Have you ever built your own solution to a problem? Quotech, founded by Guillaume Bonnissent, provides technology for commercial underwriters and brokers. Its integrated solutions cover data ingestion and extraction, pricing, distribution, policy administration and claims. Matthew Grant caught up with Quotech’s CEO and founder to touch on his underwriting past and how it has helped build a company, the issues with Excel spreadsheets and targeting specific insurance lines to produce tailored prod...
Aug 18, 2024•36 min•Ep. 317
This week Matthew and Robin are pointing the microphones at each other and back for our popular "Partners' Chat" as they review the world around us. Find out what is making Robin happy this month - almost 10 years after the term Insurtech was coined are established insurers now finally embracing innovation and technology? What can we learn from the start of the hurricane season and do investors share our enthusiasm for the role that start-ups and scale-ups can play in really changing insurance f...
Aug 11, 2024•33 min•Ep. 316
Joining Insurance Thought Leadership over 10 years ago, Paul Carroll’s motivation was his belief that of four areas yet to be disrupted by digital innovation, insurance was one of them. This week Matthew Grant caught up with Paul Carroll to ask after 11 years of looking at insurance, how are insurers doing with technology? Key talking points include: Looking back, we predicted greater disruption: the fault of regulation and risk capital The industry metabolism and its speed Dinner with Bill Gate...
Aug 04, 2024•37 min•Ep. 315
As one of the oldest insurtechs and thirty years in the business - what can we learn from Insurity? Robin Merttens spoke to Chris Lafond, CEO of Insurity - a P&C insurance software provider offering cloud-based solutions to help companies focus on profitability. After a series of acquisitions in 2019, Insurity continue to execute their thesis from five years ago in embracing the cloud and providing the industry with out-of-the-box technology solutions. It is currently trusted by 12 of the to...
Jul 28, 2024•20 min•Ep. 314
Ahead of our next July evening event in London, Matthew Grant caught up with Deepak Badoni, President and Co-founder of EigenRisk Inc - a one-stop shop platform for the industry to bring all the catastrophe risk analytics in one place. Join Matthew and Deepak as they discuss the role of technology platforms in simplifying catastrophe risk analysis for underwriters amid the start of the hurricane season. Deepak shares his journey of founding EigenRisk Inc., the challenges of building a one-stop p...
Jul 21, 2024•25 min•Ep. 313
In this discussion, Leah Emma from Liberty Mutual, Caolan Kovach-Orr from Arch Capital, and Rohit Reddy from Swiss Re Corporate Solutions share their experiences and strategies for leveraging AI and technology in the insurance sector. They cover key challenges, data utilization, build vs buy decisions, and the importance of making underwriting more efficient and engaging. A must-watch for anyone interested in the future of insurance. Speakers: Leah Emma, Assistant Director of Commercial Incubati...
Jul 14, 2024•20 min•Ep. 312
Crux Underwriting is a multi-line specialty underwriting business launched in early July by Graham Elliott. By combining underwriting with the tech arm of Azur Technology, founded by previous colleague Charlie Blackburn, we are witnessing the production of a 21st century MGA business. One for the technology lovers and the MGA innovators. Tune in to hear Robin speak to Charlie and Graham about entrepreneurship in the MGA world, how technology can slot itself into an underwriting business and why ...
Jul 07, 2024•27 min•Ep. 311
Reserv’s proposition is to help MGAs and carriers improve claims handling and increase data availability, making claim information available through multiple large language model (LLM) tools feeding automated workflows. After our successful May Evening Event hosted in collaboration with Reserv, Robin Merttens caught up with CEO CJ Przybyl and discussed the technology behind Reserv, including the integration of generative AI and modern data infrastructure, as well as the company's growth and expa...
Jun 30, 2024•28 min•Ep. 310
In anticipation of our upcoming release of panels from our most recent event in New York in June, we are taking another look back at our star-studded line-up from March. We asked: what does the future of insurance look like? One answer is digitising how risk flows. In this discussion, industry experts Nigel Walsh from Google Cloud, Meghan Hannes at K2 Cyber, Zaheer Hooda at Cytora and Charles Clarke at Guidewire delve into the current progress made by insurers, the challenges they encounter, and...
Jun 23, 2024•28 min•Ep. 309
Is your insurance technology up to speed? This week on the podcast, we have an insightful conversation with Joe O'Connor, Deputy CEO of RDT. RDT is a well-known software and services provider for the motor insurance industry, with plans to expand into the specialty market. Joe discusses how technology provision has changed over the last decade, what RDT has learned from providing services to general insurers, what the specialty market can learn from achievements in the retail sector, the launch ...
