InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant InsTech

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.

Root provides platforms and API for insurers, MGAs, brokers to build, launch and manage digital insurance products and embedded experiences in South Africa and the UK.
Matthew Grant caught up with Louw Hopley on the opportunities and challenges in the insurance industry, focusing on the role of embedded insurance in adapting to changing customer demands. Discover all from the emerging areas Root is planning to tap into, to the company’s appointment of a new CEO and regional manager. 
Key talking points:
A year of progress and expansion
The development of insurance distribution
The future of embedded insurance
Root’s journey: leadership and company growth
Innovations in insurance: from digital assets to angry AI
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 what is embedded insurance and how it can help insurance adapt to changing customer demands
Explain why customer demands have shifted and why insurance has not kept up with it
Identify the necessary steps and changes a company can make when expanding globally and entering new markets
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 303 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.

Swiss Re Reinsurance Solutions was launched two years ago to make Swiss Re’s unique knowledge and tools available across the insurance value chain.
Swiss Re’s strongest point of knowledge is property - around which we centre this podcast. Robin Merttens spoke to CEO of Reinsurance Solutions Russell Higginbotham on approaching climate-related risks in the insurance industry as well as managing the balance between data accuracy and inclusivity of insurance products for customers.
Key talking points:
The implication of climate change on property insurance
If you are running an insurer now - what should you be focusing on?
What should the whole ecosystem be doing with climate change? Planning the future
Understanding ‘uninsurability’ 
Partnerships with Google X, the moonshot factory and acquiring Fathom
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 how better data can help tackle the insurance protection gap
Explain how acquisitions can help a company gain better data and why partnerships are important in the industry
Summarise why climate change is such an important risk and what insurers should focus on to tackle it best
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 302 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.

McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS) helps accelerate disaster relief and economic recovery for insurers.
Matthew Grant spoke to Rosina, Chief Product Officer for MIS, who shares insights from her MBA dissertation's findings on the adoption of technology in insurance, highlighting the necessity of collaboration between insurtechs, insurance companies, and other stakeholders to drive innovation and effectively address the insurance protection gap. 
Key talking points include:
Transitioning from working for a large organization to the world of startup and scale up
MBA Dissertation - the process of writing and publishing 
Managing biases - reconsidering the issue with the protection gap
Collaboration and disruption - where do you stand as an insurtech?
Evolving approaches for insurtechs
What you should avoid in partnerships
To read Rosina Smith’s dissertation ‘Barriers to Adopting Insurtech in Natural Catastrophe (Re)insurance’ you can reach out to her on LinkedIn.
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 what is the insurance protection gap and why it has historically been misunderstood
Identify some reasons why a business partnership between a insurtech start up and an insurer might not be successful
Summarise why insurtechs need to reevaluate their strategy when partnering with insurance carriers
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 301 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.

KatRisk is a catastrophe modelling company providing global inland flood, storm surge and windstorm loss assessments for some of the largest insurers, reinsurers and brokers in the world. 
Taking a macrocosm approach, the company’s models offer an open software architecture, allowing users to better understand correlated risks and to make modifications to suit specific needs.
Matthew Grant caught up with Dag Lohmann and Brandon Katz on the company’s development such as taking on strategic investment from TA Associates, and the challenges that come with modelling correlated risks such as tornadoes, tornadoes, straight-line winds and more.
Key talking points:
The journey to strategic investment
Innovating catastrophe modelling with advanced technology
Client collaboration and transparency: a core ethos
Leveraging high-resolution models for underwriting and risk assessment
The future of catastrophe modelling and climate reporting
Looking ahead: expansion and new developments
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:
Define how correlation has changed the methods catastrophe modelling is conducted
Identify the different types of government bodies that work alongside catastrophe modellers and why
Summarise why catastrophe modelling tornados is difficult and why granularity of data can help
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 300 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.

From episodes 68, 227 and now episode 299, InsTech has consistently caught up with Cytora and followed the company’s growth and expansion. 
Alongside Google, Cytora supported InsTech’s March event in New York, after which Matthew Grant caught up with Richard Hartley on the company’s growth, entering the US market and its impact on the insurance industry.
Cytora focuses on data integration, partnering with numerous data providers to enhance the underwriter's workflow and ultimately transform manual insurance processes into digital ones.
Key talking points include:
Developing the vision as the technology develops
Digitizing risk - rendering it decision read
Collating the team - collaging different backgrounds in Cytora
Case studies - real-life examples of how Cytora helps carriers including Markel and Allianz
Heterogenous data in a homogenous view - ecosystems
Judgement and data - subjectivity
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 how by partnering with different data sources, a platform provider can help an underwriter understand their data in a simpler, unified way
Define what digitization of the insurance industry is and what it could look like
Identify how platforms can help underwriters save time and focus on what they do best
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 299 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.