related constituents leading technology strategy from within MGU and TPA organizations prior to co-founding and launching InsurIQ as an insurtech partner on which its clients depend. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Dylan Slattery is from Dyersville, Iowa - home of the Field of Dreams.  An avid baseball fan, he moved to Denver after coaching baseball for six years while battling two bouts with stage four melanoma in his twenties. Later, while working for a benefits consulting company, Dylan realized that many consultants were looking for a solution that worked for their small groups without all of the customization that comes with large group self-funding.  Dylan says that as we approach $5 Trillion annual healthcare spend in the USA, 40% of it goes to waste, fraud and overspend, so trimming at small pieces can go a long way. Excel Health Plans helps employers with fewer than 150 employees save 20-40% on their health insurance without giving up access to a network. Excel increases transparency and control to make decisions such as adding access to health supplies, finally bringing the free market principle of choice to healthcare. Dylan believes if you are only seeing your benefits consultant at enrollment or taking orders and coming back with a price, you should look elsewhere. In his words, "A good consultant will push back, bring value and know blind spots about an employer's benefits they should be considering, and be right up there with your lawyer and accountant." And his personal cancer experience has brought a patient-focused approach: Excel do not believe in denying claims as a form of cost-containment. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Will Prest is Managing Partner of KWP Consulting LLC (kwpworks.com). KWP accelerates company growth by bringing together strategy development, operational and functional expertise on financial products, technology, insights, brand, sales, marketing, and distribution. Their process helps startups get to market, and large firms start new divisions or find new product/distribution partners. In this episode, Will shares valuable insights and lessons on how to bring new ideas for growth into existing, highly regulated channels. Will has held leadership roles in sales, marketing, and product at insurers, broker/ dealers, and retirement plans providers, and was employee #2 at a successful startup focused on how to deliver advice to recreate your paycheck and benefits in retirement.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Mike Mansell is a Principal at American Family Ventures, a multi-limited partner VC firm focused on the future of insurance. Mike assesses, invests in, and teams with early-stage startups that are poised to write the next chapter of insurance, whether from inside the industry or a relevant adjacency. He talks about the macro investing environment and cooling off after years of hyper-growth, and how founders have become more focused on creating strong businesses. While deploying their latest fund, the team have built an ecosystem of partners across the entire value chain of insurance, including a network of advisors for companies and connections to reinsurance, brokerage/distribution or other investors.  Mike talks about the team's focus on founder, market, product and team, and staying true to core investing themes that have been iterated over time. Mike feels that massive change to the industry is hard to imagine, that insurance is an industry that moves by inches over a longer time given its compulsory nature.  Mike’s recent work has taken him to the sectors of insurance distribution, E&S lines, and financial wellness. Prior to joining AFV, he gained deep risk management experience through roles at Liberty Mutual, GE Capital, and Kearney. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Dan Findley is Director of Strategy & Business Development at The Andover Companies, responsible for scaling a Business Development vertical. His key responsibilities of the role include marketing, digital agency experience, existing and emerging agency technology, external industry relationships and representation, market analysis and product innovation, and agency partners success. Dan talks about the large cultural change mindset inside a large incumbent insurer, as employees shift over from 30-40 year veterans to new generations. His team focus on understanding the core competencies of insurance while also learning how to make it better. The Andover is owned by its policyholders so puts the customer-first, which on a practical basis means modernizing core systems and user experience as well as the digital agency experience. Part of the team's mission is understanding the enduring value proposition but also embracing change and how to work with younger talent. Dan talks about the speed at which insurers are moving versus brokers, and how professional development in the industry is taking shape. Dan has earned his Master of Science in Insurance Management from Boston University along with his CPCU and ARe designations. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Mark Scafaro is the CEO and co-founder of Afficiency, an insurtech transforming the end-to-end life insurance buying process and accelerating the time it takes to get applicants approved and covered.  Afficiency delivers life insurance products on an all-encompassing digital platform, available for digital distributors from quote to policy all via API. Its focus is on building life insurance products that a consumer can purchase in less than ten minutes. Afficiency's API allows distributors to offer innovative digital life insurance products. Its proprietary "likelihood to be approved score" or ApprovedAPI optimizes conversion funnels and spikes approval rates by identifying and targeting highly-likely-to-be-approved prospects. Afficiency also powers carriers with a digital platform that enables them to build and distribute completely new products in less than six months. Mark spent nearly two decades working at major financial service institutions, including Morgan Stanley, American Express and MetLife, while rising to leadership positions and honing expertise in strategy, marketing, operations, finance, and data science. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Amit Batzir is the co-founder and Chief Product and Risk Officer at Spott, an eCommerce insurance platform that helps sellers protect their businesses from unexpected losses. Spott provides Liability Insurance, Suspension Coverage, and Stockout Protection. Its solutions are geography-agnostic, revolving around real-time data and underwriting capabilities. For example Spott launched "Pay as You Sell" such that coverage spins up based on actual product sales when they occur.  Amit describes how in eCommerce you have many more data points and signals prior to a claim being filed that provides a basis to train models and create more accurate decisions enabled by real-time measurement of exposure whether number of units sold or other business changes. Amit also discusses Spott's go-to-market strategy, whether being part of Facebook or Whatsapp groups, or being bundled as part of an embedded insurance product. Prior to co-founding Spott, Amit spent eight years at PayPal, most recently as Head of Data Intelligence. Over the course of his career in technology, Amit has acquired more than twenty years of leadership experience working in product, analytics, and data science roles. Amit is a veteran of the IDF’s elite intelligence unit and holds a B.Sc in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Tel Aviv University. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Arik Shpak is Co-Founder and Chief Insurance Officer at Connected insurance, focused on the creation of new insurance markets in the "sharing economy" such as transportation and mobility. These new markets are growing at over 30% per year but lack of traditional actuarial models and experience.  Connected helps any sharing economy business embed insurance into their product offering creation. Their technological invention is to utilize advanced event sourcing technology and provide real-time data analysis algorithms and machine learning. This helps fill the gap on actuarial data and discovers a way to price and write the required insurance. Arik is former the head of innovation at Kesh Underwriters, and an insurance broker at Shepherd Compello Ltd in London (a Lloyd’s Broker and Coverholder). He describes how he sees what Lloyd's is doing in discovering and innovating new insurance markets as being a true basis for the insurance world. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Sri Ramaswamy is founding CEO of Charlee.ai a Silicon Valley technology company specializing in claims and underwriting solutions. Charlee leverages natural language processing to streamline claim workflows and risks to reduce claims expenses, litigation and efficiently manage reserves. Charlee's core product addresses the rising severity of claims when attorneys get involved, which has grown by more than 30% since Covid. Charlee augments claims teams' intelligence by assimilating past claims data to detect patterns and trends, the risk characteristics that correlate with litigation and rising claims severity, as well as actuaries development of coverage models.  Charlee also helps parse and strengthen the dataset so that adjusters can bring in multiple data points to make non-emotional decisions to settle claims in the right way. The product was build upon decades of claims adjuster knowledge and experience and 'mimics' the experts to build exactly the right domain libraries and ontologies relevant to the P&C claims process. Sri spent more than 20 years in architecting and launching business intelligence, advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence solutions for banking and Insurance industries. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Rafael Broshi is Co-Founder and CEO of Notch, an MGA offering new insurance products for individuals and micro businesses.  Notch provides insurance and security solutions for digital assets, starting with a business' digital storefront - their social media account. Medium- and large-sized businesses have access to cyber insurance for damages created via email, social media, direct messengers etc. Businesses rely on social media for distribution and as a source of growth and income. Notch's social media coverage product is admitted in the US, written on HSB paper (an AA+ rated carrier) and protects against account takeover. The outcome is loss of income insurance for up to three months with a semi-parametric and semi-automated claims process. Notch's product specializes on micro-businesses with up to 20 employees, with most of its customers making up to half-million dollars in revenue per year. Notch is selling direct to small businesses to understand the market, and is now starting retail agent expansion with an exact knowledge of their customer typology. The brain of Notch's product uses public data to instantly evaluate the customer need, rather than relying on collecting information from the customer. Parametric insurance relies on an outside check to trigger the claims process, but it relies on whether there was a real loss. Notch is semi-parametric because they determine semi-automatically whether an incident has occurred and when to pay a claim. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Daniel Keough is the Chairman & CEO of Holmes Murphy & Associates, one of the nation’s largest independent insurance agencies. Dan also serves as co-CEO of BrokerTech Ventures, the first broker-led convening platform focused on delivering innovation to the insurance broker industry, or #brokertech.  Dan talks about how BrokerTech Ventures supports the technological and business development of #brokertech companies and is at the forefront of change for the insurance industry. Prior to leading Holmes Murphy, Dan founded Innovative Captive Strategies, a subsidiary company of Holmes Murphy. His goal was to develop captive alternatives that would provide businesses with unexpected sources of revenue while alleviating unnecessary business expenses. Dan earned an MBA with a specialty in Finance from Loyola University Graduate School of Business, and he holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Iowa. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Danny Amir is CEO of BetterTogether, a direct-to-consumer personal wellness and weight loss app that is bringing simple and effective well-being and weight loss products to millions of people.  BetterTogether is answering to the main trends in the insurance in industry in personal health and bringing a new benefit into their offering. Reinsurers are moving into preventative activities, life and health insurance companies are seeking to differentiate and reduce churn with new wellness offerings for insureds. Brokers are seeking creativity in their offering for employers.  While no one wants to increase risk, all parties in the insurance value chain seek innovative new services that delight the end customers. BetterTogether brings a social-first approach to well-being empowers individuals to make healthier lifestyle choices and achieve success at a much higher rate than traditional approaches. The well-being product is unique in its ability to engage customers on health and wellness and create shared value for all parties in the insurance industry, including reinsurers, carriers, brokers, employers, and consumers. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Nyasha Gutsa is CEO and co-founder of Billy, which digitizes and connects the process by which construction contractors work with insurance brokers. Billy is redefining construction insurance technology, managing insurers, certificates of insurance and requirements, working with brokers to retain and engage customers. This can mean commercial general liability, workers compensation, auto and excess liability and more specialist forms of insurance that can be required to sign a customer. Billy does not want to compete with brokers so is not an MGA, rather acting as the connective tissue between insureds and brokers/agents and focusing on the specialist area of insurance including the claims management process. Nyasha has built strong cultural values at Billy that drive engagement with the business, based on ownership, openness and optimism. Employees work four days a week (Thursdays are always off), and give opportunities to travel or spend more time with their family.  Nyasha was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, and began his construction career as a mailroom clerk and rose through the ranks to become a project accountant at Plaza Construction, a New York City General Contractor. He was one of the early employees at Procore, where he spent 6.5 years working as a Sr. Product Manager responsible for building contracts, invoices, and integrations into Procore's financial tools.    Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Itay Bengay is CEO at Sensa, the first proactive auto insurance company, focused on help - not just compensation. Sensa provides lifesaving services 24/7. Itay believes people should not be left alone during a car accident. In the moments after a car accident, people want to deny and move beyond it whereas the insurance need is to remember every detail of that incident to avoid any unnecessary claims inflation.  Sensa is a "proactive" insurance company engaged in redefining the standards for profitability and loss ratios while helping each policyholder through this important "moment of truth". Itay says removing the policyholder systematically from the claims process and instead relying on hard data will strengthen and improve settlements.  Itay is a physician by training, and technology executive by experience.He is driven by real-life problems to develop financially viable solutions. He discusses building change from outside the insurance industry but using people from inside the industry to achieve that change. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Dan Woods is the founder and CEO of Socotra, the first modern, cloud-based platform for technology-driven insurers. Socotra has its own app marketplace and APIs to connect software to insurance businesses, providing open access and clean documentation to get started. Socotra provides solutions that are off-the-shelf, true cloud and fully documented. With computer science being the most popular degree at most universities, we have more people who can implement solutions that go-live and work. Dan created data platforms and smart enterprise software at 8VC and Palantir. He holds a MS in Computer Science from Stanford.   Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Steve is cofounder and Chief Climate Officer for The Demex Group, providing actionable risk management solutions at the hyper-local level for non-catastrophic but extreme weather events. Demex offers solutions for insurers, reinsurers, and other companies with exposure to extreme weather to price risk and provide a valuation basis for weather and climate-related information. What is the impact of extreme weather on a business operations? Where are companies weather-sensitive, what impacts cost structure and revenue.  How should the company best manage that risk, via reinsurance or capital market products?  Demex was built to help clients understand their risk profile and enter into financial risk instruments that best cover that risk. Demex starts by having a tech stack that can quickly and easily parts large sets of specialist data, then to value risk based on weather data so that insurance and capital markets can certify and price suitable protection. Steve talks about each Florida storm changing the building codes, and companies activating policyholders to take actions that help mitigate losses, all resulting in lower industry risk.  Steve began his career working as a meteorologist in newspapers, radio and television, including The Weather Channel. He went on to focus his career on linking extreme weather and natural disasters to financial impact for Enron and Citadel where he led projects in energy, agriculture, insurance, reinsurance, and equity valuations. Steve went on to build and lead the team that developed software to identify climate risks to global supply chain operations. He is chairman of the American Meteorological Society’s Committee on Financial Weather and Climate Risk Management. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Tom Beauregard is the Founder and CEO of HCG Secure, a product and solution builder transforming the aging at-home experience. HSG produces alternatives to long-term care solutions for middle income families who retire, do not have long-term care and will not qualify for Medicare. Many people in this category may have adequate income but do not understand that Medicare does not cover their long-term care, and 70% of people face larger-than planned healthcare expenditures that are the leading cause of bankruptcy of people over age 75. HCG is licensed in 50 States and is selling through brokerages who sell to the pre-65 population with an average buyer aged 60. HCG now has 15+ larger brokers as partners, who have confirmed this industry coverage gap.  Tom was inspired to found HCG Secure when his parents reached an age where they were unable to fully care for themselves but wished to age at home. Limited by geography and his parents’ need for local resources, he found the process both overwhelming and difficult for him to ensure that his parents were receiving the best possible care from afar. Stunned by the lack of coverage resulting in out-of-pocket expenses and the lack of resources, Tom made it his mission to create products that offer the network and coverage needed for individuals and their loved ones to age comfortably, and as they wish.  With over 30 years of innovation experience across healthcare, public policy, academia, and non-profit organizations, Tom’s career has centered around building disruptive solutions to problems he has personally encountered and identified within the healthcare space. Tom was the former Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer of UnitedHealth Group, where he oversaw the R&D department for both UnitedHealth and Optum. He brought over 100 R&D initiatives to market across various innovation categories, including value-based payment models, digital health, consumer engagement, and home-based care models.  Tom graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and the University of Connecticut with a Masters in Business Administration. He also received an Emmy for his work with the National Diabetes Prevention Program in partnership with the Y-USA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Project NOT ME, where he was the Executive Producer.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Bryan Davis serves as Executive Vice President, HUB International Corporate as the leader of its VIU online broker. HUB is a top 5 global brokerage and largest personal lines brokerage, and Bryan leads VIU, a full-stack 21st century digital brokerage. VIU executes omni-channel (digital + call center + field) strategies impacting product development, consumer segmentation, digital marketing, and the customer & broker experience. Unlike traditional carriers, VIU brings speed through faster services in the cloud making it easy for strategic partners to plug into its brokerage. About Brokers: Bryan says a full-stack broker brings choice and neutrality across the entire value chain of insurance. But being a great digital broker doesn't just mean being neutral, you need size and scale to be a great distribution channel for your carrier partners. About Digital Strategy: Bryan talks about creating an enablement layer first, avoiding channel conflicts within the existing organization by being intentionally externally focused on customer needs and complementing HUB's existing portfolio. Business is Business, Technology Enables Business, the value chain of insurance has not changed: look for a policy, sell a policy, service a policy, pay a claim. Tech and digital strategy are just new ways of figuring out how to connect a value proposition to a customer to deliver the service. AI is not a strategy, it's just a means to power a strategy or business value proposition. HUB knows its value proposition, knows it is a very good broker, and is using technology to deliver that value proposition that resonates with the end customer. About Talent: Bryan took talent across technology & data, sales, product expertise to connect a strategy to implementation. HUB sees the talent strategy as core to building VIU, and has been tenacious about the competencies for every role.     Bryan has over 20 years of industry success and is widely viewed in the industry as a transformational insurance executive with P&L experience across Property Casualty & Financial Services; including personal lines & commercial lines in product management & pricing, sales/business development, underwriting and operations. Bryan achieved success at a number to top P&C companies, including Nationwide, Safeco, & AIG. Prior to joining  HUB, Bryan served as the Chief Strategy Officer for USAA’s P&C division, reporting to Wayne Peacock, current CEO of USAA. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Isaac Hicks, CEO Slipbot, which extracts nuanced information from Facultative and Treaty Slips of all kinds in the Reinsurance space using a novel approach to natural language processing. Issac is an advanced Software Integrations Expert and AI practitioner that combines iPaaS solutions, Robotic Process Automation, and Artificial intelligence to create innovative, state-of-the-art business solutions that produce practical, concrete value for growing organizations.   Slipbot is his team's custom AI system built for the reinsurance market, focusing on unstructured document processes such as the reinsurance slip. Users can now simply drag-and-drop documents into their management system for reading and onward processing. Isaac describes how AI systems learn just as a human learn how insurance terms are set and what more sophisticated questions to ask in a review. The AI models the business and loss layers so that managers can make more informed decisions about their book. Longer-term, Slipknot seeks to remove the need for manual data entry and document understanding, to enable reinsurers to focus more on business management and results. Isaac sees a future that will rely on the human component of evaluating risk, that there is a limit to the algorithmization of everything in terms of doing good business. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Les Schlesinger is CEO at ClaimRide. Claim Ride is the leading facilitator of ride share/hailing service providers (Uber, Lyft, YellowCab) for policy holders receiving transportation (rental reimbursement) benefits under their automobile insurance coverage. The solution provides access to ride share services that enhance and or replace a typical rental car benefit received from an insurance company, Motor Club or Roadside Assistance Company. Claim Ride offers an end-to-end solution including a Mobile Application that facilitates ride share benefits in the event of a covered loss. Les talks about seeing this major opportunity early as a reputable industry insider, and still having to move the market along towards adoption step-by-step.  The challenge is not about the confirmed opportunity, but rather the implementation challenges of a new product and the "not-invented-here" syndrome that exists in the top 10 carriers. However the other 300+ carriers are more attune to taking advantage to new market offerings and quicker to adopt. Les also comments on the proliferation of MGAs, the impact of insurtech and the role for niche expertise in the industry to provide a quicker response to new market needs. Les is also Owner at Links Insurance Services. Links Insurance Services is a Managing General Agency (MGA) representing insurance carriers in the State of Florida, Texas and California for the sale of automobile insurance. Partner carries have included Direct General Insurance Company, AssuranceAmerica Insurance Company, Hudson Insurance Company and Federated National Insurance Company.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Sudhama Gopalan is founder and CEO of AveriSana Inc., an insurtech startup that uses data science and machine learning to make customer acquisition in life and health insurance more cost-efficient and productive.   Matching customers to products used to be about understanding intent and then looking at insurability (health and medical records) later on in the sales funnel. Technology now enables insurers to aligning intent with insurability simultaneously in order to reduce the total cost of acquiring a customer and a higher match and customer experience.  The team started by modeling outcomes however using more data were able to define proxies for individuals' health risk. Averisana is thus able to better match customers to insurance products across the marketing, sales, and underwriting process, both digital and traditional. This also enables agents to quantify their leads pipeline up-front and accurately. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Eyhab Aejaz is CEO at Breach, developing cyber insurance solutions for the growing $2T+ cryptocurrency market. Breach has built a proprietary policy issuance and administration platform and an industry-first solution to insure clients of popular cryptocurrency custodians and exchanges. Eyhab says crypto is built on trust and transparency, yet decentralized markets the product is based on those same standards. Crypto is not illegal because it is taxed, so they see it as a type of asset, with a buyer, seller, and exposure to risk. Eyhab sees crypto coverage being similar to jewelry insurance, assets are in custody, in order to underwrite they only need to confirm applicable State rules, the custodian of record and the insured amount. Breach partnered with Boost Insurance to figure out the actuarial and reinsurance side and operations of the business. This essentially de-risked the company launch, but Eyhab says he still felt the act of 'taking the leap' into a startup, being early and not having enough on-board, yet also feeling in hindsight that was the exact right time to start the company. Breach is now in the process of standing up a carrier to defray its own reinsurance costs, so is one of the new wave of companies making the jump from insurtech to insurer. The company is backed by Raptor Group, LightShed Ventures, Ted Rogers, Foundation Capital, Global Founders Capital, Road Capital, PJC, and Goodwater Capital. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Upasana Unni is the Chief Commercial Officer of Sayata, a marketplace where wholesale brokers can find small business insurance from multiple carriers in just a few minutes. Upasana oversees market partnerships and carrier relationships and says insurance remains a relationships business, with people on the phone. Insurance remains a very relationship-driven place, needing well-respected voices making the calls to place business. She does not see a zero-touch digital-only experience being possible in more complex insurance areas like commercial and speciality lines. Brokers need support on the 20% of policies that do not fly through the underwriting/renewal process, and to learn where to place policies in speciality markets like cyber.  In the current state of insurtech evolution, insurance carriers still own the product and MGA insurtechs' own distribution. Carriers have tried to launch or buy their own marketplaces, but there is a disincentive to list on that marketplace if you are an agent who does not work with that carrier and seek truly neutral offers. They tend to buy marketplaces that do not have a profitable, growth-ready customer acquisition process.  Upasana sees tremendous growth opportunity for marketplaces. There are many more uninsured risks to cover today, for example how could insurers cover an invasion, which is considered uninsurable much the same as cyber risk was ten years ago. Upasana sees a future evolving where insurtech MGAs are acquiring their own capital and becoming full-stack insurers. Upasana is actively seeking candidates in various roles at Sayata so get in touch with her to find out more! Previously, Upasana spent 10 years at McKinsey & Co. as an Associate Partner guiding blue-chip insurers to develop digital strategies and build platforms for digital risk placement. Upasana served over a dozen carriers on topics ranging from board strategy, portfolio optimization, capital strategy, and operating model transformation. Upasana is a graduate of Harvard Business School as a Baker Scholar and holds a Bachelor's, magna cum laude, from Harvard College. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Dr. Holger Bartel is CEO and founder of RealRate. Working at insurers, Holger saw first-hand how the company ratings process is biased and filled with conflicts of interest. RealRate fills a niche of automating company ratings. Instead of analysts conducting personal interviews and spending half-year on a rating, RealRate automates and scales ratings using publicly available data.  RealRate uses hybrid AI brain to make the results 'explainable-by-design, by providing a structure that restricts data usage. Holger sees RealRate scaling by providing boutique M&A support services in the future. He also explains what it's like being a European by values and culture working in the US environment, which often feels bigger and more aggressive in making claims. After getting his PhD in statistics Holger founded several fintech companies, driven by the idea of changing markets using new technology, also working as appointed actuary in the insurance industry and with rating agencies. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Mark Breading, Partner at Strategy Meets Action is known for his insights on the future of the insurance industry and innovative uses of technology. Mark says expertise and relationships are at the heart of every business, whether origination or distribution, and digital-only models will not be taking over for a long time. His belief is everyone in the industry needs to develop more relationship skills and responsibilities, and that agencies in particular will maintain their strong role. While recruiting people from other industries and geographies is also having a high impact on cultural norms, larger insurers remain slower-moving due to the drag of the organization whereas some of the regional powerhouses seem to be more on the edge.  He also says we are not headed to a large percentage of autonomous vehicles until the late 2030s. Mark leads SMA’s research program, publishing 25-30 research reports per year and conducting various custom research projects for insurer and vendor clients. His thought leadership in the areas of InsurTech, transformational technologies, customer experience, and digital strategies has earned him a ranking of one of the "Top Global Influencers in InsurTech" by InsurTech News and Onalytica and a place in the ten finalists for the "Top Global IoT in Insurance Influencer Award."  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Frank Giaoui is President of Optimalex, a legal predictive analytics insurtech. Wait...What are legal predictive analytics, exactly? Insurance companies today apply their own benchmarks to settling legal cases, and may share medical claims but typically do not have access to external benchmarks.  Optimalex adds science to the historical art of claims adjustment. The head of legal claims analysis and/or chief risk officer typically engage with Optimalex, defining key success metrics, ie. reducing the loss ratio by an accretive amount. Optimalex starts by extracting unstructured public data on litigated cases, whether motor vehicle accident, personal bodily injury, workers compensation or medical malpractice. Through applying data analytics the company can predict the outcome with a higher confidence level, reducing uncertainty, cost and creating a fairer compensation amount. Data extraction, rating and curation forms the basis of its better prediction. The company supplements each client's data set to improve prediction and make it more relevant to their own track record. Frank has owned a boutique investment bank Hera Finance, holds a PhD from La Sorbonne Law School, and is a Post Doc JSD at Columbia Law School. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Spyridon Antonopoulos is Director of Solutions Architecture at Solidus Labs, providing trade surveillance, transaction monitoring, and threat intelligence to corporates. In this episode, Spiro discusses how the insurance life cycle can begin to cover crypto assets, for example using photo and video evidence as part of the risk assessment and claims process.  Spiro has experience in the Life, Annuities, and Long Term Care insurance verticals, spending the first decade of his career advising senior leadership at many of the Top-100 North American carriers across new business, underwriting, and claims.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Joshua Behar is CEO of Mobile2CRM, which solves an organizational blind spot by capturing business communications (Voice, Text, WhatsApp) conducted via cellular devices without violating users' privacy. -The core problem Mobile2CRM solves is customer-facing employees' usage of mobile phones to do business, whether managing customer data in their own personal excel rather than the CRM, or the common high turnover and customer poaching amongst salespeople. -The core product records and documents business mobile calls and SMS records in the CRM without infringing on the privacy of employees’ personal mobile devices. -Compliance can allow people to use a single phone to run both personal and business communication with a clear separation between the two, whether W2 or 1099 employees during peak seasonality. -Mobile2CRM is seeking strategic investment and distribution partners in the US. Previously, Joshua was CEO of Ericom Software, GM of Time To Know Inc and COO at Amdocs.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

