InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant & Robin Merttens

Chris Lafond, CEO of Insurity, shares insights from three decades in the insurtech space. He discusses the company's growth in the London Market and addresses the challenges posed by legacy systems. Lafond explores the role of AI in underwriting, likening it to the modern 'data warehouse' era. He also questions whether the term 'insurtech' still holds relevance today. With a focus on strategic acquisitions and cloud solutions, this conversation offers a fascinating glimpse into the future of insurance technology.

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 platform for catastrophe risk analytics, the importance of simplicity in complex modeling, and the growing preference for buying technology solutions over building in-house.  Key talking points: The start of EigenRisk - a one stop shop platform for the industry to bring all the catastrophe risk analytics in one place Building v buying - where do insurers stand? A solution for the entire industry Differences between building a product and building a business Finding the right modelers for the platform - the value of partnering A Costco for data See Deepak in London for ‘Climate and property blind spots revealed: making the right decision at the right time’ If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives: Describe the importance of customer feedback and SaaS models Specify methods for simplifying catastrophe risk management Identify how to building partnerships and integrating data successfully If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 312 page of the InsTech website or email cpd@instech.co to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Three insurance experts from Liberty Mutual, Arch Capital, and Swiss Re discuss leveraging AI and technology in the insurance sector. They cover challenges in underwriting, build vs buy decisions, and making underwriting more efficient. They emphasize the importance of engaging underwriters and creating a culture of innovation in the industry.

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 the cultural aspect is the hardest thing to get right. Key talking points: Journey from co-founding Azur Underwriting, to developing Azur Technology and Crux Underwriting Charlie’s experience forming long-term partnerships with MGAs as a separate technology provider Graham building out an agile insurance business in a regulated market The relationship between MGAs and capacity providers Why haven’t MGAs adopted modern and flexible platforms? Azur Technology: working on Salesforce  What is it about technology that makes it currently exciting Petting-zoo sales: what has changed since starting a business in 2014 If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. To find out more about InsTech, our membership and offerings visit www.instech.co or contact us hello@instech.co Continuing Professional Development This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives: Describe why an agile approach to building out a business in a regulated market is an unusual but beneficial approach. Specify what problems MGAs have with modernising and utilising new technology solutions Identify why MGAs have difficulties with deploying technology across multiple classes. If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 310 page of the InsTech website or email cpd@instech.co to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

CJ Przybyl, CEO of Reserv, discusses the innovative technologies transforming claims processing. He shares insights on the integration of generative AI and modern data infrastructure, emphasizing how these advancements improve efficiency and customer satisfaction. CJ also highlights Reserv's origins and his experience co-founding Snapsheet. The conversation explores the unique dynamics of the UK market, the balance between technology and human touch in claims adjustment, and the company's strategic plans for growth across Europe.

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 a playbook for accelerating AI-assisted underwriting.  Watch this space for more releases soon... Key talking points include: Is the industry heading in the right direction with regard to AI? “Augmentation” - why using the right vocabulary matters The perspective of insurers working for technology companies - what is working? The rallying cry for insurers How to make a case internally for adoption of AI? Don’t aim for the moon, aim for standardisation Can generative AI solve technical debt? Implementation differences between SMEs and large corporates Continuing Professional Development This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives: Describe why the word ‘augmentation’ is important in insurance List reasons why carriers should consider digitising their risk flows Summarise at what stage is the industry currently at with adoption, what is holding it back and what does the future look like If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 308 page of the InsTech website or email cpd@instech.co to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

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 of its new workflow and orchestration platform (ACE), and RDT’s future plans. Learn how RDT has identified a market need, worked with existing customers to build technology to meet those needs, and why they have great hopes for ACE, now that they are ready to "come out to play." Key talking points include: RDT’s transition from traditional software to managed service and SaaS. Expanding scope beyond the traditional focus on motor and niche insurance sectors. The impact of claims inflation and degradation of claims handling skills. The launch of ACE (Agile Composition Engine) and its role in orchestrating insurance processes. The importance of ecosystem integration and selective platform partnerships. What specialty insurance can learn and leverage from prior investment in technology for the general insurance market.  Future directions for RDT, including expansion into specialty insurance markets. Useful links RDT Whitepaper - This paper explores the impact of technological advancements and customer demands on insurance claims processing, highlighting RDT's ACE platform and various industry trends. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. To find out more about InsTech, our membership and offerings visit www.instech.co or contact us hello@instech.co Continuing Professional Development This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives: Understand the issues facing claims professionals and the role that technology and automation can play.  Identify why data and platform ecosystems are so important and how to set about building them.  Explain the power of orchestration in automating tasks and multi-platform composition If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 307 page of the InsTech website or email cpd@instech.co to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

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 Engineer at HDI Global SE and Jonathan Liddell, Customer Success Lead at Mitiga. Key talking points include: How EarthScan can help customers understand the risks posed by climate change The transition from focusing just on natural hazards to climate risk Downscaling data into an asset class Business as usual, Emissions peak in 2040 or Paris-aligned future? Mitiga helps HDI move into the future  How HDI offers site specific assessment of climate risks - from site to consulting and adoption Importance of trust and collaboration Understanding EarthScanTM You can listen to our past episode with Dr Verena Brenner from HDI TH!NX here and find out more about HDI’s climate risk reporting services here. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. To find out more about InsTech, our membership and offerings visit www.instech.co or contact us hello@instech.co Continuing Professional Development This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives: Specify why granularity of data is important when it comes to understanding and modelling future climate risks Explain why insurers cannot simply rely on past data when considering resilience toward climate  Identify what types of future has Mitiga modelled, what are their differences and why are all three of these scenarios important If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 306 page of the InsTech website or email cpd@instech.co to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

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 smart contracts and parametric What is ‘truth’ in insurance? What is ‘fair’ in insurance? The key to successful integration How much human intervention goes into running the model Evolving role of brokers  The openness of the insurance industry to new solutions If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. To find out more about InsTech, our membership and offerings visit www.instech.co or contact us hello@instech.co Continuing Professional Development This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives: Describe the connection between smart contracts and parametric and why this is important Explain the difference between ‘truth’ and ‘fair’ in insurance Identify how the role of the broker can evolve when it comes to parametric insurance and its integration If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 305 page of the InsTech website or email cpd@instech.co to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

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 biggest carriers approaching the problem? Hear from Patrick Gallic at Tokio Marine HCC, Georgeanna Munger at Allianz Commercial, and Brad Craner at Zurich North America about pocketed digitisation, implementing best practices, moving blame away from the brokers and how generative AI can serve to repurpose the underwriter’s time for the better. Key talking points include: What are the current challenges underwriters are facing  How is technology addressing these issues The dichotomy between late-career and early-career underwriters - what can be learnt from this Technology adoption is an evolution Is too much data the problem?  The ‘art v science’ of underwriting  If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. To find out more about InsTech, our membership and offerings visit www.instech.co or contact us hello@instech.co Continuing Professional Development This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives: Specify why implementing best practices for underwriting is important Identify reasons why unstructured data is such a problem and can it be solved Summarize what the ideal form of technological integration can look like for an underwriter and how it could possibly repurpose their time If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 304 page of the InsTech website or email cpd@instech.co to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.