Share
The Leadership in Insurance Podcast - Insurtech & Innovation
The insurtech industry gets better through sharing innovation. On the Leadership in Insurance Podcast we speak to insurance thought leaders that are changing the game. #insurtech
Latest episode
Shaun Routledge, FF News: Better Storytelling, Smarter Events and AI That Solves Real Problems
37:49|Everyone’s talking about AI in insurance. But can they explain what it really does for the customer?In the next episode of The Leadership in Insurance Podcast, FinPro founder Alex Bond is joined by Shaun Routledge, CRO of FF News, to explore how insurtech businesses can turn attention into meaningful conversations — and commercial results.From generic AI messaging to expensive conference appearances, they ask whether the industry is putting enough thought into what really works.🎙️ In this episode:▪️ What can insurtech marketing learn from fintech — and why do specific customer stories matter more than broad technology claims?▪️ Are the biggest conferences always the best investment, or can smaller events deliver stronger connections?▪️ How should businesses assess the true cost and return of attending industry events?▪️ Is AI solving a real problem, or being introduced for technology’s sake?Shaun also shares how FF News approaches telling insurtech stories, and why showing the practical impact of technology matters when attracting customers, talent and investment.If you’re building, marketing or growing an insurtech business, this conversation will give you plenty to think about before your next campaign or conference booking.#InsurTech #LeadershipInInsurance #Insurance #Marketing #FinPro #FFNews
More episodes
View all episodes
Alex Ley, Scrub AI: Specialist AI, Human Judgment and the Future of Underwriting
40:14|Before co-founding Scrub AI, Nicola Turner spent around half of her first two years as an underwriter manually cleaning data. Is that really the best way to train the next generation?On this episode of The Leadership In Insurance Podcast, FinPro founder and host Alex Bond is joined by Alex Ley, CEO and Co-Founder of @Scrub AI, to explore where automation adds value and where human judgment remains essential.Scrub AI tackles a familiar insurance challenge: turning messy spreadsheets into clean, structured data ready for catastrophe modelling, pricing and internal systems.But the conversation goes beyond data preparation:🔹 Why Scrub AI uses small, specialist models rather than relying on general-purpose LLMs🔹 How human feedback helps improve accuracy and accommodate customer preferences 🔹 Why complex specialty risks still need experienced underwriters🔹 How the industry can develop new talent as AI changes entry-level work🔹 Building a lean business with angel backing in a market where trust takes timeFor anyone building insurance technology, leading underwriting teams or thinking about the industry’s future workforce, this episode offers plenty to consider.#InsurTech #Insurance #Underwriting #AI #LeadershipInInsurance #ScrubAI
Olivier Lafontaine: Equisoft’s Approach to AI and Insurance Modernisation.
35:43|🎙️ Could the biggest risk in insurance AI be doing nothing?In this week’s Leadership in Insurance Podcast, Alex Bond speaks with Olivier Lafontaine, Chief Product Officer at Equisoft, about autonomous agents and how insurers can modernise their technology.Drawing on 20 years at Equisoft, Olivier explores:🔹 Where AI agents can reduce friction in insurance workflows—and why human oversight and guardrails matter.🔹 How AI coding tools are reshaping the build-versus-buy debate.🔹 How Equisoft/amplify helps carriers modernise incrementally, without replacing their entire core system.For insurance leaders navigating AI adoption and legacy technology, this conversation offers a practical perspective on where to start.
Dan Schuleman (Qumis): AI as a Second Set of Eyes in Insurance Claims
29:05|This week on The Leadership in Insurance, Alex Bond sits down with Dan Schuleman, CEO & Co-founder of Qumis, to explore how AI can help insurance professionals navigate complex policies — and why human judgement still matters.Some of what they cover:📄 Why lengthy policies, amendments and endorsements make insurance a tough challenge for AI 🤝 AI as a co-worker — helping professionals spot issues while keeping people responsible for decisions 💬 Why a good claims experience matters for trust, retention and the wider business 🎯 Measuring AI’s value beyond time savings — 72% of Qumis users reported catching coverage issues they would otherwise have missed 💡 Moving beyond faster processes to entirely new ways of transacting insuranceA must-listen for anyone exploring how AI can strengthen claims decisions and support the people making them.
Ashwin Agarwal (Advocate Technologies): The $150 Trillion Opportunity in Insurance Pricing
33:17|This week on The Leadership in Insurance, Alex Bond sits down with Ashwin Agarwal, Founder & CEO of Advocate Technologies, to talk about bringing pricing transparency to commercial insurance.Some of what they cover:📊 An $8 billion data network, built in five years — think "Verisk 2.0" meets Bloomberg for insurance pricing⏳ Insurance pricing is 40 years behind financial markets — and that gap is costing the industry🔄 A 12.5% quote-to-bind ratio that shows just how badly the market needs better benchmarking💡 A bold bet: turning a $3 trillion market into $150 trillion with floating-rate policies and price-indexed hedges🎯 Real innovation vs. cost-cutting — and why insurance needs an investment mindset like Buffett'sA must-listen for anyone tracking where pricing data and market infrastructure in commercial insurance are headed next.
Michael Nadel on How AI Is Breaking Insurance Pricing Models
35:42|This week, host Alex Bond is joined by Michael Nadel, Global Practice Lead at Simon-Kucher, to unpack how AI is upending pricing and monetization in insurance.In this conversation, Michael shares:✅ Why AI is breaking the traditional per-user-per-month pricing model and forcing carriers and vendors toward outcome-based, value-aligned pricing instead✅ The hard truth that AI speeds things up but doesn't always cut costs ✅ How to manage pricing transitions without alienating existing customers✅ The State Farm AI claims lawsuit as a cautionary tale for deploying customer-facing AI in a regulated industry✅ Why he believes specialized judgment and expertise will remain valuable in consulting, even as AI commoditizes more technical knowledgeIt's a conversation about the gap between perceived value and willingness to pay — and why pricing strategy is really a signal of who you are as a business.
Dax Craig on Building an AI-Native MGA — With a Team of Five
39:32|This week, host Alex Bond is joined by Dax Craig, co-founder and CEO of Comeryx — a serial insurance entrepreneur.In this conversation, Dax shares:✅ His journey from a wireless start-up in grad school to founding two prior insurance ventures and why he came back for a third✅ Comeryx's AI-native approach to small commercial insurance, targeting hard-to-place ENS risks through wholesale brokers with no-touch processing from submission to renewal✅ How a five-person team is aiming to deliver the output of 50-75 employees and why profitability matters more to him than growth for growth's sake✅ Why MGA structures beat traditional carriers on speed and innovation and his warning against MGAs drifting into becoming carriers✅ What's really overlooked in small commercial insurance, and where investors are repeating mistakes from the mid-2010sIt's a conversation about building lean, staying disciplined on profitability, and why real distribution expertise still beats hype in Insurtech.