At the GIA, Dan Israel is responsible for the overall strategy and operations of the organization - emphasizing the growth, development, and success of the programs, as well as ongoing support of all of the accelerator’s portfolio companies. His goal is to bring together strategic and forward-thinking investors with innovative founders who can enhance both groups’ opportunities for growth and the insurance space overall. Key things to know about working with the GIA: -GIA lets the enterprise's strategy, champions and leadership drive where the work should happen  -Measuring results at GIA means understanding how innovation impacts their business, typically how many PoCs, partnerships, whereas GIA defines success as progress and depth of challenges partners are trying to solve  -GIA differentiates itself as an accelerator as it was founded by insurers, so the primary mission has never been equity stakes but rather innovation outcomes for carriers  -GIA focus all activities whether mentorship or workshops on building a business ie. product market fit and customer understanding rather than the funding journey or just finding your next investor Prior to the GIA, Dan worked in innovation, management and strategy, finance, and operations at Rolls-Royce and Target Corporation. Dan has an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a B.B.A. in Finance and Economics from the University of Iowa Henry B. Tippie College of Business. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Jon R. Sabes is the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of FOXO Technologies Inc. a technology startup using the science of AI and epigenetics to reinvent the life insurance industry. Insights in this episode: - How longevity science is becoming core to the life insurance industry, better predicting mortality risk - How to create and use an epigenetic clock of how people are biologically aging from your zygote double-strand starting from mom and dad's genetics through an entire lifetime   - Why genes express the way they do, and how that can change over your lifetime affected by disease, aging, environmental and lifestyle factors  - The industry move to 'fluidless' and how Covid brought accelerated underwriting protocols forward 5-10 years - Giving consumers insights into their own biological aging and molecular health fingerprint, including 'indulgence exposures' to establish a baseline and make recommendations to stay healthy and extend your longevity  Mr. Sabes is an active financial entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience, having structured over $1 billion in financing commitments for a variety of businesses. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers. For important legal information related to FOXO’s SPAC announcement, please see the following SEC disclosure at bit.ly/social-disclaimer.

