InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant & Robin Merttens

InsTech
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Bringing together the best technology and innovation for insurance and risk management together from around the world. Podcast hosted by Matthew Grant.

  1. 5H AGO

    Automated underwriting: a pioneer’s perspective (393)

    What actually makes automated and enhanced underwriting work in practice?  In this episode, three early movers in automated underwriting share hard-earned lessons from building digital underwriting propositions that have survived real market cycles. Rather than theory or hype, this conversation digs into where technology genuinely creates advantage, where it does not, and how underwriting judgement remains central even in highly algorithmic models.  Drawing on experience across cyber, US property and digital facilities, the panel explores why complexity, not commoditisation, is often where automation delivers the greatest edge. From AI-driven cyber underwriting to high-cat surplus lines property and digitally distributed specialty products, each speaker explains how they chose their focus and what they learned along the way.  Key themes include the role of data discipline in sustaining AI-led underwriting, why platform design matters more than speed to market, and how underwriters’ roles are shifting from generalists to specialists embedded in algorithmic decision making. The discussion also tackles unstructured data, submission quality and why “no data, no deal” may become a defining principle of future underwriting models.  What you’ll learn in this episode:  Why complex risks can be better suited to automated and augmented underwriting than simple, commoditised ones  How AI and machine learning are being applied in live underwriting decisions, not just analytics  The importance of volume, homogeneity and risk differentiation when building algorithmic models  Lessons from re-platforming early digital products and avoiding long-term technical debt  How generative AI is changing data cleaning, exposure management and submission handling  What enhanced underwriting means for underwriter skills, careers and decision making  Featuring perspectives from Marek Shafer of Vave, Tom Squires of AEGIS London and Jonathan Spry of Envelop Risk, moderated by Matthew Grant of InsTech.  You can also watch the video version of this panel here.  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.

    15 min

  2. FEB 1

    Liselotte Munk, CEO: Fadata: AI, insurance software & the future of policy admin (392)

    What happens when AI meets the backbone of the insurance industry - policy administration systems? In this episode, Liselotte Munk, CEO of Fadata, joins Robin Merttens to unpack how artificial intelligence is reshaping the software layer of insurance.  With candid insights into Fadata’s AI strategy, Liselotte reveals how the company is using AI to accelerate software development and reduce implementation costs while improving quality. She tackles the big question: will AI make policy admin systems obsolete? Her answer offers a pragmatic view on cost, complexity, compliance and collaboration.  In this conversation, Liselotte shares:  How AI is already streamlining configuration, documentation and testing in core systems Why the true opportunity lies in faster implementations and reduced transformation costs How the role of developers is shifting, and what this means for insurance talent Why insurers should invest in AI to enhance - not replace - their core platforms What the smartest insurers are doing now to future-proof operations in an AI-first world If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Robin Merttens on LinkedIn.  Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.

    18 min

  3. JAN 25

    Tobi Schneider, Sector Engagement Lead for Financial Services & FinTech, Edinburgh Futures Institute: Creating a new kind of assurance & insurance framework for AI-related risks (391)

    In this episode, Robin Merttens is joined by Tobi Schneider, Sector Engagement Lead for Financial Services & FinTech at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, to unpack one of the most ambitious research initiatives currently shaping the future of AI risk in insurance. Backed by UKRI and developed in collaboration with AXA Group and three leading universities, the project aims to build a foundational blueprint for how insurers can understand, audit and underwrite emerging AI risks.  Tobi shares why the shift from traditional to generative and agentic AI has outpaced current risk frameworks, leaving insurers exposed to risks that are poorly defined, difficult to monitor and impossible to price using historic loss data. He explains how his team is exploring dynamic underwriting models, parametric solutions and novel assurance techniques like LLM-based judges and automated red teaming, all with the goal of enabling safer, more accountable AI adoption.  Ahead of the Agentic AI Half Day event, hosted in collaboration with AI Risk, Tobi Schneider and Lukasz Szpruch wrote an article The New Frontier: Managing and insuring generative and agentic AI risks, further exploring this topic.   In this conversation, Tobi shares:  Why AI systems that function “correctly” can still produce harmful or costly outcomes  How traditional insurance models fail in the face of opacity, model drift and dynamic learning  What makes AI risk so difficult to price and how parametric triggers can help bridge the gap  Why better assurance leads to better insurance, and how incentives can drive safer AI deployment  How continuous monitoring tools are being developed to audit AI models in real time  What today’s early AI insurance offerings (from the likes of Munich Re and Relm) are actually covering  The role of non-profit research in supporting commercial innovation without commercial bias  What insurers can do now to prepare for an AI-driven future even without historical data  If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Robin Merttens on LinkedIn.  Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.

    15 min

  4. JAN 18

    Bootstrap Confidential Episode 11: Building a bootstrapped exit with Matthew Grant (390)

    This week we bring you an episode of Bootstrap Confidential featuring InsTech’s very own CEO, Matthew Grant, who joined Charles Green in the latter half of 2025 to reflect on the eight-year journey of building InsTech from the ground up without outside funding, and with an intentional focus on sustainable growth.  Matthew’s route to growing InsTech wasn’t typical. With a background in risk, analytics and around 400 podcast episodes as a host, he brought a deep understanding of the insurance sector and what it takes to build a commercially viable, insight-led business. The result? A thriving community of over 30,000, a high-margin membership model and a successful exit achieved through discipline, focus and clear-eyed decisions.  In this conversation, Matthew shares:  Why he sees bootstrapping as risk management, not risk taking The importance of paying yourself from day one and how that shaped InsTech’s trajectory Lessons from testing (and killing) products that didn’t deliver Why hiring curious, early-career talent paid off What most founders get wrong about option schemes and equity How to handle financial stress without losing your team or your sanity Why co-founders matter and why investors aren’t a substitute The hard truth about building the business your customers want, not just the one you’d love to run  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.