Jun 16, 2024•24 min•Ep. 307
Is climate risk a part of your analysis? On the podcast this week we are spotlighting an important collaboration between Mitiga, a climate risk intelligence provider, and insurer HDI Global. As climate change rises to become one of the most pertinent and defining risks of our generation, find out how the partnership is working to evolve the landscape of climate risk management for various industries. One such asset is Mitiga’s platform EarthScan . Joining Matthew is Wiebke Cundill, Senior Risk E...
Jun 09, 2024•32 min•Ep. 308
In the first iteration of our upcoming parametric series with Raincoat, Matthew sat down with Jonathan Gonzalez to delve into how parametric insurance can be integrated with traditional indemnity insurance, the technical and regulatory challenges, and the importance of creating products that customers perceive as fair. Watch this space for some very exciting episodes coming up. Key talking points: Importance of iteration and scaling Parametric should be looked at as a tool The connection to smar...
Jun 02, 2024•31 min•Ep. 307
Unstructured data - is this a challenge that will ever go away? Or can it be a challenge which insurers adapt to work in their favor… At our last New York event in March, InsTech gathered three leading industry experts to candidly discuss what change in the industry looks like to them, specifically in the way unstructured data is handled and managed. We all know streamlining underwriting processes and optimizing data intake & routing will aid with precise risk pricing, but how are the US’s b...
May 26, 2024•25 min•Ep. 306
Root provides platforms and API for insurers, MGAs, brokers to build, launch and manage digital insurance products and embedded experiences in South Africa and the UK. Matthew Grant caught up with Louw Hopley on the opportunities and challenges in the insurance industry, focusing on the role of embedded insurance in adapting to changing customer demands. Discover all from the emerging areas Root is planning to tap into, to the company’s appointment of a new CEO and regional manager. Key talking ...
May 19, 2024•33 min•Ep. 305
Swiss Re Reinsurance Solutions was launched two years ago to make Swiss Re’s unique knowledge and tools available across the insurance value chain. Swiss Re’s strongest point of knowledge is property - around which we centre this podcast. Robin Merttens spoke to CEO of Reinsurance Solutions Russell Higginbotham on approaching climate-related risks in the insurance industry as well as managing the balance between data accuracy and inclusivity of insurance products for customers. Key talking point...
May 12, 2024•27 min•Ep. 304
McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS) helps accelerate disaster relief and economic recovery for insurers. Matthew Grant spoke to Rosina, Chief Product Officer for MIS, who shares insights from her MBA dissertation's findings on the adoption of technology in insurance, highlighting the necessity of collaboration between insurtechs, insurance companies, and other stakeholders to drive innovation and effectively address the insurance protection gap. Key talking points include: Transitioning from wo...
May 05, 2024•35 min•Ep. 303
KatRisk is a catastrophe modelling company providing global inland flood, storm surge and windstorm loss assessments for some of the largest insurers, reinsurers and brokers in the world. Taking a macrocosm approach, the company’s models offer an open software architecture, allowing users to better understand correlated risks and to make modifications to suit specific needs. Matthew Grant caught up with Dag Lohmann and Brandon Katz on the company’s development such as taking on strategic investm...
Apr 28, 2024•36 min•Ep. 302
From episodes 68 , 227 and now episode 299, InsTech has consistently caught up with Cytora and followed the company’s growth and expansion. Alongside Google, Cytora supported InsTech’s March event in New York, after which Matthew Grant caught up with Richard Hartley on the company’s growth, entering the US market and its impact on the insurance industry. Cytora focuses on data integration, partnering with numerous data providers to enhance the underwriter's workflow and ultimately transform manu...
Apr 21, 2024•38 min•Ep. 301
Optalitix was borne out of the need for ‘optimization’ and ‘analytics’, as Co-founder and Director Dani Katz realized the biggest blocker for insurance companies was converting spreadsheets. Having now expanded beyond spreadsheets, Optalitix offers three software products to UK (re)insurers and MGAs. Robin Merttens spoke to Dani about the spreadsheet polemic, innovation in the London Market and the permeability of finding solutions to difficult problems in both work and personal life. Key talkin...
Apr 14, 2024•21 min•Ep. 300
Robin Merttens is joined by Ben Ruddle, Senior Principle in Strategy at Publicis Sapient, to discuss how technology can help insurers cater to customers outside the typical insurance model. The discussion covers the concept of 'Beyond Beige,' focusing on the opportunity to serve individuals and businesses with unique or specialized needs that standard insurance products don't cover. Key talking points include: The rise of comparison sites What is ‘Beyond Beige’ - the opportunities in the market ...