Jason Gross is Vice President & Head of Platform for ManchesterStory an early-stage InsurTech venture capital in Des Moines Iowa. Key insights in today's episode: ✅Leaders often assume employees are resistant to change, but as it turns out the most experienced employees are the most excited about change because they have felt the 'pain points' for the longest time. ✅ManchesterStory is 6-years old, is US-focused on seed-stage insurtechs and fintechs and will lead early rounds, having invested in 5 companies since last November so are not slowing the pace given current market conditions.  ✅Jason recommends carriers be open to hiring non-traditional innovation leaders who can take organizations in new directions, but also closely partner with business line leaders to gain traction. Previously Jason was VP Innovation for a top-60 carrier that partnered with over two-dozen insurtech companies.  He is currently Co-Chair of the Global Insurance Symposium and has served as Vice Chair of the Global Insurance Accelerator. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Tomas Vykruta is CEO at EvolutionIQ, a claims guidance AI platform for Group & Individual Disability, Workers Compensation and Casualty & Liability that has processed millions of bodily injury claims. Customers include Sunlife Financial, Reliance Standard, Argo, Matrix and Fullscope RMS. Claims officers are dealing with up to 70 injured employment cases a day. EvolutionIQ acts as an expert medical doctor, understanding provider data, procedure codes, and partnering with carrier teams. Instead of using black-box predictions and a numerical score, Evolution uses an explanations framework using examiners' own language to explain why each claim is being referred, avoid using biased information for interpretation, and embed a legal team review in their offering. Tom sees a future where humans are guided by machines, data exponentially grows and every carrier industrializes their processes around these new abilities.  Tom was previously a leader within Google’s Applied Machine Learning organization and Waymo – Google’s autonomous driving technology development company – where he developed a machine learning pipeline predicting behavior based on historical logged drives for Google X's autonomous car.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Delanea Davis is the co-founder and CEO of Cloud9 Online, a Hartford-based medical-grade meditation tech company. Delanea is an accomplished Senior Executive and Thought Leader, with 25 years of success in P&C market research and the health & wellness industries. The practical application of Cloud9's white-label B2B solution is to get injured workers back to work on-time and healthy, which improves P&C loss ratios and adds a new datapoint to behavioural datasets that can drive better outcomes for patients, companies and insurers.  The Cloud9 solution allows injured workers to interact with a library of more than 500 medical-grade guided meditations for better sleep, co-created with clinicians. Disease-state specific meditations are the focus of 7,000+ research studies post-Covid showing how the mind can heal the body.   Medical-grade meditation is a thing! It stems from a proprietary rubric starting with the disease-state, clinical research on that disease, best practice methodology from hypnotherapy, and leverages neurolinguistic programming to focus on outcomes, together with a clinician's review. If a worker falls at work and has a surgery and is prescribed opiates, many other conditions are created that require more attention than a physician can provide. Cloud9 adds a holistic layer to getting the patient back-to-healthy that is patented to use machine-learning for suggesting the best therapy based on patients' health record and biometrics. About Launching and getting invested: Cloud9 has partnered with Hartford Healthcare and Acadia Healthcare to carry out its employee wellness studies and is Connecticut Innovations-invested. She talks about exiting her corporate job, creating her first slides and then an MVP and keeping in close touch with CI as the product grew, understanding the economic opportunity and "fear" or compelling call-to-action in the message you are delivering. About working with Insurers: Selling to insurance companies is less about money and more about time resources and complementing what they are doing, and needs to be proven out before buying. About getting a Patent: The logic for filing was the team wanted to put a stake in the ground, create a stronghold around this powerful new idea, and increase their own valuation. Previously, Delanea was a Vice President at Travelers Insurance Company where she co-founded their enterprise-wide market research department. In this leadership role, she conducted extensive research for more than twenty lines of business, acquiring a deep expertise in property & casualty insurance, customer experience, digital strategy and international expansion strategy. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Anthony Habayeb is founding CEO of Monitaur, an AI governance and ML assurance company. ✅ Monitaur guides enterprises to build and deploy responsible AI and machine learning models that business leaders, regulators and consumers can trust. ✅ Large enterprises don't have good oversight and controls to have enough confidence in AI systems, Monitaur delivers software for internal risk teams to build auditability and enable access to verify machine learning with tangible evidence.  ✅ Monitaur is in an emerging category that opens the black box of AI to audit, evaluating for bias and building standards for large regulated enterprise customers like early-adopter Progressive. ✅ Anthony sees leading indicators of an insurer being "ready" for responsible and ethical AI when they believe in proactive software infrastructure development, and want to build more ethical company governance overall. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Adrian Jones is a partner at HSCM Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd., an alternative asset manager in re/insurance and transport.  Today's episode is an in-depth look at capital-raising, whether funding losses is a viable model, revising business plans, and what types of people become successful.   ✅Carriers remain 'followers' rather than fast followers, because culturally the industry has been operated more conservatively than other industries. ✅There are good examples of companies who are early adopters taking advantage of the new technologies and insurtech and exist in all shapes and sizes all over the world. ✅Talented insurance people who find opportunities to connect, which can mean attending ITC and sending around a report afterwards, is how new leadership is identified and formed. Before joining HSCM in 2021, Adrian was Deputy CEO of P&C Partners at SCOR, where he set-up and led SCOR P&C Ventures.  From 2010 to 2016, he was head of strategy at RenaissanceRe.  He started his career in 2001 at Bain & Co and has lived/worked in New York, Paris, Bermuda, Brussels, and Stockholm.   Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Rashid Galadanci is CEO of Driver Technologies, an AI-based mobility tech company that delivers a safer driving experience, co-founded in 2018. Rashid was inspired to start Driver Technologies to share the benefits of advanced vehicle technologies without barriers to access and improve safety for everyone.  Rashid's dad survived a car accident in Africa because he was in a Volvo, but the passengers of the other car were not so lucky. This life-changing incident catalyzed Rashid to devote himself to auto safety and insurance using technology. Driver uses cell phones to democratize auto safety. Driver uses cell phone data real-time on the edge to act as an early-warning system in car models that do not yet have their own operating system to do so.   Driver focuses on proper coverage as people fluidly switch between ride-share, delivery and private automotive insurance needs. Users have extended the use cases out into boating, jet ski and private aircraft. Rashid is also a Venture Partner at The Social Entrepreneurs’ Fund, and a Director at Pigeonly. Rashid holds a B.A. in Political Economy from Dartmouth College and is based in the New York City metropolitan area.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Daniel Demetri is the founder and CEO of Trellis, an insurtech company leading a fundamental shift in how businesses and consumers engage with insurance. Trellis provides insurance optimization, depending on consumer needs for higher coverage, lower deductibles, better service quality, or lower cost. Daniel believes consumers deserve financial services and experiences that automatically work cohesively to support and simplify their lives. Daniel built Trellis to enable consumers to compare their existing policy, purchase a new policy, and cancel their old one, using data from the insurance experience that helps banks and insurers cross-sell products & services. He says insurtechs can create new value for customers by using data, and can monetize for that value with banks.  He also describes raising capital in the current economic cycle, how Covid re-positioned insurance in a consumer's budget and lifestyle, and what the immediate future holds for the insurtech industry. Daniel previously co-founded States Title, the title insurance technology company that recently rebranded as Doma. Daniel also led product management for Earnest, the leading online student loan originator, and worked at Google, Kayak, and a number of global financial services firms. Daniel received his B.A. from Harvard University in Computer Science and Economics and currently resides in the Boston area.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Roma Bronstein is Co-Founder and CTO at Spott, an eCommerce insurance solution that stops unexpected losses from taking down online stores. ✅Spott tackles the risks of lawsuits and sales disruptions with a new breed of dynamic insurance products. By offering merchants one-click coverage at the fairest price, Spott makes eCommerce businesses resilient. ✅e-Commerce more frequently leads to miscommunicatons between sellers and carriers, which can lead to misaligned pricing or coverages. ✅Spott acts as an interpreter to interruption policies with a new innovation called "Suspension Coverage" that helps bridge and mitigate the gap in coverage caused by such misunderstandings.   ✅When you understand the breadth and scope of risk a carrier is taking when insuring an e-Commerce company, you can better understand how important the policy review process can be. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Bob Frady, CEO of HazardHub decided to start a company when a family member’s home unexpectedly flooded. HazardHub's goal was make those tools available to every single homeowner in the United States. "While we can’t prevent disasters from happening, we can give you a leg up in preparation." Today Bob provides direct, no-nonsense insights into what it takes to bootstrap your vision, not take early capital, having enough confidence in your vision to walk away from partners who are not ready, and operating as a team. ✅About raising capital: "People offered is cheap money but I knew what the pipeline was, and wasn't going to sell out my pipeline." "We were older, and people look down soon giving money to older people." "We are not easy people to work with, we've been fired 9 times between us (two co-founders) so we wanted less people at the table rather than more. ✅Insights about confidence in starting your own business: Starting alone meant when someone said no, they just said goodbye. The desire to be right, and say no to companies whoa re not ready for you is hard.  ✅About the co-founding team: One person owned the product and vision/hype, and the other person owned all sales for consistency of process. It changed over time as the business grew, Bob was able to hand off a lot of the roles and could focus more on marketing and product vision. ✅About working with the insurance industry: Bob says that understanding the risks of a property, its root condition, can be improved through technology. Insurance does not love revolution, it can barely get its hands around evolution. Founders need to keep their expectations of what others can take low. ✅About capital structure: Bob's plan was always to sell the business, so from day one they founded as a C-Corp, being serious about selling B2B and focusing on profitability are easier. And keeping the cap table light so there is more to give away later. The founding team set an early exit target, but as they hit that initial number they reset a much higher number for acquisition, and when they started to hear that number, that's when they hired a banker. ✅About becoming a founder: Bob encourages anyone to start a business, to take the chance, it's not as hard as people make it out to be. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Vinod Kachroo, CEO Innoveo is focused on guiding product strategy and partnerships, scaling delivery, raising brand awareness, and accelerating market momentum and growth. Backed by Everstone Capital and Paulson & Co, Innoveo’s cloud based, AI enabled no-code platform is currently in production globally at over 30 industry leaders across insurance, financial services, healthcare and real estate.  Innoveo helps the c-suite and CTO/CIO launch new digital brands, create new experiences and new businesses, and automate and digitize their back-end processing.  Vinod says no-code essentially allows firms to focus on business rather than over-developing administrative technologies, essentially teaching firms how to build applications in a new manner. Mr. Kachroo has established himself as an innovation leader in insurance, financial services and healthcare working for companies like Tata Consultancy Services, MetLife, Prudential and AIG. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Kegan Greene is a Managing Director and Head of Insurance Technology investment banking at Jefferies, a multinational investment bank that provides M&A transaction support including capital markets and financial advisory services, institutional brokerage, securities research, and asset management. Kegan works with later-stage insurtechs, Series B, C or beyond who are leaving the initial VC-raise stage and can start yo consider other options such as private equity. This content is great competitive intelligence for earlier-stage insurtechs who may themselves become acquisition targets and need to understand the market dynamics at play. Kegan is observing companies who are raising bridge alternatives to equity by using convertible debt or other instruments to provide growth capital without over-focusing on the valuation-dilution aspects of the raise.   Kegan sees momentum towards increased consolidation of policy administration software providers, and is excited to see what he calls, "Companies that are solving problems for the first time in insurance." Founders are bringing deep industry experience and are trying to solve a problem that has plagued them for years, truly understand the problem they're solving and have the vision to create on a greenfield.  Prior to joining Jefferies, Kegan's notable M&A transactions included the sales of HazardHub to Guidewire, Advisen to Zywave, QuoteWizard to LendingTree, ATTOM Data to Lovell Minnick, Real Capital Markets to Lightbox, Worley to Aquiline, and Wealth Enhancement Group to Lightyear. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Andrew Lerner is Managing Partner of IA Capital Group, having launched IA Capital's venture capital business which is now the firm’s core activity. Andy is a Director of Credit Sesame, SmartAsset, Matic, and Marble. Andy notes the VC industry has matured from being the Wild West to become a founder-friendly industry. IA's sweet spot is Series A or five years before the potential sale of a company versus the seed stage where you have to wait ten years or more. The right time to reach out is when your company has $1M revenue or more, are headed towards $2M revenue and are ready to raise a Series A. Once the company's valuation is $100M or more IA feels the fastest growth has already happened.  Andy relates that full-stack insurers valuations are not what they once were, so partnering with innovative insurtechs help them get farther than their own ideas/tech labs. The majority of insurtechs today either serve or distribute products for insurers and generate the bulk of the innovation being seen across the industry. Areas of Insurtech investment focus right now include cyber, cannabis and crypto insurance, new market segments where startups have an edge over established companies to gain a foothold in new markets. Andy notes that Fintech is five times as large as Insurtech, so they focus on specific strength areas like payments where they invest din Marqueta, and wealth management like NextCapital and SmartAsset. Andy also talks about culture: what makes a good fit with the co-founders and overall management team, reviewing how equity is divided and motivation for the founding team. He also talks about a VC can successfully act as a Board member, whether hiring new team members, getting new customers but avoiding the operational side of the business. Andy holds a B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He serves as a director of Transportation Alternatives and Chess In The Schools. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Brian Fritton is CEO at Havoc Shield, having built his previous startup into a crowdfunding machine that originated over a billion dollars in real estate loans which led to a successful exit.  Brian has also been responsible for defending a small business from cyberattacks as CTO at Patch of Land and the VP of Engineering for a an enterprise data science software maker. He is a 2020 TechStars Alumni and Founding Member of Forbes Technology Council. Today Brian talks about the founder’s perspective to cybersecurity in an increasingly complicated and risk-filled, constantly evolving cyber risk environment. He says Havoc Shield has done what TurboTax did for personal finance, turning Cyber into a step-by-step plan so companies get it right.  Brian sees a connection to insurance having built a product for brokers looking to enter the cyber space that performs a fitness assessment helping to understand the technical jargon and mapping carriers requirements, building a full evidence package for underwriting that speeds their approvals process.  Brian gives a tip that multi-factor authentication is one of the first steps that insured parties should implement, despite the minor inconvenience, the ROI on multi-factor is well worth it.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Qiyun is Co-Founder the co-founder of Amplify Life Insurance, a digital life insurance platform.  Amplify is building a comprehensive life insurance platform to provide financial security for millions of individuals and families and bringing consumer choice, efficiency, and customer centric experiences to the industry. At its core, Amplify is a digital platform that creates customer-centric, permanent life insurance, offering quoting, recommendation and end-to-end policy management to the end consumer.  Amplify operates direct-to-consumer, where the majority of customers find them directly online. Qiyun says people don't know you can use your life insurance to invest in new interesting asset classes and build wealth. In fact, the first thing Amplify built was a digital quoting system from-scratch as there was no good API from incumbents to do so. Previously, Qiyun was the first product manager at Spoke, building a simple, smart system to manage workplace requests. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and Harvard Business School. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Bill Conners is the CEO and Woody Klemmer is the Head of Growth at ForMotiv, a behavioral intelligence platform that helps insurance carriers predict user intent, in real-time, by analyzing digital body language as users engage with insurance applications and claims forms.  ForMotiv uses Java snippets that embed in tags or source code to collect data at-scale, so know which behaviors are indicative of certain outcomes, which are the good and bad customers, and provide insurers these insights in real-time. It's taken four years to perfect, but similar to Netflix each user's experience can be tailored to see the 'right' products and experiences. It can also detect which customers have not been transparent about their health conditions or can help reduce fraud losses. The company has a fun widget on its website to 'spot the real fraud' using gut instinct versus data analysis, you can try it at https://formotiv.com/insurance-fraud-detection-solution/.  Prior to ForMotiv, Bill was an early employee at Relay Network a mobile messaging platform that works closely with healthcare payers, banks, and telecom companies and Woody founded GladlyDo, an on-demand odd job & staffing app connecting college students with gig work. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Matt Chesky is the President of Insuritas a leading provider of embedded insurance solutions for financial institutions in the U.S. Matt says the process of ensuring you are getting the right coverage at the right price is painful. Insuritas believes part of the solution is to embed access to insurance products in environments where customers are already used to spending time. Insuritas is an 'original' insurtech, founded in the late 90s to help banks and credit unions run their own insurance agencies as a turnkey solution, so have two decades of experience with embedded insurance platforms.  Matt relays that every customer who walks into a bank is already an insurance buyer, so discovering the way to identify the right timing and solution in their hands, for example embedding auto insurance at the point of a new car loan in the bank branch. The second key is making the buying process as easy as possible, by pre-filling as much information as possible. The third key is having the insurance conversation in a highly-trusted relationship as an extension of the local bank where insurance represents the 4th or 5th product in the relationship. Consumers are not singularly focused on price, they want the right coverage and a trusted relationship, so enabling banks and credit unions to provide personal insurance remains a highly attractive opportunity space. Matt is widely recognized as a thought leader in the banking and insurance verticals, and has been recognized by the Hartford Business Journal and Connecticut Magazine’s ’40 Under 40’ lists. He graduated from Yale University. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Meet Bobbie Shrivastav, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Benekiva where she leads the product development, customer care, and delivery of transformational technology solutions to help modernize the insurance industry. Bobbie’s unwavering commitment to innovation, her customer-centric approach and thoughtful development of industry-evolving solutions have earned her the reputation as an industry leader.  She is instrumental in Benekiva’s evolution to become the only technology solution on the market that delivers straight-through, next-generation claims and policy servicing transformations, with asset retention enablement.  Prior to Benekiva, Shrivastav has been in senior leadership roles with organizations such as, United Guaranty - a division of AIG, AON and Pepsico where she led several large-scale multi-million-dollar, enterprise-level transformation initiatives. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Harry Croydon is the founder of STP Group and the President and CEO of MIC Global. MIC Global provides simple insurance that is accessible, affordable, and relevant, by creating highly relevant insurance products that attract and retain customers enhancing customers' brand and drive growth.  Their overarching goal is to make the safety net of insurance available to all. The big idea behind MIC Global was to focus on straight-through-processing (STP), with high volume sales, and the ability to process claims very efficiently. Harry describes technologies that create embedded insurance solutions for platforms that provide services. Embedded insurance brings together key insurtech themes such as Gig/ Sharing/ Creator economies, Payment Gateways and IoT Device Manufacturers. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Meet Jeffrey Radke, Co-Founder & CEO at Accelerant, a successful insurtech with more than 150 employees. Accelerant has created a common cause of loss nomenclature across multiple areas and countries. Working across jurisdictions adds complexity, but also informs discovery of new market opportunities for underwriters.  Culturally, Jeff notes a key challenge is finding experienced insurance executives who are not afraid to make a decision, and have a high willingness to collaborate.  Jeff sees a significant opportunity in bundling insurance in such a way that underwriters do not need to look at individual policies as a decision-point in their process, leveraging data science and embedded insurance as a lever to scale. Prior to co-founding Accelerant, Jeff was an Executive Committee Member, Global Head of Strategic Initiatives, of Syndicate, Head of Europe at Argo, CEO at PXRE, CEO and President at Select Re. His experience includes underwriting, operations and management of insurance, and reinsurance in global markets. This experience base has given him a deep understanding of the entire insurance value chain, from the original insured, retail and wholesale brokerage, insurance, and reinsurance to alternative capital and traditional shareholders. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Meet Michael Cavanaugh Vice President of Insurtech Growth for Boost Insurance, where he is responsible for the development, implementation, and success of new & emerging products for Insurtech businesses. Whether Pet, Renters or Cyber - Boost is enabling companies to write the new fun and profitable lines of insurance and remove barriers to entry. Before his move to Boost, Mike was with Apogee Insurance Group for 12 years where he led the growth and development of the Tech & Cyber product broking team.As a graduate of the St. Joseph’s University School of Risk Management and a Certified Ethical Hacker, Mike leverages this experience to address the gap in technology and insurance that prevents many companies and individuals from understanding the benefit of Cyber Insurance. Mike’s background in Insurance and Computer Science allows him to provide insight into the changing Cyber Security Risk Management environment and the Insurtech landscape for the Insurance community. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Matthew Jones is a Managing Director at Anthemis, where he is responsible for sourcing, analyzing and executing investments as well as providing support for Anthemis’ portfolio companies. He brings in-depth knowledge of the insurance sector and focuses on investments in insurance and risk-related technology. Matthew’s areas of interest include analytics and data, artificial intelligence and automation, asset management, digital health, mobility, new insurance propositions and risk management. Prior to joining Anthemis, Matthew was at Swiss Re, with roles across non-life and life insurance and reinsurance in both London and Zurich. Matthew previously served on the boards of Flock, Hokodo and Stable and is the resident venture investor for Carrier Management’s VC Viewpoint series. He holds a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Bath and also studied at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Today meet Stacey Brown who is Head of Global Technology Innovation at AXA XL, a Division of AXA, and Founder at InsurTech Hartford. Stacey is an insurance technology executive with a strong tech background with over 20 years industry experience developing high-performing IT teams and strategic solutions. Atop his responsibilities as an IT executive, Stacey is most recently known for his role in jumpstarting the one of the world’s most successful InsurTech ecosystems, InsurTech Hartford. Stacey founded Insurtech Hartford by a genuine interest, he saw the insurtech scene happening in other places and didn't see it outside his window in Hartford. His mission since then has been to host events and bring people together, he struggled on his own for a while but then met the folks at Upward Hartford in a partnership to run networking, hackathon and startup pitch night events. Stacey says the activity around insurtech has changed, with valuations drastically increasing, and having more VCs in the game than five years ago. As an industry insider, Stacey's broad definition of insurtech as, "Applying technology to make the insurance industry better." He is witnessing the transformation where once 'edge' technologies such as advanced analytics, #machinelearning and #AI as becoming more commercially viable and get down to solving real problems. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers. #insurtechhartford

