InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant & Robin Merttens Jack Miller, Co-founder & CEO: nettle: Reinventing risk engineering with AI (384)
Introduction
In this episode, Robin Merttens is joined by Jack Miller, CEO and Co-founder of nettle, to explore how generative AI is being applied to one of insurance’s most complex and resource-constrained challenges: risk engineering. Jack shares how his work at McKinsey, leading AI transformations for insurers, exposed him to the inefficiencies in assessing commercial property risks and how that inspired Nettle’s founding.
From mass retirements of risk engineers to the reality that most properties are never physically assessed, Jack outlines why the status quo is unsustainable and how AI can help underwriters make faster, more informed decisions without sacrificing depth or judgement. He explains how nettle is already working with insurers like Allianz to roll out configurable, production-ready tools that reduce manual burden, unlock previously inaccessible insights and integrate directly into existing underwriting platforms.
In this conversation, Jack shares:
- Why risk engineering is facing a capacity crunch and how that affects underwriting quality
- The surprising statistic that sparked nettle’s creation: 97.5% of properties are never visited
- How generative AI can enhance, not replace, expert judgement in high-value underwriting
- Why depth, not breadth, is the key to building meaningful AI solutions in insurance
- Lessons from building a product insurers can implement in weeks not years
- The importance of involving underwriters in AI adoption from day one
- What most insurers get wrong about pilots, procurement and “proper” GenAI strategies
- How nettle’s partnership with Allianz helped shape a scalable, enterprise-ready product
- Why commercial P&C is the perfect proving ground for next-generation InsurTech
If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Jack Miller or Robin Merttens on LinkedIn.
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