Apr 07, 2024•19 min•Ep. 299
HDI TH!NX was founded in 2019 by Verena Brenner, initially operating within the German insurer HDI Global, as an incubator for IIoT solutions. Now providing software to support risk management applications for insurers and insurance clients, tune in to hear Verena discuss the mechanics behind founding a startup within an insurer and the company’s development in providing varying solutions for their customers. Key talking points include: Why HDI TH!NX was launched - from a PhD in global supply ch...
Mar 31, 2024•36 min•Ep. 298
How would your clients describe you? This week on the podcast we have taken a slightly different approach and brought Previsico’s clients, Zurich Muncipal and Donaldson Timber, to discuss how Previsico has helped them with flood risk management. Previsico provides real-time flood forecasts, as part of its mission to reduce global flooding impact, by developing technologies that offer early warning systems for surface water flooding. Discover the importance of collaboration by hearing from Dr Avi...
Mar 24, 2024•38 min•Ep. 297
Groundwater flooding poses a great risk to properties in the UK but remains much less widely modelled than other types of flooding. This week, Matthew Grant caught up with Mark Fermor at GeoSmart, a company specializing in flood data analytics in the UK. They discuss GeoSmart's role in providing detailed flood risk assessments, leveraging their advanced modelling tools that cover all sources of flooding and how they are helping other organisations access and understand open-source data. Key talk...
Mar 17, 2024•17 min•Ep. 296
PwC’s Chris Temple and Christine Brogan join Matthew Grant to discuss transformation in insurance, specifically steering organizations towards achieving their ESG goals. The conversation covers the role of technology and AI in driving change in insurance as well as building resilient business models for the future. This episode is a great introduction to how ESG operates in the financial sector and how transformation in insurance is made possible through collaboration. Key talking points: Unders...
Mar 10, 2024•33 min•Ep. 295
“This economy we are heading into [...] we are referring to as the decision economy ”. Robin Merttens spoke to Tom Wilde, CEO of Indico Data on how the company's intelligent intake solution is shaping the decision-making process in the insurance industry by structuring unstructured data. Data is important in our current 'decision economy'. Indico Data applies generative AI to help insurance companies handle complex and high-volume data challenges, particularly in commercial and specialty lines. ...
Mar 03, 2024•22 min•Ep. 294
Arturo is a property intelligence company which combines multispectral imagery, geographic data and customer portfolio insights with machine learning models in a single platform. A lot has developed in property intelligence since we last spoke to Arturo on the podcast. Matthew Grant caught up with CEO Marty Smuin about how generative AI is adding a new dimension to property analysis. Arturo knows that it is expensive to be wrong in insurance. Find out how Arturo is aiming to tackle relying on ou...
Feb 25, 2024•37 min•Ep. 293
Robin Merttens is joined by CEO and President of Verisk Specialty Business Solutions (VSBS), Tim Rayner. The discussion covers VSBS’s acquisitions such as Rulebook and Whitespace for a broader digital ecosystem, and the challenges of decision-making and procurement in the London market. Key talking point: Growth and opportunities in the specialty market Acquisitions and the role of Whitespace and Rulebook The impact of London Market modernisation on Verisk The importance of providing solutions r...
Feb 18, 2024•26 min•Ep. 292
Since its start in 2001, the insurance platform provider Guidewire has grown to be used by more than 540 insurers in 40 countries. Guidewire's President and Chief Revenue Officer, John Mullen, spoke to Matthew Grant about the company's journey as it continues to grow, the climate of the insurance industry and what are the driving forces of innovation in the company. Key talking points: Why standardisation of critical functions is important in the upcoming year How insurers can find ways of being...
Feb 11, 2024•38 min•Ep. 291
In this mid-week special, Matthew Grant speaks to Adrian Coupland at Earnix, a software provider to global insurers and banks. They discuss how the nature of risk in the insurance industry is rapidly changing, presenting new challenges in areas like motor pricing and supply chain management. The podcast ends with a discussion about Earnix's new product 'Underwrite-It' aimed at changing the underwriting process. Key talking points: What challenges are Earnix solving for the insurance industry Cha...
Feb 07, 2024•16 min•Ep. 290
After the popularity of our first episode, InsTech is back with another analysis of what happened in insurance in the past month. If you are curious to know what is going on behind the news items you read about in insurance or technology - we’re bringing together experts, founders, insurers and some well know figures to tell us the news items that are capturing their attention – and why. Matthew Grant CEO of InsTech is once again joined by Nigel Walsh , Managing Director, Insurance, Google Cloud...
Feb 04, 2024•46 min•Ep. 289