Happy to chat with Kobi Bendelak, Founder and CEO of InsurTech Israel. We met Kobi at a recent event in Stamford, CT and his super-high energy and inside knowledge of Insurtech from the Israeli market is such a welcome voice!  The company has four areas of activity: Investment, Consulting, Events and News and the Israeli Insurtech Accelerator. This combination of activities make InsurTech Israel one of the leading and most active participants in the global Insurtech ecosystem.    Kobi has a deep InsurTech knowledge base with 22 years of experience in the insurance industry, is former CEO of a Migdal / Assicurazioni Generali subsidiary. Kobi is a Colonel (Reserve) in the Israeli defense forces, a mentor in three accelerators programs around the world, Lloyds Lab, SBC USA and GIA. Kobi was chosen by the Daily Fintech magazine to be among the 34 respected resources people in the InsurTech industry in both 2019 and 2020. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Jason Keck is a seasoned technology entrepreneur, bringing 20 years of experience across digital and mobile to the insurance industry. Before founding Broker Buddha, he led business development teams at industry unicorns, including Shazam and Tumblr. A Harvard graduate with a degree in Computer Science, Jason also worked at Accenture and Nextel prior to building innovative brands and gaining success in the startup world. Broker Buddha creates value in creating smart forms for insurance agents, creating a simple way to transport data into core insurance systems without extracting data from pdfs. Their agency core success metric is submission counts, or numbers of policy submissions in terms of time, volume and quality. Larger agencies can be completely online in under 90 days, and smaller agencies can onboard in only a few weeks. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Meet Eliron Ekstein, CEO at Ravin AI and Contributing Author at Forbes Technology Council. Ravin's inspections turn the insurance class process on its head by providing the customer tools to scan damages themselves. Ravin uses extensive data about each vehicle type, and provides the insurer with an initial estimate, leaving the adjuster and body shop to confirm and complete the repairs process. Examples of transparency during the auto insurance claims process: When is my car going to be repaired? When will I get it back? What is actually being repaired? Are we overpaying for this repair? Examples of transparency during used car sales and the insurance process: What's happened to this vehicle in the past 2-3 years? Ravin embeds AI into many of the well-established claims processes and companies. So Ravin focusses on the use of objective images, immediate report-creation and removing pain from the process as-is today.  Eliron sees significant opportunities for disruption of the existing value chain with embedded insurance and auto manufacturers like Tesla seeing distribution, after-sales service, claims and insurance as part of their end-to-end customer experience. Previously at Shell, Eliron worked on inspecting cars for safety, using mobile phone inspection and solving for the friction of transparency in the auto insurance sector.   Eliron has worked for 10 years in digitizing the automotive and transportation sectors. Before founding Ravin, Eliron was Head of New Business Development at Shell’s Digital Ventures unit in London, investing and incubating new businesses that could leverage Shell’s global footprint of retail locations for the benefit of fleets, motorists, and smart cities. Prior to that, Eliron served as the CEO of FarePilot.com, a startup using machine learning to help taxi and Uber drivers find their next passenger by predicting demand patterns in local areas. Eliron has an MBA from London Business School Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Elizabeth McCluskey is a Director at CMFG Ventures, the venture capital arm of CUNA Mutual Group. She is the head of the Discovery Fund, which focuses on early-stage fintech companies led by underrepresented founders. Today she talks about financial inclusion, low-income populations, and sourcing entrepreneurs directly from these communities.  She discusses impact investing vs. just making sound investments for financial return, and the fund's core theses around budgeting and financial management, credit access/building, affordable debt, wealth building, financial wellness and embedding financial literacy in all of these. Elizabeth sheds light on member-serving credit unions as a new ecosystem for most insurtechs, and aligning their mission and values with the overall investment and startup strategy. Elizabeth is passionate about supporting companies that improve consumer financial health and address financial inequality. She has spent her career in financial services, including over 15 years as an investor in private and public markets. Prior to joining CMFG Ventures, Elizabeth was a Principal at Impact Engine, where she helped launch the women-led investment firm’s first venture capital fund.  At Impact Engine, she invested in early-stage companies in economic empowerment, environmental sustainability, and health equity.  She has an undergraduate degree from Harvard College and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. - Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Meet Stephen Buonpane, who is co-founder and Chief Insurance Officer of Shepherd Labs, Inc., a tech-enabled Managing General Underwriter for the commercial construction sector.  Prior to starting Shepherd, Stephen was Chubb North America’s Construction Industry Practice Leader for Major Accounts and the Executive Vice President of underwriting for Chubb’s Primary and Excess Casualty Construction divisions. Based in New York City, he was responsible for overseeing the strategic direction of Chubb’s large account construction business and the execution of the divisions’ underwriting strategies countrywide.  Prior to joining Chubb, Stephen spent 21 months with the British Government as UK Trade and Investment’s US Financial Services Sector lead. He earned a Master of Business Administration degree with distinction from New York University’s Stern School of Business and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the University of Delaware. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Michael H. Lanza is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Selective Insurance Group, Inc.  In today's episode, he traces his path from being a lawyer in Hartford at Cigna to being 17 years at Selective, a well-known super-regional commercial insurer.  Michael shares lessons about how legal can support the key aspects of technology and innovation for insurers. He led in the Insurtech multi-disciplinary task force at Selective that prepared analyses of the market, finding competitive advantage and reviewing opportunities in agency and distribution empowerment and customer experience. He also recalls bringing together a strategy from the initial ideas from the Board, reviewing trends in Silicon Valley, including Selective's award-winning innovation in the automotive industry and commercial lines.  In 2019 Selective added an innovation lab, and has also made investments via its strategic investment committee. He describes how closely the lab ideas are tied to senior business people to ensure the success from new idea into business production, which involves cultural change as much as technological change. Michael talks about how during the pandemic, innovation accelerated, in particular to managing customer safety management (loss control), adding virtual inspections using video.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.  Mr. Lanza joined Selective in 2004. Before that, he was a corporate advisor and consultant and served as Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary of QuadraMed Corporation, a publicly-traded healthcare IT company. Previously, Mr. Lanza was Assistant General Counsel at CIGNA Corporation, where his responsibilities included state government affairs, health care compliance, and international matters. He began his career in private legal practice in Connecticut.