    38 min

  5. JAN 11

    Andy Yeoman, Founder & CEO: Concirrus: Bringing the joy back to underwriting (389)

    In this episode, Robin Merttens is joined by Andy Yeoman, CEO of Concirrus, to unpack how a key player in marine insurance tech has reinvented itself as a core platform provider for the specialty market, and what that transformation says about where the industry is heading.  Andy shares the thinking behind Concirrus’ pivot from ship tracking to full risk lifecycle processing, what it takes to build end-to-end technology in just 18 months, and why underwriters, not just CTOs, are now leading the charge on system change.  In this conversation, Andy shares:  Why marine was just the beginning and why modern platforms must serve multiple lines with depth, not just breadth  What today’s insurers really want from core systems: speed, interoperability and business outcomes  How Concirrus became an AI-first company and what that’s meant for product delivery, talent and culture  The rise of the tech-fuelled MGA and why they’re now the “risk entrepreneurs” to watch  How verticalised platforms are winning over underwriters by solving for class-specific nuance  What the shift from admin-heavy roles to empowered underwriting means for job satisfaction and talent retention  Why managing change is as important as building tech and what Concirrus learned from its own internal AI adoption  What’s next for insurance infrastructure as constraints fall away and innovation accelerates If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Robin Merttens on LinkedIn.  Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.

    26 min

  6. JAN 4

    David Wood, JBA Risk Management & Jochen Papenbrock, NVIDIA: Showing the world how to revolutionise modelling (388)

    How can AI weather models improve the accuracy and scale of catastrophe modelling? Matthew Grant is joined by David Wood, Managing Director at JBA Risk Management, and Jochen Papenbrock, Head of Financial Technology (EMEA) at NVIDIA, to explore how accelerated computing is unlocking new ways to simulate and manage flood risk. JBA has long been a pioneer in flood modelling, while NVIDIA’s GPU technology has helped drive the recent breakthroughs in AI and generative modelling. Together, they discuss how high-resolution simulations, new ensemble methods and open-source tools are pushing the limits of what’s possible in climate and catastrophe analytics. Key Talking Points: The early bet – how JBA’s adoption of GPU computing over a decade ago made national-scale flood mapping possible From gaming to GenAI – how NVIDIA's evolution from graphics to AI led to the development of physics-informed weather models Ensemble power – why running 1,000+ simulations helps capture more extremes than the historic record ever could Event sets reimagined – how AI models are enabling richer, more diverse flood scenarios for Europe and beyond Real-time relevance – the potential to use AI models to simulate how a flood might unfold, as it’s happening Making AI usable – how Earth-2 Studio and open-source frameworks are opening up generative models to catastrophe modellers Proving value – how NVIDIA and JBA worked together to quantify the benefits of faster, more flexible modelling approaches Looking ahead – why cross-sector collaboration will be essential to turn acceleration into real-world impact 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.

    36 min

  7. 12/28/2025

    Where is the industry today? - a view from the C-suite (387)

    In this episode, Robin Merttens is joined by Dr Thomas Kuhnt (HDI Global SE), Ed Ackerman (Qover) and Vincent De Ponthaud (AXA) for a rare C-suite perspective on Agentic AI — what it is, how it's being deployed and why senior leaders are walking a tightrope between bold innovation and operational risk. Agentic AI promises transformative value, but for decision-makers at the top, it also brings real uncertainty. What do you build vs. buy? How do you prove ROI? And how do you prevent over-trusting agents that are inherently probabilistic? In this conversation, Thomas, Ed and Vincent share: Why Agentic AI is different from past tech trends and why this one feels real The cultural and leadership challenge of balancing excitement with governance How AXA and HDI are enabling safe experimentation at scale across complex organisations How Qover is building 20+ AI agents to automate claims micro-tasks — and when they build vs. buy What customers really think about AI agents  and why nearly none opt out The risks of shadow AI and why IT needs to move faster than ever Why “human in the loop” is flawed and how user trust in AI could become a blind spot What’s missing: industry standards, agent evaluation tools and new roles like “agent managers” The case for cautious iteration, deep collaboration and constant re-evaluation Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.

    30 min

  8. 12/21/2025

    How insurers can better evaluate cat models in a multi-vendor world (386)

    In this episode, Claire Souch is joined by Tom Philp, CEO of Maximum Information; James Lay, AVP of Product Management at Verisk; and Stephen Martin, Head of Catastrophe Modelling at Westfield Specialty, for a timely discussion on the future of catastrophe model evaluation, and why it's no longer enough to simply trust what’s in the black box. As new specialist model vendors emerge and market expectations evolve, the panel unpacks a growing demand for transparency, interoperability and smarter ways to adopt models that fit real-world portfolios. At the heart of the conversation is a shared belief: the industry doesn’t just need more models, it needs better ways to evaluate and use them. In this conversation, they explore: Why traditional model validation no longer meets the needs of modern risk teams The shift from 'black box' outputs to meaningful model evaluation that supports business decisions How tools from Maximum Information and Verisk’s Model Exchange reduce the burden on small or lean teams The role of Oasis as a framework for opening up access across multiple model vendors Why standardisation and open data formats are essential for meaningful interoperability The growing role of niche vendors in reshaping perceptions of model transparency How automation is changing the regulatory and investor reporting game Why this is more than a tech upgrade—it's a cultural reset in catastrophe modelling Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.

    24 min
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Bringing together the best technology and innovation for insurance and risk management together from around the world. Podcast hosted by Matthew Grant.

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