In the latest episode of the Leadership in Insurance Podcast, host Dan Briselden sits down with James Rendell, CEO and founder of BirdsEyeView — a UK-based insurance technology company backed by the European Space Agency — for a conversation that spans the journey from Lloyds broker to InsurTech entrepreneur.
James brings a rare blend of market knowledge and technological curiosity to the world of natural catastrophe modelling. His path didn't start with a lightbulb moment: it started with a genuine obsession with emerging technology, a willingness to show up alone to InsurTech events, and a growing conviction that satellite data could meaningfully improve how the insurance market models and manages catastrophe risk.
In this episode, James and Dan explore:
🔹 How BirdsEyeView secured backing from the European Space Agency and why that rigorous, year-long process turned out to be the best thing the business ever did
🔹 Why building customer-first — really understanding the day-to-day problems underwriters face — has been the key driver of early traction across Lloyds, Australia and the US
🔹 The challenge of selling into a market that's historically slow to adopt new technology, and how to shorten the sales cycle by starting niche and expanding from there
🔹 Why secondary perils like wildfire and severe convective storm represent the biggest product opportunity and where BirdsEyeView is investing to stay ahead of the incumbents
🔹 How AI has already transformed output at BirdsEyeView — and why James believes the science-heavy, domain-specific nature of catastrophe modelling keeps them well ahead of any AI-generated challengers
James also shares his vision for where BirdsEyeView is heading: to become the go-to tool for at-desk hazard modelling and exposure management — bridging the long-standing gap between the lightweight tools underwriters use daily and the sophisticated outputs of the traditional vendor models.
If you work in underwriting, exposure management, or catastrophe risk — or if you're building a business in the Lloyds or cover holder market — this episode is full of honest, hard-won insight from a founder who's done it the right way.
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