Tomer Kashi, CEO & Co-Founder at Voom Insurance, on-demand insurance for anything you can ride or fly. Voom is an MGA that focuses on use-based products around the future of mobility, using new sources of data to provide a better insurance experience for markets typically underserved by the incumbent providers.  One advantage Tomer sees for insurtechs is that In personal lines, most of the pricing models are publicly available. What he calls "Insurtech 2.0" is the ability to focus not only on user experience but the underlying risk models themselves.  Tomer sees three major shifts in the future of mobility space that provide tailwinds for  new models of insurance: • New platforms such as drones • Increased connectivity, new risk assessment and embedded insurance  • Rise of subscription models, decreasing ownership  Tomer addresses the ability of customers to "exploit" or somehow mis-use these new pricing models. In his experience with on-demand, use-based coverages the customers play fair overall and do fit the model. Coming to the US from another country offers the opportunity for a deep, broad market. Tomer describes the "necessity" of targeting the US market in order to scale. Voom's latest fundraise was $15M, he describes how product growth drove the capital raise, and how the VC feedback and process helped the company focus even more on its niche markets using proven growth metrics. VC connections and introductions become critical in the niche spaces such as mobility, drones. In terms of the mid-term future of mobility Tomer assumes the future holds connectivity, and increasingly better safety; however the shift to fully-autonomous vehicles may change important pieces of the insurance model. Prior to founding Voom, Tomer spearheaded interdisciplinary technology projects from within the Prime Minister’s Office in Israel. Tomer is a "Talpiot" graduate and has a  BSc in computer science and physics from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MBA from Tel Aviv University. Tomer is based in Tel Aviv and is a proud father of two little daughters. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

We're proud to introduce our friends David Gritz at InsurTechNY and Bryan Falchuck at Insurance Evolution Partners. The two are partnering with Conning Research & CB Insights to gather 200+ Insurtech leaders insights about their insurance carrier partners and publish the results in a ranking of the best carriers for collaboration- Complete the survey here: https://lnkd.in/geHjP2UJ David is the co-founder of InsurTech NY, the largest InsurTech community in the NY metro area. David also serves as a strategic advisor to high-growth InsurTechs to help them go from concept to scale. Previously David has served as the Director of Innovation for the Silicon Valley Insurance Accelerator (SVIA) and has led product at Zero, a behavioral safety focused InsurTech acquired by EverestRe.  Bryan is an expert in insurance and InsurTech and has written extensively on innovation within the insurance industry – most notably in his recent book series The Future of Insurance: From Disruption to Evolution. His work looks at how insurers can be flexible and responsive to the evolving needs of the industry and the digital tools needed for innovation in how insurance is delivered. Be sure to connect with the crew behind this initiative: Tony Lew Cynthia Hardy David Bradford Alan Walters Irene Yang Scott Hawkins Mark Gardella Mike Fitzgerald CPCU, PMP Roi H. Krishnan Venkatachalam Insurance Evolution Partners Pivot Global Partners Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Ty Sagalow is recognized as one of his generation's most influential insurance professionals, developing an unprecedented number of new products for the world’s largest insurance companies.  Before co-founding Assurely, Ty was a founding member of Lemonade and served as its founding Chief Insurance Officer. Ty spent 25 years at AIG and was the Chief Innovation Officer for Zurich following that experience. He is considered the creator of Entity Coverage Directors & Officers Insurance, Cyber Insurance, Reputation Insurance, Y2K Insurance, Collectible Authenticity Insurance, and Intellectual Property Collateral Insurance.  He is the author of three books, including The Making of Lemonade. Having graduated summa cum laude from Long Island University, Ty also received his JD, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center and an LLM from New York University School of Law.   Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Andrew Wynn, Co-Founder Ascend, the first modern insurance payments platform that provides automated all-in-one financing, collections, and payables. Ascend is funded by heavyweight investors FirstRound, FirstMark, Susa Ventures, South Park Commons and Box Group. Andrew and co-founder Praveen Chekuri previously built Sheltr. The company became the first acquisition made by insurtech unicorn Hippo because of its intuitive and technological approach to building an insurance product that went beyond the customer interaction. Prior to Sheltr, both Andrew and Praveen were employees at Instacart, leading the company’s product and data integration team. Prior to that the two founders were at Instacart. Andrew and Praveen see insurance payments as a specific-enough problem yet general enough that it applies to a wide group, so they went about to solve it for everyone in the industry. Their product brings premiums management, commissions, reconciliations, online payment and premium finance a streamlined, all-in-one experience. Of high interest is how Ascend's teams are formed as being end-to-end across the whole customer journey for one vertical segment, whether insurtechs, producers, agents or carriers. As an outsider to the industry, Andrew sees more insurtechs coming from people in insurance in the future. He seeks experts from this "highly networked industry" to provide input, advice and counsel to help balance out the traditional venture focus on speed. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers. More About Ascend Ascend is the modern insurance payments platform that provides automated all-in-one financing, collections, and payables. Ascend was built on the premise that, as the insurance industry moves from offline to online, insurance distributors will need to provide a modern seamless customer experience with a payment infrastructure in order to keep pace with the increasing demand for high-quality customer experiences. Founded by two-time insurtech entrepreneurs Andrew Wynn and Praveen Chekuri, Ascend helps distributors sell more by eliminating labor-intensive, expensive processes while providing customers with the great online checkout and financing experience they've come to expect. To learn more, please visit LinkedIn, Twitter or check out https://useascend.com/.

Meet Sears Merritt, Head Technology & Data, MA Mutual Investments. Sears has been recognized as one of the life insurance industry’s top 25 innovators under 40 by LIMRA and an academic-industry partner by the American Statistical Association. He is a member of the board at Barings, an advisor to Antara Health and member of the Innovation Committee for the American Council of Life Insurers. Sears is a senior leader with expertise in the areas of data science and analytics as well as enterprise and internet technology. Over the past 15 years, Sears has spent time leading and innovating in numerous industries, including healthcare, telecommunications, and financial services. Sears currently leads MassMutual’s technology and data functions, where his teams are focused on modernizing the firm’s architecture and bringing digital, cloud-native, data-driven capabilities to bear throughout the company. Sears was also responsible for architecting one of the nation’s first regional telehealth networks in Colorado. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science, M.S. in Telecommunications, and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an M.B.A. from the Sloan School at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Matt Ranauro is the Founder and CEO of Benefix.  Matt's podcast insights focus on creating broker and agency trust in data. He says you have to trust the machine, and this behavioral change takes time. Matt's career has spanned over 15 years as a designer, technologist, and entrepreneur. In 2016 Matt started Benefix as a side project when he found the process of finding benefits for his company a nightmare. Fast forward to the present and Benefix is improving the experience for carriers, brokers, small businesses and their employees. What began as a way to create efficiency for a small business owner and their health insurance options, has quickly redefined the way brokers and businesses work together across all benefits, creating better outcomes for all. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Gloria Guntiñas Vanzo, CEO at two insurtech companies MLTPLY, and Pouch - it's the first time we've featured a double-CEO on the pod!    Pouch went to market earlier this year in automotive insurance, and MLTPLY came out of an additional opportunity discovered during the launch of Pouch. Gloria says that in insurance, 80% of the problem tends to be well-known, but 20% tends to be really hard to fix, leading to balancing speed with depth and focus.  Truly innovative ideas tend to be difficult to implement in insurtech due to the high level of regulation, and top insurtechs focus on the moment of the "event" and embedding and rationalizing these events in an end-to-end customer flow.  Gloria gives examples of focus on embedded insurance with her home HVAC system and bridging that logic over to other areas like automative.  Embedded insurance means Information that leads to safety and prevention to make decisions.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers. Gloria Guntinas Vanzo is the Co-Founder of Pouch Insurance and CEO of MLTPLY. POUCH an insurtech focused in delivering great rates and better insurance product to small businesses. MLTPLY goal is to support top Insurtech entrepreneurs by funding at pre-seed and seed to accelerate innovation through access to operational infrastructure, insurance product delivery, fronting and reinsurance capacity. Her passion is to combine data, efficient delivery and innovation to build the next generation products to market. Through exceptional teams and replicable process her organizations have been able to cut time to delivery in half and generate ongoing revenue growth to the P&C sector. On her spare time you can find Gloria playing tennis, tending to the garden her husband built and mentoring extraordinary Hispanic talent around the world.

Rahim Rajpar, CMO at Plumlife has quickly has been adopted by 300 agents since launching just this summer, having integrated into SwissRe's Magnum from the outset due to the ideal fit of their instant underwriting process. 2/3 of agents' clients are completing their process via a mobile phone, so Plumlife is creating a true digital-sales experience rather than digitizing the old paper one. Insurance advisors are first and foremost consumers themselves, interacting with modern digital services, so we should not expect them to take a 'pause' at work using sub-par experiences. Plumlife is focused on creating the ideal advisor experience taking cues from the consumer-side, informing its product development at the broker level, taking in all the nuances and experiences of the life insurance process. Rahim also reflects on how Covid accelerated insurance digitization and separated those who really re-imagined products from the ground-up versus those who just replaced the existing process. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Bill Keogh COO at Eos Venture Partners a global strategic VC Fund focused on #insurtech. Bill comes from industry, having spent 15 years in underwriting and saw the early iterations of catastrophe risk modeling from the 1990s on.  The big idea behind Eos is they seek to have a positive impact on the lives of half a billion people by closing the protection gap, making insurance better, more accessible and affordable. Eos invests exclusively in early-stage Series A insurtechs, lead the round and take a board seat. Their focus is currently on cyber risk. The team focuses on the leadership qualities of the founders, their sales and capital-raise ability and their technology.  They do not invest in pure tech sales to insurance companies, instead seeking companies with objectives that help a certain segment of customers like Buckle.  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers. Bill will be speaking at the next Insurtech NY event on November 16 in NYC. He is Chief Operating Officer and an Operating Partner at Eos Venture Partners focused on due diligence and business building with portfolio investments. Prior to joining Eos, Bill worked in a variety of leadership roles in the insurance and insuretech sectors, most recently as Chairman and CEO of Advisen. As Global Group Executive at RMS and then President of EQECAT, Bill played a leading role promoting adoption of catastrophe risk models in the insurance industry. During his career Bill has worked and lived in New York, London and Vienna. He has worked with clients and managed teams globally. Bill is also non-executive chair of The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative, developing and promoting the adoption of distributed ledger and blockchain solutions in the insurance industry and related ecosystems.

Alex Frommeyer Co-Founder & CEO at Beam Dental is a super-inspiring founder who is at the head of the pack in digital dental insurance. Three value-added propositions that set digital insurance fundamentally apart: 🥇1. Easy: The whole digital infrastructure and user experience including customers and brokers is just simple to use, 🥈2. Smart: Underwriting blending traditional actuarial concepts with data science and machine learnings to develop their own proprietary actuarial models that better predict and manage risk,   🥉3. Preventive: Active health and wellness offer with access to BeamBrush that rewards customers for using it. ✅As a leader who has grown a company from 3 to over 270 employees, Fro shares some of his experience from transitioning from a builder role into a CEO.   ✅"Fro" and his technology-experienced team observed a large problem in that 100M Americans don't have access to dental insurance. They found their 'edge' in #machinelearning and #gamification, using lots of unstructured data to optimize returns in the risk of dental claims. ✅Beam's entire organization has been created following the customer journey, so the team can do its best job at each touchpoint   Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers. Alex Frommeyer is CEO and founder at Beam Dental, an AI-powered dental benefits provider that offers an easy-to-use online platform, tailored pricing based on dental hygiene behavior and the Bluetooth-connected Beam Brush toothbrush that tracks brushing habits.

