Scouting for Growth

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Danilo Raponi about the trends and topics from this year’s ITC London event including AI, sustainability, new startups, and why InsurTech isn’t dead. KEY TAKEAWAYS          Climate is the biggest risk along with misinformation with generative AI because the misuse of that can amplify the spread of misinformation, which is affecting a lot of economies and democracies. Partnerships are essential though it’s not always super easy especially when we’re talking about public/private partnerships. There has to be an awareness on both sides that the starting points can be different but your goals and objectives we want to meet are the same. For example, the public sector doesn’t always shave profit as a motive, but the public sector my understand that the private sector has to make money somehow. Technology can really help us with risk protection with monitoring and detection of things like forest fires. There are fantastic satrtups out there with devices that detect forest fires extremely early both with devises you can place strategically where fires are likely as well as with satellites. There are a lot of materials that can now be used to rebuild houses and make them less prone to be burned down. When these risk mitigations are in place it becomes easier for insurers to provide insurance. Insurance and reinsurance are essential to make the world work. And they’ve been important in growth and innovation across the world going back to the merchants in Venice. Attracting talent from the younger generation is important, but it’s important for them to work in a place that lives up to its values. It’s easier to attract talent in innovation because it’s all about technology and it’s cool. But, when you combine purpose with that and show the positive outcomes the products will have for other people, that makes it even easier.   BEST MOMENTS ‘Generali is a 200-year-old startup, which is a fancy way of saying that we’ve always had a remarkable ability to stay ahead of the trends, innovate and be close to our customers.’‘We need to be humble. These are big things that no one can solve on their own.’‘Parametrics can be an option to be looked at in modelling and technologies around insuring the ‘uninsurable’.’‘There’s a growing awareness that all the issues that the world is facing are big ones, but they can also be turned into opportunities for insurance companies.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Danilo Raponi: Group Head of Innovation at Generali, Managing Director, Board Member, Angel Investor, MBA (Bocconi), PhD (Cambridge) Danilo Raponi serves as Group Head of Innovation at Generali, one of the world’s leading insurance and financial services companies. In this capacity, he focuses on accelerating the company’s strategic and business transformation and spearheading new product development to enhance customer experience. Alongside his executive role, Danilo is a Managing Director and Board Member, helping guide strategic decision-making and long-term growth across multiple initiatives. He is also leading Generali Ventures, the VC initiative of the Generali Group, bridging corporate strategy with entrepreneurial ecosystems. Danilo holds a Master of Science summa cum laude from LUISS University in Rome, an MBA from the Bocconi School of Management, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. These academic achievements underpin his multidisciplinary approach to innovation, enabling him to navigate complex challenges and foster impactful solutions within Generali’s global network. ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.   Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook TikTok Email Website  

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to John Hewitt, a true pioneer in the tax preparation and financial services industry, having founded and scaled two companies to over $500 million in value - Jackson Hewitt Tax Service and Liberty Tax Service. Throughout his illustrious career spanning 55 years, John has always kept sight of his driving purpose – to change lives. He takes pride in having a monumental positive impact on franchisees, employees, and customers. We'll be exploring his strategies for scaling successful empires, overcoming barriers, financing growth models, and more. KEY TAKEAWAYS One of the key ingredients is that you have to get buy-in from everhyone involved. You have to have a dream that’s fairly accurate then get your employees, customers, vendors, investors, etc to buy-in to where you’re going. As a franchisee, one of the things you want from your franchisor is consistency and quality. Whoever offers the worst service in your system will determine what your brand name is worth. We call every customer and ask them how we did, which no one else does, in the franchise world, they send and email, text, or send them a survey. It’s been great for us because not only do we police our brand, but our customers love to be called and asked how we can improve