Brian Kaas is President at CMFG Ventures the M&A and corporate venture capital fund for Cuna Mutual, and is Board Member at multiple #insurtechs. Brian is leveraging his insurance law background to lead the deals that will help drive the industry forward. ✅Brian sees insurtech as still 5 to 7 years behind where fintech is today, with more early-stage entrants than maturing companies to scale ✅Direct-to-consumer insurtechs in life insurance have a particular set of challenges, where name-brand recognition plays a major role ✅With auto insurance, you renew your policy every year, whereas with life insurance you have less frequent meaningful touchpoints to the customer ✅Brian sees interesting trends/opportunities in embedded financial services, being present at the merchant-customer point-of-sale  ✅Insurtech investing has a significant problem with ensuring diversity and so Brian helped launch a second fund purely focused on providing capital to companies founded by underrepresented demographics across the board Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers. Brian Kaas is President and Managing Director of CMFG Ventures, LLC and oversees all aspects of CUNA Mutual’s venture capital program. Additionally, Kaas serves as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at CUNA Mutual Group.  He is responsible for evaluating and executing a broad range of acquisitions and other strategic transactions for the organization.  He serves as a board member for several financial technology start-up companies and is a frequent speaker on emerging fintech trends.  Kaas joined CUNA Mutual Group in 2012. Prior to joining CUNA Mutual Group, Kaas was a partner at the national law firm of Foley & Lardner.  Kaas has a broad range of legal and corporate experience, particularly in the areas of complex commercial transactions including mergers, acquisitions, reinsurance and corporate restructurings. Kaas graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School with a Juris Doctorate. He also received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in Public Policy and Administration with an emphasis in Legal Affairs.

Guy Benjamin is working on digital health, formerly having trained in the Israeli Air Force, Yale and McKinsey. His Insurights is exploring the potential for digital transformation in the healthcare space. 20 years ago you'd go to a bank, later on you'd call a call center, and now you use an app. Health insurance is still at step 1 of transformation with call centers but has not yet truly digitized.  ✅Insurights 'Zoe' takes on average 650-pages of coverage information and simplifies every question, enabling 'Customers' to become 'Consumers' for the first time  ✅Zoe uses AI to understand the context and intent of every policy sentence, and will reach out proactively with specific benefits in specific impact areas such as 'diabetes'  ✅This not only helps consumers better manage health it helps employers optimize benefits for the consumer interactions, and lowers the overall costs for the insurer ✅Insurights transforms the way employees interact with their healthcare, getting healthier while spending less time searching information and on the phone  ✅As co-CEO, Guy focuses on the people, product and pipeline, by showing the mission and impact having great access to healthcare will have on society  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers. This week's guest biography: Guy, the youngest of four brothers, was born and raised in Israel. He spent 12 years as an officer in the Israeli Air Force, getting his BA in Information Technologies and Physics from Ben Gurion University. Following his career in the Air Force, Guy graduated from Yale School of Management and joined McKinsey & Co. immediately after where he was an Associate Partner, focusing on transforming old processes with Digital and Analytics. Guy co-founded Insurights following his own experience trying to navigate his health benefits and his aspiration to help people be healthier by transforming their healthcare experience.

Ben Grosser is Chief Insurance Officer at Telivy having elegantly mastered the jump from insurance to the technology and insurtech side to create new growth for the industry, ✅APIs allow us to now vertically integrate the insurance supply chain using one digital process from broker to product and servicing ✅Building APIs on both the insurtech and insurer side is accelerating the pace of learning and integrations ✅Ben puts focus on delivering an ultra-high quote ratio that partners can trust  ✅The increasing frequency and severity of claims in cyber combined with the need to service the small business segment is catalyzing premiums in the area to over $25B in the coming years  ✅Ben sees retail agencies as retaining a critical role in the distribution of cyber solutions  Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Until 2015 Andrew Rear worked in all facets of insurance in a 30-year career and turned that into an Insurtech second-half, convincing the board of MunichRe to partner and invest in Insurtechs. From 2021 'Andy' has been chairing a few Insurtechs including Buckle, and working with a private equity fund on its investment strategy.  ✅His approach to partnering with MGA-insurtechs has always been deploying patient underwriting capital, in return for investing in early-stage entrepreneurs. ✅Andy believes there will be no 'Uber of insurance,' however there is already an Uber of the speciality areas of insurance such as small business insurance, or of gig economy insurance.  ✅Andy uses an example of insurance innovation in the credit score space, with those above 650 correlated to paying bills on-time and fewer auto accidents as not being the 'end' of the insurance focus, but digging into the

Heather Wilson was the first Chief Data Officer at AIG and Chief Analytics and AI Officer at LBrands before taking the role as CEO of Clara Analytics.  ✅Clara helps deliver 10x-40x savings back on worker's compensation claims processing using AI and API integrations. ✅Clara's interface helps understand the complexity and nuance of claims including medical records, allowing the adjuster to recalibrate and choose the right specialist to review the injury in that exact location, predicting and preventing litigation. ✅The next decade will see a focus on speed and efficiency and 'no-touch' claims in the personal lines, and a transformation of commercial lines from back-office processing to front-end customer-facing businesses. ✅Heather sees a fantastic opportunity partnering claims organizations with Insurtech's using the best talent and ecosystem to transform the industry. ✅Heather acts as a strong champion for Diversity Equity & Inclusion by helping young women understand what they do best and how to develop their own path to success in business, and CLARA aligns with this mission having a strong female C-suite presence across multiple top roles. Heather H. Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of CLARA Analytics, has more than a decade of executive experience and leadership in data, analytics, and artificial intelligence. She was Enterprise Chief Data Officer of AIG, Global Head of Innovation and Advanced Technology at Kaiser Permanente, and Enterprise Chief Data Officer of Citigroup. She currently sits on Equifax’s Board of Directors and is a member of the Audit and Technology Committees. While at AIG, she was named the Insurance Woman of the Year by the Insurance Technology Association for her data innovation work. Ms. Wilson is recognized as a world-class expert and pioneer in data, analytics and AI. She has been a steady supporter of diversity throughout her career. She launched the Kaiser Permanente Women in Technology group, focused on mentorship and retention for women in math, technology and science. She was an Executive Member of Citi4Women at Citigroup, leading predictive analytics around retention. At AIG, she launched Global Women in Technology and served as Executive Sponsor of Girls Who Code. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Rob Rowello works with CXOs to use cloud to innovate at Oracle today, and was previously Cognizant's VP of Digital Transformation.   Insights in today's episode include: ✅How to get more intimate relationships with customers beyond using mass advertising to establish your brand ✅How insurers are using AI/ML models to better price risk into their products   ✅New customer acquisition via mining social media data to micro target ads to individual consumers  ✅The importance of providing enabling tools to 3rd-party agents and brokers to succeed in their market ✅Recognizing and embracing the importance of the Chief Data Officers' role at insurers Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Meet Allen Kamrava Founder and CEO at Eusoh, community-based veterinary care. Allen is a physician, surgeon and avid businessperson.  ✅ Insurance is one of the most successful global crowdfunds, however the financial reimbursements incentivize various stakeholders to act in certain ways, not always for the benefit of the others. ✅ Any predictions about your startup business will prove wrong so staying focused on growth and doing what you need to sign partnerships and customers is key. ✅ Being deliberate and get your regulatory setup right will pay huge dividends in the longer-term sustainability of your company and convincing investors to double and triple down. Follow the Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Richard Alvarez leads the user experience practice at Saggezza, and says UX is not always about heuristics or how people work with computers.  ✅When it comes to user interactions, not being an insurance expert can be a huge asset to dig deeper and understand why customers do what they do and leads to building a better product. ✅The essence of user experience is about helping make the experience to be seamless and enjoyable and not frustrate customers.  ✅The large volume of data now being exchanged in many user interfaces such as those using telematics or AI mean that the humans involved on the insurance side need to be able to use that data effectively to evaluate claims for better processing or fraud. ✅Great UX allows the system to automate all processing and allows the human to focus on interacting with other humans rather than do manual preparatory tasks. ✅When it comes to large data using IoT, AI/ML or RPA, this means having these technologies run in the 'background' to harnessing the power of doing jobs that would require thousands of people to do, whereas UX empowers the individual users be productive and add value through making decisions.  Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Itai Ben-Zaken, CEO Honeycomb - enabling real-time rating for small commercial real estate.  Itai started his career at Intel as a software engineer and did his MBA at Wharton, gained experience in an insurance company, then started a digital marketing company in social media campaigns.  Now he's back to innovate insurance using big data and AI. A few highlights from today's pod: ✅ The sweet spot is smaller commercial lines because in high-volume businesses, multiple hours saved on customizing coverages is just money in the bank for insurance brokers. ✅ Itai says providing the digital experience is easy, but working with insurance markets and their incredibly complex limits on types of exposure and coverage is hard. ✅ He believes AI will actually make its biggest image in greater than ten years from now - the connectivity to diverse data just isn't there yet.  Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Richard De Sousa is Deputy Head for Growth & Development at SCOR, its US new business and client-facing unit. His entrepreneurial experience has helped enormously in particular building partnerships with smaller, more nimble companies. SCOR as a major reinsurer has been super active in working with and acquiring companies in Life and P&C. He talks about the advantages of working at a reinsurer, seeing across many different carriers and understanding what the market and distribution needs on a macro level. Richard says working in insurance is about protecting families so has an important mission to join. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Doug Roth, MD & at Connecticut Innovations is one of the top most active east-coast investors, with CI having closed more than 100 direct equity investments over the past 12 months including insurtechs. They focus on producing and re-investing financial returns on investment as an evergreen fund into new startups on a continual basis. Investments include direct Insurtech's like Aureus Analytics and more indirect, complementary insurance plays. Doug shares how CI runs its investment scouting strategy, investment diligence process and more, so don't miss out!  Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Doug Ver Mulm, CEO Stable Insurance built ride-share apps operations, onboarding drivers, maintenance. Uber/Lyft have opened their databases to driver scores, trip and earnings data and started using it for credit modeling and rentals. While scaling that for Mercer, outside investors realized taking this into an insurance product would make more sense and Doug made the jump to co-founder. Rideshare is now a decade-old and allows underwriters to look at large amounts of data in real-time, and the current drivers in that pool today vs. those from a year ago or longer. This allows underwriting to solve for real-time fleet and driver management. The new field of real-time underwriting requires meaningful ties to data and linkages to resulting claims processes.  Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Nestor worked in investment banking, focused on emerging markets and lower-income 'base of the pyramid'. He witnessed many new sustainability business models, coupled with his desire to get closer to the customer. He took his own family's struggle getting auto insurance gave him a personal mission and he created Sigo-Seguros as an inclusive insurance provider focused on affordability, accessibility and removing bias from underwriting. Nestor started the business as a brokerage direct-dialing customers, building it brick-by-brick into the Omnichannel experience it is today. Sigo solves for hispanic working-class people who end up pushed into in-person ID and car checks just because of their 'non-privileged' address, employment, education or ethnic background. What Sigo does exceptionally well is figure out what effects the customer negatively. They are not trying to be fancy using telemetry data or having a mobile-only experience, rather just focusing on being omnipresent for the customers who really need a solution. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Paul Tyler is Chief Marketing Officer for Nassau Re, a 5-year old company driving innovation and new partners in the heart of the Insurance capital Hartford. ReImagine! was designed to bring insurtech to Hartford and create new jobs. Nassau is focused on re-shaping retirement advice and services. They will soon be releasing a map of the 100-companies driving innovation and change in the space. Paul sees room for more innovative products, for example focusing more on how long people live that returns, or managing their decumulation of assets. The lines between the traditional life stages have blurred as people prioritize quality-of-life over the goal of retirement.  Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Today's episode features Blake Hill from the executive team at Dacadoo, which is a Series C insurtech located in Waterloo which is like a combination of Silicon Valley + the Hartford of the north. Blake formerly worked in strategy at Manulife and is an actuary by trade. He "saw the light" on what insurance could become, and joined Dacadoo to help create that shift. Dacadoo helps change the insurance business from risk to a services business. Healthcare has tons of money and demand, but still is not known as a services business. A true health and wellness platform will enable those two things and move the insurance industry from its current "Repair & Replace" mode into a new services-industry mode.   Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Michael Davis is the CEO at eGGHEAD Ai based on Hartford, improves data quality to enhance management decisions, create new insights and ultimately reduce risk. Michael says finding an issue early on can be worth 100-times the value by avoiding errors. However, people do not like to work with data, citing a Gartner study where 30% of workers would rather call out sick than work with data. This leads to a massive, $5T opportunity to use technology leveraging data to create better analytics.  eGGHEAD Ai helps senior leadership to take charge of data governance, taking companies from a volunteer, bottoms-up approaches, to one that is well-funded, driven top-down and coordinated to achieve impact.   Data teams need to find pain points, investigate and then prove their own worth by creating a useful solution. Only then can teams scale-up and help drive the core business model. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Proud welcome to Nick Gerhart, Chief Innovation Officer at Homesteaders Life, former Iowa Insurance Commissioner, Board member and investor at several successful insurtechs including Carpedata and Sureify. Top Trends & Predictions in today's episode: 1. 7 of the Top 10 carriers today will still be there in a decade. However there will be a strong series of acquisitions from the companies with a massive capital-base. 2. Access to capital, whether VC or insurers, is critical to improving insurance 3. Iowa's Global Insurance Accelerator is an example of bringing together all the tech themes and solutions that specifically solve problems insurers have identified 4. Becoming a subject matter expert and being inquisitive on how the insurance core business works is key for young people to try out their new ideas 5. Insurance may be 'different' but customers don't care - they still compare it to Amazon and expect the same seamless experience 6. Agents/brokers own the customer but insurers have a part of that relationship, it's the innovator's dilemma as to who owns the customer experience with a nuanced-hybrid approach to distribution Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Dave Bruno founder Red Planet Ventures and former UBS Head Global Wealth Management Innovation.   He talks with Josh about having launched innovation at UBS, the world's largest private wealth manager, by exiting the "immune system" and unlocking doors to the outside market and innovators. Dave sees deep parallels to today's younger insurtech industry, how transforming a 200-year old industry and IT systems from the 1980s is in a similar state.  Banking has moved to a much lower marginal cost, whereas insurance still remains the top-line item in many people's budgets and is unwieldy and lacking customer-orientation. Just like "Digital Banking is 1% Done" - Insurtech has one Lemonade whereas in Fintech there are 200 Lemonade-sized propositions across the entire spectrum of banking services. Red Planet sees the rise of "super agencies" where the need for wealth, insurance, real estate, all financial services around the consumer. The pressure of VC-led investment will take hold to reduce margins for the end consumer. "The Amazon of Financial Services is yet to be created" Dave makes a call-to-action for all Insurers: "Your people know what to do - You just need to go ask them." He strongly advocates for skunkworks models and allowing freedom to attack core assumptions about your business model. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Meet Bobby Touran, started Pathpoint four years ago and is software talent that has shifted to commercial insurance (excess & surplus lines). Pathpoint is a digital-wholesale brokerage for retail agents to receive bindable quotes instantly.  Bobby says not having an insurance background is an advantage. He was able to very quickly pull together a sounding board of industry insiders who can supplant that legacy knowledge, but retain the speed of a software company. This gave the team the luxury of how to think about things without any baggage in a 500-year old industry. It took two years to build the online platform and taking feedback from underwriters and agents, using domain expertise to build the core. The second two years brought in E&S experts who can help sell and ramp up the product. Bobby sees a future where digital trading of insurance products keeps becoming more the norm. He emphasizes commitment to using the change through, from building relationships and hopping from small win to win over the years and keep building them. He emphasizes stacking the momentum of repeated small wins instead of having all the pieces stalled at an early-stage for years, and identifying the right partners for feedback. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Tim Christ VP of Growth at Claimatic, which was Insurtech before that was a word. IAS Claims created algorithms looking at large pools of claims to triage and assign the right adjusters based on location, experience, authorizations, schedules. The process went from days down to a few hours, carriers needed access to that logic, and Claimatic was born.  Claimatic connects the Policyholder, Adjusters and Vendors and their unique challenges in the claims cycle: ❗️ Customers who discover to their chagrin that they have a 16-step process to go through, ⏰ Adjusters who spend 65% of their time on clerical tasks, 🚧 Vendors who manage claims on behalf of carriers need to manage costs and streamline processes. Tim says there are many technologies assisting the claims process and that experienced professionals at carriers should actively test their new ideas with their innovation lab, which can also help springboard their own career path.  Tim is the author of two books so be sure to check out his rich LinkedIn profile for lots of great original thought leadership or just to have a chat! Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Today Alan Walters of Conning shares research about trends in Insurtech in 2021. Continued Impact in Distribution - independent agents and brokers can modernize, digital agency making it easier to buy and service policies, Getting the Carrier C-suite feedback on working with insurtech, "This is a ten-year initiative for us, we need to cut the expense ratio,"  Reviewing insurance Value Chains, digging into your challenge spaces and see if there is an insurtech, for example in underwriting small businesses, or claims efficiency using analytics and adjustments,  Lemonade, which started in renter's and personal lines now getting into term life and automotive means having a strong brand cuts across the legacy of serving one kind of insurance, Carriers and insurtechs working together will remain an ongoing struggle. If a carrier has a dedicated innovation team, there is a known path with some downfalls, it is really an internal consultant without a true change driving role. These structures can help get pilots running, but at the end of the pilot, which is often at the expense of the insurtech, contracts to move into production lacks clear accountability at the insurance carrier and connection to the procurement processes. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Jay DeVivo, Founder at CoFunder talks to us today passionately about innovation process at insurance carriers and the process of identifying new market needs and a path to market acceptance.   Jay calls innovation "creative destruction". He says many insurers have not yet gone "all in" on the necessary process and commit true innovation to take place, including bringing in new people with new skillsets. Instead, we see insurers taking a good game but doing things that are comfortable. They can dismiss ideas because people don't come from their own niche (eg. P&C vs. Healthcare), or hide behind behind data protection. Jay calls on C-Suite members in insurers to have courage, and give their people the resources and support to not find themselves on the destruction-end of the creative-destructive cycle.  He also calls on founders to have a clear vision and not be "all over the place" when working with carriers. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Meet Cynthia Hardy, CEO and Founder at Pivot Global Partners, and recent author of 'Crossing Meridians'.  Cynthia created a concept of 'Design Agility' in parallel to design thinking, it's a construct to re-orient around the customer and guide work. It gives you a method of discovering what customers need and will pay for. She describes how leaders often over-rely on their known paths, and instead need to learn through discomfort and cross divides to surround themselves with people who do not think and act just like them. Cynthia says acting on the pulse of the organization is not enough to lift it up and change it. A leader needs to know what they stand for, develop vision and know what organizational strengths to leverage to move it, gaining traction win-by-win. She also describes measuring learnings in new ways when dealing with new areas for the organization such as Innovation or DEI, and holding leaders accountable for the end-to-end processes from sourcing, hiring, onboarding, mentoring, and champions and advocates in promotion, rather than just focusing on the numbers. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Christopher Lowell created The Hartford's Small Business Innovation Lab and was tasked with building out new channels to test whether the organization could launch a new service before bringing it back to the core. The Hartford are leaders in small commercial, true experts at running their core day-to-day business. They went in with a strategy to innovate from a position of strength, knowing they were a leader and wanting to take that leading position further. Chris' role was partly to partner with the outside world. He describes insurers as builders with a strong brand that needs to be nurtured and kept safe. Whereas Insurtechs tend to be smaller, scrappier and lacking "Fort Knox" security standards. So the lab ended up building most of its own new things versus partnering with Insurtechs. The team insisted going beyond powerpoint and concepts into building real products to sell. People who worked there needed to understand the demands of a 200-year old company that does not build "playthings." Lots of people are going to care about outcomes, particularly in compliance. Chris selected people who were willing to perform in a team versus being a deep subject matter expert, who ask questions that build up an opportunity versus tear it down. Chris describes a wave of people flooding towards the insurance industry because of the massive opportunity to change it for the better. So there is a huge need for insurance-specific subject matter expertise, particularly in underwriting. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Rob Galbraith, author of 'The End of Insurance as We Know It, started at USAA when insurance was still primarily advertised word-of-mouth in the military. His experience with tech startups led to writing the book and found an avid international audience. His nickname actually came from an early podcast appearance!  In today's episode, Rob and Josh check-in on what predictions from the book are coming to fruition, from devices and wearables to AI software. These technologies are driving insights and behavior, and regulations and laws are still catching up. Distributed ledger technologies are still not mainstream in insurance and will likely not be in the next five years, whereas AI has really picked up for insurers. Rob also brings into focus the importance of Distribution, agents, brokers and how their access to digital tools has a high impact and is helping drive industry innovation. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

McGregor Faulker, Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company has a wide view across the use of AI in insurance.  'Mac' says that for every dollar you're spending on the technology, you're spending more on behavioral change management. Driving lift on business metrics has to be the focus, not just setting technology targets.  To get value out of digital, you need to have the right strategy but also attract analytics and AI talent. Insurance may not be the first choice for top engineers, but there is a real opportunity and real sense of surprise by the impact one can have on the insurance industry. These are first-mover innovations rather than 30th iteration consumer plays.  Insurers need grass-roots innovations that come from the front-line, designers in a lab to help shape a product, and top-level support. There are opportunities for everyone at insurers, not just data scientists who can be part of the change in the industry.  Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Ron Glozman, Founder Chisel AI studied computer science and business, taught his computer to read and created an algorithm to detect what course content to read in order to pass exams. His app went on to be ranked All Time Top 50 for students by Google. Based on this success, one of the largest insurance brokers reached out about policy checks, errors & omissions. So Ron taught his computer how to read insurance policies and automate the process. From start-to-finish this whole episode is a fascinating deep dive into how Insurtech actually works! Ron explains in detail how natural language processing works, from entities, types of nouns and numbers and the relationships that override others eg. policy limits, deductibles, premium, names of the carriers and insured. Chisel AI trains its algorithms on 180,000 unique data examples every month. This is how software gets 'smarter' over time. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Proud to welcome Jim Dwane Chief Revenue Officer at Bolt Solutions Inc., the world’s largest P&C insurance exchange. Jim is a 30-year veteran of Travelers and AIG who wanted to capitalize and explore the new world of technology applied to his deep insurance experience. Bolt is living proof that not all insurtech is new or run by technologist-millennials. Bolt has been working on transforming insurance for twenty years, continually iterating its core insurance distribution software. Bolt is international and has additional offerings in Asia and Europe than in the U.S. for example device protection and general insurance.  Jim explains how for a long time insurance was binary distribution, either via agents or direct carriers. What has evolved is the customer demand for sharing balance sheet risk, and becoming a destination to purchase insurance in a more comprehensive way. Bolt helps insurers increase the lifetime value of a customer relationship and enables expansion of the products sold to customers. Jim also explains how a person can land in a Chief Revenue Officer role at an insurtech, how he made the decision to move from insurance to insurtech, and what it takes to succeed in this kind of role.  Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Mike Kalen, CEO Covr Technologies has brought long-awaited disruption to the process of selling life insurance through advisors. Mike says what used to take years now takes only months: Firms have a mandate to digitize their business, so partnerships have become easier. The Chief Digital / Transformation Officer is in a much better position to act as a champion and get new technologies in place than a traditional Head of a business line.  Part of Covr's secret of success has been giving up single-digit equity to build an active, world-class advisory board. These "sharks" will pick up the phone to open a door or to get a deal closed, and bring new ideas into the product. A great advisor will see whether your technology has high potential so it's a two-way street. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest-growing #insurtechs and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

Dr. Phil Budden says insurance plays a fundamental role in our society and economy. People forget that insurance itself was a pretty funky innovation and underpinned the industrial revolution. Insurance will have a key role to play as industry switches over to work-from-home and protecting industrial secrets. Companies need insurance to innovate, for example autonomous vehicles. Not every insurtech wants to disrupt an incumbent, some want to help improve back-office processing or with a new user experience that speaks to younger demographics. Innovation applied to making your business more effective makes sense.  Check out the continuing education program at MIT, where Phil is partnered with Innsure to bring cutting-edge insurtech trends to light. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest growing #insurtech and most innovative #insurance carriers and brokers.

"So a a cinematographer walks into a startup..." It sounds like the start of a joke but Storytelling is a huge part of building an early-stage company. Charles Merritt Founder at Buddy Insurance worked at Kayak early on, and learned how he could help insurers understand how to make their brands more meaningful to their customers through great storytelling.  Then there's the cockroach thing... As Charles relates, most startups fail because they run out of money, fail to generate revenues.  You have to find ways to stay alive in the face of heavy adversity. The red thread of startups is having changed their business models, pivoted towards revenue and having strong cultures of being ready to go when new opportunities present themselves.  Company culture is the reason people get excited to come to work. Founders need to be mindful of how you act, what you celebrate and find important. Charles talks about how at the early days at Kayak getting out on the water was just as important as the office job to the founders, and how he brought that same life lessons about life balance and outdoor lifestyles over to Buddy.

Dror Katzav CEO Atidot spent his developmental years during 11 years in Israeli Intelligence. His R&D technology and solutions-focused unit did not wear ranks, it had a culture of seeking answers and let people be more creative in what they do.  Atidot recruits people who are experts in their areas, they let people run initiatives and fail and take on more responsibilities. Dror feels that if all initiatives are succeeding, people are not taking enough initiative and risk to grow.   Dror reflects on his team's development during Covid as being very positive, how remote working changed team meeting dynamics to short standups every few days and people being more in synch now than before. He encourages insurers to allow their people to live in the startup culture for a period of time. He sees Covid as an opportunity where insurers have had to adjust to living and working more like startups, and this should cultivate more fresh thinking and creativity for the years to come.  The Atidot team specifically chose to work on the life insurance industry due to the sheer volume of data and ripe for disruption with consultants and analysis being outdated vs. the customized personalized approach customers have come to expect. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest growing #insurtechs, innovative insurance carriers and brokers.

Meet Jason Wootton Founder Motionauto insurance, an MGA focused on automotive insurance using telematics.  You can learn how Motionauto is using telematics beyond underwriting to create driver profiles and scores, moving away from proxy data into real-time insights on how drivers actually drive. The rating algorithm has to help the consumer understand what they are actually paying for. If their rate changes, the agent should be able to say exactly why to justify the expense what you pay over a lifetime for auto insurance.  Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest growing #insurtechs, innovative insurance carriers and brokers.