our service to them. Plus, we get higher staff retention and get more referrals. Anything that’s systemic should be able to be provided by software and computers. We divide issues up into ‘tip of the iceberg’. If it’s something that is systemic – an iceberg – we’re looking for a solution to it, if it’s just a one-off situation then we don’t build systems or use software for it. I’ve been doing it this way since 1981, making things expeditious and consistently high quality. Train your staff so they can go anywhere and be successful, but treat them so well that they want to stay. It comes from creating a culture and an attitude in your organisation, and the attitude starts with employees first: If you want your customers to be treated well by your employees you have to treat your employees well, you have to listen and be loyal to your team and build a team of a people with a great attitude. You can’t teach a great attitude. BEST MOMENTS ‘There are two major parts of growth: The amount of money you spend, and the amount of money you take in, you always have to make sure they’re balanced.’ ‘I’ve been in taxes for 55 years: There are only 2 certainties in life: death and tax, it’s recession proof.’ ‘In the pet industry we’ve seen young people in the past 10 years delay having children. Sometimes I ask if they have children and they say: “I have 2 dogs, those are my children.”’ ‘Brand loyalty is such a cool and important thing to have which is why my company is called Loyalty Brands.’ ABOUT THE GUEST John Hewitt is a visionary entrepreneur renowned for founding two of the largest tax preparation companies in the United States - Jackson Hewitt Tax Service and Liberty Tax Service.  As the pioneer behind the "Hewitt" in Jackson Hewitt, John grew the company to over 1,300 offices and $483 million in sales before selling it in 1997. Undeterred, John founded Liberty Tax in 1997, rapidly expanding it to over 4,000 offices in the U.S. and Canada. By 2012, Liberty Tax was one of the top 100 largest retail organizations in North America. Now John is applying his strategic prowess to investing, John helps entrepreneurs build their own empires as CEO of Loyalty Brands. Guided by ambition and faith, he continues to compete - and win - on an extraordinary level. ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook  TikTok Email Website

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Danny Nathan, founder of Apollo 21, an innovation and product design studio based in New York City. Learn about the transformative role of emerging technologies like AI, quantum computing, and cloud services in reshaping traditional business models. Danny discusses how Apollo 21 integrates these frontier technologies to solve complex business and operational challenges, helping clients across various industries, including healthcare, finance, fitness, and more. KEY TAKEAWAYS I focus on layering all the ideals of innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology together with a focus on helping companies understand what it means to build a culture of innovation, what that looks like from an operational standpoint, and how that perspective impacts how companies are structured and how they approach their work. We then leverage those thoughts to help companies create interesting new products  We work with companies of all sizes and scales, from napkin-stage founders who have an idea but haven’t figured out how to bring it to light or defined what an MVP product might look like to serve their customer needs, right us to large companies lie Bank of America. Interestingly, the problems they’re trying to solve are not exactly dissimilar, it’s a question of scale and customer expectations are today and where they want to get to tomorrow. We’ve found that large companies inherently are not set up well to support the ideals of innovation. As companies grow, they optimise for efficiency and look for ways to wring every dollar out of every penny that goes in. Innovation is inherently an inefficient process that requires some expenditure of experimentation, trial and error and that’s difficult to align to the way that large companies operate in terms of budgeting. One of our core values is: Crawl, walk, run. Having run startups ourselves we’re highly aware of the benefit of starting small, understanding what you’re building, determining where the value is being delivered or not, and iterating on that over time, so we can truly build something that accomplishes a need and gives us an opportunity to figure out where we mis-stepped along the way. BEST MOMENTS ‘Gen AI is the elephant in the room today, you can’t help but be aware of it because of the pace it’s coming into fruition. A lot of companies aren’t ready to incorporate it into their workflows.’ ‘Start getting your data in order, understand and learning what type of structure and data you need to align to the goal you have for AI use cases in future.’ ‘Figure out ways for your employees to  begin interacting with and utilising AI to accomplish the tasks they’re doing today so they aren’t afraid of it and how to ask the right questions of it to get beneficial responses from it.’ ‘One of the things a lot of people overlook is the level of research and understanding of your customer and their need that should go into the process prior to building anything.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Throughout a roller-coaster career spanned acting, advertising, consulting, technology, and entrepreneurship, Danny Nathan has developed a habit of helping companies create new products and services and launch new ventures.  Known variously as a product person, UX guy, designer, strategist, marketer, creative, and sometimes even "The Cleaner," Danny brings a wealth of experience to every project he undertakes. Today, Danny is the founder of Apollo 21, an innovation and product design studio based in New York City. Apollo 21 sits at the intersection of a business consultancy, a product design studio, and a venture studio. The company helps organizations foster innovation, leverage venture-driven growth, and remove barriers to scale by building technology that solves complex business and operational challenges. ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook  TikTok Email Website

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Scott Gunther, who is not only a corporate venture capitalist and start-up enthusiast—he’s also the secret ingredient that helps big businesses think like nimble innovators! In this episode, we’ll hear how Scott’s unique blend of strategic vision and hands-on execution has set him apart in both blue-chip boardrooms and early-stage tech circles. We’ll dive into the venture client model, explore the evolving CVC (Corporate Venture Capital) landscape through the lens of 2025, and uncover the do’s and don’ts for insurance providers and emerging Tech founders. KEY TAKEAWAYS Recently we’ve seen a bit of stability in CVC investment, there’s been a strong volume of deal-flow dollars that are starting to pour into startup investment. At the same time, we’re seeing corporate change their attitudes and approaches to innovation and venturing. Some have closed their CVC funds, others have changed their investment focus, some have scaled back altogether, although some are quite the opposite. We’re starting to see CVCs experiencing slower exit returns and their financials aren’t what they were in 2021/22. In the last 2-3 years the savvy CVCs have done 2 things well: They’ve managed to keep their portfolio afloat and managed to hang onto their strategic assets but have also helped their portfolio grown at the same time. This will be a trend for CVCs in 2025. We don’t put anything up to our investment community until we have an exec sponsor because post-investment is when the exec sponsor comes to life and the VC model starts to hit home. We have a dedicated post-investment team that connect the startup and the corporate. The biggest opportunities for insurers and CVCs operating in that space is understand how people use and interact with digital technologies, and how they’re affecting society. Also, customer segmentation and proposition development is different for different demographics now and how different cohorts are research, buy, service, claim, it’s not one size fits all. The savvy insurers know what these macro-trends are and understand how the latest technology, data, and AI trends are. This could help us get to the holy grail: The segment of one! BEST MOMENTS ‘We’re going to see more competition, things are going to happen faster and cheaper, but there’s still an uncertainty about which things we should own and which we should outsource.’ ‘I think a lot of people focus on the E and S or ESG, but not the G, but the G incorporates some of the most crucial aspects about how a company runs itself.’ ‘The more efficient and effective a company can run the more it can have on its customers and community.’ ‘We connect the startup with the corporate to create mutual commercial value, it’s an ethos we live by.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Scott Gunther is a Corporate Venture Capitalist and start-up enthusiast with a track record of partnering with business leaders to identify strategic opportunities and guide transformational change. Drawing on years of experience designing future-state, digital-first businesses and delivering critical programs across multiple industries, he brings a rare blend of strategic vision and execution prowess to his clients and colleagues. LinkedIn Firemark Ventures  ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook  TikTok Email Website

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Staci Gray, Founder and CEO of Organize To Scale, whose journey is nothing short of inspirational. Imagine graduating high school at 16, diving headfirst into the entrepreneurial world, and buying your first property at 18. When her mother was diagnosed with stage four cancer, Staci leaped into action. Taking the reins of her family businesses, she transformed overwhelming challenges into streamlined successes. In just 36 months, Staci helped launch 36 syndication businesses that collectively raised over $300 million.  Today, we'll dive into Staci's unique approach to scaling businesses through people and processes. We'll explore how she empowers leaders to build strong teams, streamline operations, and prepare for successful exits—all without losing their minds or their personal identities. KEY TAKEAWAYS You need to know yourself, whether you’re a visionary, an integrator, or more operationally minded. Getting that level of clarity is critical because the visionary role is externally focussed, thinking 5 moves ahead, caring about customers, interested in advancement and expansion. Whereas the integrator (COO) role is internally focussed on the team, fulfilment, operations. Sitting in both seats at the same time is fragmenting yourself, it’s important you choose which role you do and then employ opposite to that who also buys into your vision. As a business you should be continually adapting. The technology or the team you needed at 6-figures is not the same that you will need at 8-figures. Your job as a leadership team, in whatever seat you’re sitting in, is to get good at pushing to the next ceiling, hitting it, and then adapting to make sure you have your cash, tech and trained team aligned. Those things are critical to scaling. I’m a huge advocate of trying to scale businesses in a way that truly creates freedom: Tim freedom, financial freedom, and geographic freedom. That’s only our ‘eyes-open freedoms’, sometimes people also sacrifice their internal freedoms; Joy, love, peace, connection, belonging to scale their businesses. I think that’s a bigger sacrifice. It’s important to not attach my identity to my business, it’s not me, it’s something that I do. All building a business really is is taking an idea and turning it into a reality. It’s also people. People are doing the work, even if they’re using technology. And ideas and people sometimes create friction, we see it all over the world, and that friction can create bottlenecks. We have to be able to have conversations around what isn’t working, in a non-personal, objective way to see how we can improve communication, workflow, accountability, processes, documentation so the flow is smoother and we can all achieve and win by driving revenue, scale up the business, create operational efficiencies and improve gross profit. BEST MOMENTS ‘The best integrators are ‘co-visionaries’, they can envision with you and also take the vision and sculpt it into tactics.’ ‘Stay in your lane, if you try to get in someone else’s lane it can fragment operations.’ ‘The moment I found out my Mum had stage 4 cancer was when I realised the importance of organising to scale your business before there was a crisis.’ ‘Doing whatever it takes to build your business might look different than what you think it looks like.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Staci Gray is the Founder and CEO of Organize To Scale, a company dedicated to liberating mission-driven leaders from operational chaos and empowering them to scale their businesses effectively. With a passion for organizing businesses and building strong, high-performing teams, Staci envisions a world where entrepreneurs and leaders can grow their enterprises, fuel the economy, and make a tangible impact on people's lives without sacrificing their personal well-being. ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook  TikTok Email Website

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to a panel of global experts to explore the bold new frontiers shaping insurance technology in 2025 and beyond, including microinsurance in Africa, digital disruption in Latin America, the evolving tech scene in the US, Asia, Europe and the UK. KEY TAKEAWAYS AI cannot just be something we add on top of existing infrastructure, there needs to be some re-work to integrate it into existing infrastructure. Foundation for AI scalability and security (not as a bolt-on) will be a big trend. The second thing is generative AI that’s across ecosystem.  There is a trend emerging and growing in InsurTech in Europe at least around emerging risks. 20% of all the deals done in 2024 were around that specific topic. Most of the startups in this area are in the pricing/underwriting part of the value chain. There is a need for these with emerging risks that didn’t exist (or weren’t as prevalent) in the past, such as climate change or electric vehicles. In Asia, especially South-East Asia, the markets are way more green field than they are in the US. Here, embedded insurance and ecosystem integration are a really big deal. As people get onto external ecosystems outside of their own they want to embed insurance in them across sectors. We don’t think insurance just in the insurance space is enough. There’s a lot of brain drain in Africa where skilled professionals are leaving the continent. But the paradox of that is that there’s a lot of influx onto the continent. The questions is: Where exactly do the opportunities lie? There’s a lot of grown happening in the emerging communities where companies are developing the mindsets and capacities to transfer risk in all kinds of insurance, not just life.  BEST MOMENTS ’95-97% of the economy in Asia is driven by SMEs, and 75% of employment is in the SME sector, and it’s wildly underserved from an insurance perspective. It’s a massive opportunity.’ ‘Accessibility possibilities that the technology and maturity curve provides in emerging markets, especially, is quite exciting because it’s making insurance sustainable, affordable, and reaching more people.’ ‘The population where I live is very young, they were the first penetration for insurance here and, unlike the rest of the world, they’re deeply unconcerned about data privacy, they’re willing to trade their data access for convenience, better products and more personalisation.’ ‘Don’t only stick to the regulations timeframe, keep an eye on what entrepreneurs are building because the market can move faster than the regulations.’ ABOUT THE GUESTS Florian Graillot (covering InsurTech Europe)  Hilario Itriago (covering InsurTech LATAM)  Lisa Wardlaw (covering InsurTech USA) Michael Waitze (covering InsurTech Asia) Tunde Salako - Africa InsurTech (covering InsurTech Africa) ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook  TikTok Email Website

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Carolina Klint, Managing Director and chief commercial officer for Continental Europe at Marsh McLennan, who shares her views on the latest WEF report and its implications for businesses and insurers worldwide. KEY TAKEAWAYS My goal with speaking about and promoting the Report is where the topics of risk and resilience belong, which is on the agenda of world leaders, decision makers, executives, board members. The business world is so complex and difficult to navigate and we have an environment now where risks are not only interconnected but they are also layered. So, the Global Risk Report is a great place to start trying to make sense of this. When a company looks at the risks that have the potential to impact or execute on strategies it’s so difficult to get it right: You’re going to go through your risks and scenario planning to pull together an ambitious risk register. Most companies have good processes for this, but in the current environment it’s very rare to pick and prepare for the risks that are going to be the ones that will hit you. Aby working on a culture of risk awareness and resilience, by working on taking a holistic view, connection the dots between people, risk and strategy, companies that do that have a much better opportunity to deal with whatever ends up hitting them. If you have a culture and awareness, and if you empower your leaders and employees to manage through when something hits, it’s going to become a much better outcome for you regards of the risks. We need to not just look at what’s in front of us, but look at the long term perspective. Human beings are wired to focus on what’s in front of us and it’s easy to forget the long-term horizon. This is where the Global Risk Report is so helpful because it looks at the perception of current risks, the 2-year and 10-year risk horizons.  BEST MOMENTS ‘We look at how we can bring more value and become more relevant to our clients by connecting people, risk, and strategy – and the WEF Global Risk Report speaks directly to that.’ ‘The business environment is very difficult to navigate, and it’s only through collaboration and looking at the business holistically that you can achieve a long term sustainable business model.’ ‘For anyone in risk and resilience, when the Global Risk Report comes out it’s like Christmas Day as a 5-year-old!’ ‘Everyone’s got a plan until you get punched in the face – that’s exactly the way it is in the current environment.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Carolina Klint is a recognized expert in global risk management and a key contributor to thought leadership initiatives, including the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report.  As a Managing Director and Risk Management Leader for Continental Europe at Marsh, she works with clients across industries to anticipate, quantify, and navigate emerging threats—ranging from geopolitical and environmental disruptions to the rapid evolution of technology. LinkedIn ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook  TikTok Email Website

Michael Lingelbach, the CEO and co-founder of Hedra, dives into the transformative potential of long-form generative video and agency AI solutions. He shares insights on how Hedra is redefining content creation for marketing and corporate training. Lingelbach emphasizes the need for engaging storytelling in today’s limited attention economy. He also discusses the ethical implications of automated content and the essential balance between efficiency and authenticity, highlighting how generative AI can enhance creativity rather than replace jobs.

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Denise Garth, a globally recognized InsurTech thought leader and Chief Strategy Officer at Majesco. In our talk today, we dive into the top trends shaping insurance and InsurTech as we head toward 2025—from next-gen technology enablers to constantly evolving customer expectations. Denise will share her insights on where the industry is headed, how to stay ahead, and why a collaborative mindset is crucial. KEY TAKEAWAYS What was happening in the resilience market in 2024, from both economic and risk standpoints, has had a huge operational impact on insurance companies. As a result, as we go into 2025, the reaction of loss ratios increasing, unprofitability, high interest rates, all the economic factors are forcing us to step back and see it as a wake-up call.  We’re in the midst of business model and technology driven change. We’re finally realising our decades old operational models and technology foundations no longer meet the challenges and opportunities of this fast-changing risk, technology, and customer demographics world. It’s a race to the future because there’s a growing protection gap that we must address in a different way. We’ve been on a technology ride for 10-15 years , especially in InsurTech, but the last few months have been mind blowing with the pace of change and what the technology, like GenAI and IoT can do. They can help us do risk assessments better, give better customer experience and optimise the whole operation.  Cloud computing is expanding the capabilities. We’ve got to fundamentally rethink the technology and business architecture of our solutions to optimise and take advantage of not just cloud computing but all the other technologies that are going to leverage cloud. BEST MOMENTS ‘We must think about how to underwrite and assess risks differently, more importantly how do we minimise the risk. We can’t keep growing the risk and the insurance costs, people can’t afford it.’ ‘Data is the lifeblood of this industry, and we’re coming to realise that we’ve got to democratise and demonetise data because everybody needs to have it.’ ‘MGAs and full-stack insurers are trying to think how insurance is going to be done, but also, what constitutes the insurance policy.’ ‘48% of part-time workers don’t have access to life or health insurance, they want a simple way of buying insurance, and they also want the risk about themselves by having Protection as a Service based on usage.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Denise Garth is an internationally recognized InsurTech thought leader and innovator, serving as Chief Strategy Officer at Majesco. With a passion for transforming the insurance industry, Denise leads global strategy, marketing, industry relations, and innovation—helping companies navigate disruption and harness new technologies to capture growth.  Her accolades are numerous, including being named among the 30 Most Powerful Women in Business: The Titans of Industry (2024) by International Business Times, an InsurTech Top 50 Influencer, and one of the Top 50 Women in SaaS. Bringing a blend of deep insurance expertise and visionary thinking, Denise’s work focuses on how today’s industry challenges can spark tomorrow’s opportunities. She has served in leadership positions around the world, developing go-to-market strategies, guiding operational transformation, and fostering collaboration across multiple continents—from Europe to Asia-Pacific. LinkedIn ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook  TikTok Email Website

  On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks about the technology trends shaping the future of insurance and finance in 2025, the big shifts, from AI wizardry to climate tech disruptors, that are revolutionizing how we manage risk, measure reward, and generally conduct business in these fast-changing industries. KEY TAKEAWAYS AI in insurance alone is predicted to jump from just over $8 billion in 2024 to potentially over $140 billion in 2034. With generative AI tools creating on-the-fly risk assessments and personalized product recommendations, the old “one-size-fits-all” insurance model is heading out the door. Soon, underwriting or credit-check processes that once took days could be done in mere minutes. With 5G insurers can collect real-time driving data to offer usage-based policies – like getting rewarded for being a safe driver. Meanwhile, finance companies roll out mobile-first investment platforms that update your portfolio in microseconds. VR is also taking the stage, letting financial advisors or insurance agents hold “virtual meetings” with you inside immersive 3D worlds. This creates deeper engagement and a better understanding of the coverage you’re getting. With hurricanes, floods, and wildfires happening more often, insurance providers are analyzing climate risks like never before. Some are even adjusting policies in real-time based on environmental data, which is crucial for those living in high-risk areas. Meanwhile, finance giants are offering “green bonds” or environmentally friendly investment options. Sustainable practices aren’t just an afterthought; they’re part of corporate strategy, and regulators are stepping in to promote responsible business. “Financial Services 2.0,” covers InsurTech, embedded finance, embedded insurance, blockchain, and more. This signals a future where financial services, insurance, and other industries blend into platform-based experiences. Blockchain is a game-changer here. From frictionless cross-border payments to “smart contracts” that auto-trigger claims payouts, the possibilities are endless. We’re also seeing digital currencies – from stablecoins to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) – gain traction.   BEST MOMENTS ‘Insurance is flipping from driver-centric to vehicle-centric as self-driving cars become more common. Meanwhile, in big cities, sensors track traffic to reduce congestion, meaning fewer accidents and lower claims.’‘Cybercrime could cost the world up to USD 10 trillion annually by 2025. For insurers, that spells an opportunity to offer robust cyber coverage, but it also means constantly updating your own defences.’‘AI and data-sharing help shape new solutions—but trust erodes quickly if people sense their data is being misused or if algorithms are biased. Transparency and good governance are your best friends.’‘Step outside the old “policy mindset” and start innovating in ways that deeply resonate with how people live, work, and move..’ ABOUT THE HOST Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.   Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Facebook  TikTok Email Website