Today's episode is about data, and using it to change the way law firms act on DEI. "Inefficiency offends me!" Raj Goyle, CEO Bodhala is passionate about the legal profession not being designed to meet the needs of society. Lawyers are there for the incumbents and the whole system is immature in how legal services are delivered sociologically and economically. The lack of diversity in the law profession is "Disgusting, pathetic, hypocritical, and they should be ashamed of themselves. It's about profit maximization, self-governed clubby guild." For example, more than half of law classes at universities are females, however once you get past the first or second year at a law firm the diverse ranks thin out due to the sponsorship system and by the partner stage it's the country club demographic.  Raj believes the solution is about data. "You cannot manage what you do not measure." As you drive change management within the entire legal construct, we need to shift from qualitative survey-based methods to quantitative, data-based solutions. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest growing #insurtechs , innovative insurance carriers and brokers.

Jon Kelly, Stanford grad ('95) comes from tech, he was using the pre-Yahoo on a private server in college. He is a serial entrepreneur was a co-founder at Softbank-backed e-Coverage (sold to GM 2001), and founded a second company SureHits (sold in 2008) that is still the back-end of many Insurtech's today.  Jon recalls founding Kelly Klee stemmed from his first attempts to get private insurance through an agent, and hearing, "If you want to get a policy with us, you don't call us, you go play golf with us." Kelly Klee was started for the higher-end of personal insurance lines to give people online access to best tools the mass market has, while maintaining the high-touch service of the best in-person agency.  Jon believes Insurtech is just getting started, as new companies spring up to take on niche speciality areas like renter's insurance, making amazing new consumer experiences one-by-one.  Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest growing #insurtechs , innovative insurance carriers and brokers. #leadership #entrepreneurship #venturecapital

Barry Flagg, Founder & CEO of Veralytic created the "Morningstar of life insurance" to calculate the average cost of a life insurance policy, average performance of assets, and star-ratings. Barry describes the parallel between when ERISA created an operating system for investments and today's cutting-edge best interest rules and standards. He believes the conditions for creating innovative new services in life insurance have never been better. As the son of an actuary, Barry also describes how he adapted his early style from top-down management to allowing more autonomy as an entrepreneur. For example, Veralytics creates a culture of continuous learning and actually compensates people for continuing their education.   Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest growing #Insurtechs, innovative carriers and brokers.

Popular and friendly influencer Matteo Carbone joined us live from New York talking all things IoT and Insurtech. Matteo advises insurers on strategy & innovation, from workshop-developed research deep-dives into IoT data, plenary sessions with insurers in Europe and North America, and visibility into cutting-edge tech trends such as automotive telematics. IoTinsObs is a unique observatory that shares these unique insights with its members. There is a wide opportunity to apply IoT data as a catalyst for business transformation to risk transfer, irrespective of business line. Matteo contrasts the time and effort spent on compliance top-down throughout insurance organizations versus the attention and budget given to innovation. As he says, when those two start to become equal, we are on the right track. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest growing #Insurtechs, most innovative carriers and brokers.

Huw Edwards built his career investing in startups. He realized that knowing how to identify businesses with high potential meant he knew the formula to building his own startup. The team at CyberFortress has used data from over 400,000 e-commerce companies to create proprietary actuarial tables with defined payouts for common events eg. website downtime. The founding team at CyberFortress believe talent is equally distributed across the population without regard to age, gender, ethnicity. So a big opportunity of Covid was breaking through these home and network biases to start systematically attracting and identifying candidates from under-represented areas. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest growing #Insurtechs, most innovative carriers and brokers.

Charlie Sidoti of Innsure fosters innovation in insurance and risk management with three tangible services that bring corporates and startups together, with 📱 A vibrant Startups Ecosystem 🎓 Innovation Leadership Academy 🤝Creative Labs putting new skills and teams to work to solve industry problems In this episode, Charlie explains how Innovation groups can succeed by rapid prototyping while engaging the business units around them. These Innovation teams needs to be part of the business units’ strategy rather than siloed ventures that try to do things and roll them out to the organization. A lot of the Innovation job is about aligning personalities and skills around issues with diverse perspectives and expertise, and bringing people with an outside perspective to ask new questions. Follow Insurtech Leadership Podcast airing weekly and hosted by Joshua R. Hollander. We give you up-close access and personal insights from the leaders of the fastest growing #Insurtechs, most innovative carriers and brokers.

"People Make Up Our Clients' Happiness Just as Much as the Product Does".  Meet Dustin Yoder, CEO at Sureify (The Digital Bridge Between Life and Annuity Carriers and their Customers) which took four years to get rolling from an initial B2C to today's B2B2C SaaS model.  Insurance may have felt archaic at the time, but for Dustin who grew up in an insurance household, he was comfortable diving into it. There are three characteristics Dustin Yoder lives by, and chooses people for: 🎭Relationships (how you build trust and get referrals) 🪓Grit (how you keep making those next steps), and 🥋Curiosity (how you need to prove something) Insurtech Leadership Podcast airs weekly, hosted by Joshua R. Hollander giving you up-close personal insights from the leaders of the fastest growing #Insurtechs and most innovative carriers and brokers.

Cory Isaacson had built ad run several major software businesses and filed 5 Patents before he started ReThought Insurance. This time he sat down with a venture partner and wrote down exactly what he wanted to achieve and the market opportunity that would become ReThought. He hand-picked his co-founders based on their common beliefs and deep subject-matter expertise in insurance.  According to Cory, "If you start with a Big Vision and Big Dream you make it a lot longer and more successfully than those who just start with How do I make a Profit Today." ReThought engineers solutions for the larger property business around climate risk. Cory built the team from the concept of treating employees as long-term stakeholders in the business, using diversity to strengthen resiliency in the organization and with a focus on high ethics. Insurtech Leadership Podcast airs weekly, hosted by Joshua R. Hollander giving you up-close personal insights from the leaders of the fastest growing insurtechs and most innovative carriers and brokers.

Jennifer Carroll, CEO at Veruna, Inc, is a Technologist & Attorney based in Austin. She has a unique leadership story. Unlike most Insurtech Founder-CEOs,  she was asked by the Board to join in early 2020 when she was strategic advisor on growth plans. Veruna is creating an agency management system for the modern age, access and report on your data, independent brokers and MGAs. Changes she’s brought as new CEO: Prioritizing people to have time with families and moving around during the day Small team segments creating ownership & confidence to execute goals in your immediate sphere of influence Attracting people with high resiliency you want at a tech startup, high energy and creative, persistent to get answers right who want to make a big difference in the industry Challenges for a new CEO: Spends a lot more time explaining yourself and ideas, mentoring team leads to think startups Gives small assignments and articles, leadership exercises, grow them into leaders Driving leaders to become metrics-driven, observing the data and asking better questions to improve the product Insurtech Leadership Podcast gives you up-close insights from the leaders of the fastest growing insurtechs and most innovative carriers and brokers. We air weekly and are hosted by Josh Hollander, CEO Horton N.A. an executive search firm. Join up on LinkedIn!

Today's episode is a series of short lessons on applying AI to Insurtech from software veteran Larry Lafferty. Veloxiti deploys a genius business model strategy, where they start with AI for Dept. of Defense to produce the R&D and first versions of products, then moves them to a separate company that commercializes and productizes  the AI tech into the various vertical use cases like Insurance. 4 Critical Lessons for any SaaS Software business in 2021: 🚣🏽‍♂️AI Is Software: Media does us a disfavor portraying AI as experimental and not able to do anything of value. But AI is just software: you have to get the data right, you have to get the requirements right, and you have to create an experience that really rings the user’s bell. 🍿Create Authentic Demand: It’s easy for organizations to set out o build and follow the excitement of building a solution, but unless there is authentic demand for that new product, users will find a way to sabotage it. Bringing AI into Insurtech means understanding exactly what your users need.  ☀️"Agile" Development Shines on Virtual Teams: As a development organisation a team doing Agile means a stand-up every day 10-15 min trying to identify issues or problems, organizing the work into 2-3 week sprints (a unit of work for the team as a whole) with a customer review at the end of each sprint. Being truly Agile works really well in a remote distributed environment. 🌴The Tree That Bends: Have an informal hierarchy with about 1/4 of the team experienced as team leaders. All of those people are hands-on engineers and have the ability to lead teams. They build resilience by making it possible for a large number of people to step into the project leadership role. There are no strict boundaries, and expectation that everyone will pitch in to do whatever needs to be done. Insurtech Leadership Podcast is hosted by Joshua R. Hollander with Season 1 focused on #resilience and #humanresources be sure to 👆🏽SignUp! as we continue featuring weekly episodes with CEOs and Insurance executives you need to get to know to succeed in the coming decade of Insurtech 2020-2030.

Meet Dr. Kyshun Webster, CEO of Compassion Society Benefits, who is bringing a new diversity of ideas & perspectives to change insurance. His MGA focuses on creating new insurance models around the growing demands of 21st century families.  Dr. Webster is driven by his upbringing as a New Orleans native who grew up in single-parent home, where he learned at a young age the need to address the wage loss for family care-givers. In his own words, "We bring together digital natives, industry veterans and social entrepreneurs that all converge to bring a real heart to insurance." Real examples of the societal changes taking place right now: 🏃🏾‍♂️ 70% of workers who leave jobs cite care-giving and being caught between daily obligations and their job, 👜 During Covid for the first time the federal government required companies to pay people to take time off to care for others, 👩‍👦‍👦Also during Covid, when given the choice between working a low-wage job or opting for unemployment, many caregivers chose to stay on unemployment. What's Insurance got to do with it? As industry veterans retire and a new generation of more diverse people take the helm, new business models will be created based on a new set of beliefs.  Historically, insurance has excluded smaller, lower-income markets. There is an opportunity for a financial inclusivity for those who have been left behind but have a clear willingness to protect their assets and loved ones.  💰 If we can apply the processes of legacy insurance to this new opportunity, we could create a new multi-billion industry. Insurtech Leadership Podcast is hosted by Joshua R. Hollander with Season 1 focused on #resilience and #humanresources be sure to 👆🏽SignUp! as we continue featuring weekly episodes with CEOs and Insurance executives you need to get to know to succeed in the coming decade of Insurtech 2020-2030.

How different is building a business in Canada versus the Valley or New York? Today's episode with Ian Jeffrey, Founder & CEO at Breath Life tells a story of relishing these different perspectives: Competition for Talent and Money Sure there's more talent and investors in the valley, but the competition for those resources is fierce, Try retaining that deep experienced talent in the valley when they realize you're not the next Facebook, versus  Building a business with people who are attracted and committed to your vision and values, Customers and Profitability Building a business without any thought about profitability (valley), versus Building a business for actual paying customers, Timing Building a business far ahead of its time and hoping to sell-out, versus Building a business whose time is now and operating it profitably  These and more lessons of serial entrepreneurship applied to the wild lands of insurtech await you in this 12-minute downloadable podcast. . My name is Josh Hollander, CEO of Horton International North America, an executive talent and recruitment firm. Are you seeking talent for the next big Insurtech? Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/

Today's episode features Anurag Shah, CEO Aureus Analytics. Before raising his $5m Series A, he moved his family to the US and shifted the entire focus onto Insurance: "The whole industry is based on data, but data was just being neglected." 🤸🏽‍♂️On Corporate Resiliency and Engagement: “We’ve always found more value in people more committed to the cause, rather than looking at their past experience or educational qualifications. People who are willing to give you their best time and energy without some crazy upside for themselves.” 📲On Virtual Work: For certain tech team members it is easier for them to do the work than to communicate about it - in remote/virtual work he identified special cases to communicate on a more frequented and focused basis.  👩‍👦On Customer Care: Aureus has not turned over a single customer-to-date due to relentless focus on their needs and the product development . My name is Josh Hollander, CEO of Horton International North America, an executive talent and recruitment firm. Are you seeking talent for the next big Insurtech? Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/

As a leader, how do you do something meaningful an authentic with Diversity & Inclusion? Rather than doing some empty letter to shareholders, Max Drucker went deep in 2020 with his employees and realized quickly that more diverse ideas will make his company better. So he has fundamentally re-mapped the way his company creates roles and hires people.  Four key lessons in today’s 12-minute podcast: 🔀 How to Hard Pivot your company when the landscape shifts 🔫 How to be transparent with employees when you have no choices left 💪🏾 Why to listen for the small things when looking at solving something as complex as diversity longer-term 🗣 Best practices engaging your Independent Board to provide tangible value   The red thread spanning Max Drucker’s more than twenty years of creating and leading companies is this: he cares about his employees. He listens to them and makes his companies truly great places to work. . My name is Josh Hollander, CEO of Horton International North America, an executive talent and recruitment firm. Are you seeking talent for the next big Insurtech? Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ . To learn more about Max Drucker: About Carpe Data: https://carpe.io/carpe-data-named-to-insurtech-100-list/ Connect here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxdrucker/

The incredibly dynamic Phil Reynolds, CEO Britecore, founded the one of the world’s first and most successful core insurance platforms. From Silicon Valley, right? No, from Missouri.  . Today’s guest built a team, a product, and helped shape what was to become Insurtech. This incredibly dynamic leader sets the standard for being ahead of the trends, global entrepreneurship, and just genuinely being a thoughtful leader.  . Today you can learn how to hire the most talented engineers on a global scale by running a code challenge. How to bootstrap your company and create demand for the higher-version product. How to create a compelling storyline for a successful Series A capital raise. Why and how to take your company fully remote/virtual (he did it 4 years ago!) and manage across time zones.  . My name is Josh Hollander and I’m CEO of Horton International North America, an executive talent and recruitment firm. Are you seeking talent for the next big Insurtech? Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuarhollander/ . To learn more about Phil Reynolds: About Britecore: https://www.britecore.com/case-studies Connect here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillipreynolds/