The Salty Adjuster

The Salty Adjuster by CoVerse Communications
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The Salty Adjuster is a pod about the humans and human stories behind claims: The adjusters deployed away from home eating gas station peanuts in a car at midnight. The homeowners staring at a pile of wet drywall wondering what happens next. The contractor who’s been injured on the job. Hosted anonymously by The Salty Adjuster, a longtime claims professional with deep experience in property and catastrophe losses, the show talks about the part of this industry that usually gets edited out of conference panels and LinkedIn posts: the human part. Email the show: TheSaltyAdjuster@gmail.com

  1. 2d ago

    "Start Today": Ennabl’s Kabir Syed and Whitney Carpenter on AI-Powered Everything, Data Ownership, and Taking the First D*mn Step

    “Indecision is not something that I think is worthwhile for the future. Take the damn first step.” The insurance industry has an AI obsession. But before we automate everything under the sun, shouldn't we figure out what the hell we're trying to solve. This week, Kabir Syed, founder and CEO of Ennabl and one of the godfathers of insurtech, joins The Salty Adjuster alongside returning guest Whitney Carpenter, fresh off being named a finalist for Insurance Influencer of the Year at the Global InsurTech Awards. And neither is particularly interested in sugarcoating the industry's technology problems. From garbage data and questionable AI investments to the uncomfortable question of who actually owns the information brokers have spent decades collecting, Kabir and Whitney challenge insurance professionals to stop chasing buzzwords and start asking better questions. We get into why understanding insurance matters just as much as understanding technology, what brokers should demand from their vendors, and why waiting for the perfect AI strategy might be the worst strategy of all. Along the way, Kabir makes surprising progress in convincing Salty to reconsider his longstanding hostility toward his refrigerator's Wi-Fi capabilities. We're not saying Salty is ready for a smart home. But diplomatic relations have improved. And Whitney leaves listeners with perhaps the most important question of the episode: Which dinosaur would make the best account manager at an insurance brokerage? We expect answers. Defend your choice. It's a conversation about innovation, ownership, trust, and the courage to get started, featuring two people who know the insurance industry well enough to challenge it. Because the future isn't waiting for insurance to make up its mind. Take the damn first step. 🎙️ Featuring Kabir Syed and Whitney Carpenter of Ennabl, with Salty and Producer Brett.

    "Start Today": Ennabl’s Kabir Syed and Whitney Carpenter on AI-Powered Everything, Data Ownership, and Taking the First D*mn Step

  2. 4d ago

    TRAILER: "AI-Powered Everything, Useful Nothing": Ennabl's Kabir Syed and Whitney Carpenter

    "AI-Powered. Slapping those two words on a product does not magically make it fully useful.” AI is everywhere in insurance. But is it actually solving anything? Fresh off being named a Global InsurTech Awards Insurance Influencer of the Year finalist, Whitney Carpenter returns to The Salty Adjuster, and this time she's joined by Ennabl CEO and founder, Kabir Syed, one of the originators of the Insurtech movement dating back to when he founded RiskMatch in 2012. Kabir has spent years helping shape the insurance technology landscape, and he's got some thoughts about an industry suddenly convinced that artificial intelligence is the answer to everything. Together both in their day jobs at Ennabl and on our next episode (dropping 11/1), Kabir and Whitney challenge the AI gold rush, the disconnect between technology developers and the people actually working in insurance, and the industry's habit of chasing shiny new tools before figuring out what problems need solving. Because as Kabir puts it, maybe we're asking the wrong question. We should be asking: What if the future of AI in insurance starts with understanding the problem instead of buying another solution?

  3. 6d ago

    "Silent All These Years": Amy Diehl on Women's Safety at Work, Getting Older, and Being Done Staying Quiet

    “By the time women get to their 40s and 50s … they’re tired of silencing themselves, or being extra polite, or whatever, you know? And so, someone else may interpret that as being unhinged, when they’re just … speaking their mind to the same extent that a man is speaking his mind, right?” — Dr. Amy Diehl Too young to know what she’s doing. Might have a baby. Might be going through menopause. Women’s experience grows, and the excuses for questioning their credibility keep changing. In part two of our conversation with technology executive, gender equity researcher, and Glass Walls co-author Dr. Amy Diehl, we explore how age bias follows women throughout their careers, and what happens when an experienced woman stops softening everything she says. Amy explains how women in their 40s and 50s can be labeled “unhinged” or outspoken for expressing opinions with the same confidence routinely accepted from men. Producer Brett shares her own experiences and pushes back on the assumption that it somehow erases a woman’s competence, ambition, or hard-earned expertise. The conversation extends to women’s physical safety, how employers respond when an adjuster feels unsafe, and the everyday actions that make someone a better colleague and ally. Salty and Producer Brett also share some statements from women recently impacted by inappropriate behavior at insurance trade shows in the hopes that we can shift to an industry that does better for female professionals. Experience should build credibility. Women deserve workplaces where theirs counts. Content note: This episode includes discussions of sexual assault, harassment, victim blaming, and personal experiences of trauma.

    "Silent All These Years": Amy Diehl on Women's Safety at Work, Getting Older, and Being Done Staying Quiet

  4. Oct 27 ·  Bonus

    Grains of Salty: Mark Habersack of ResortsWorld and RIMS | Live from In2Risk

    Habersack has spent decades in risk management, and he still expects to learn from the newest people in the room. Recorded live from In2Risk at Resorts World Las Vegas, this Grains of Salty minisode brings Salty together with the property’s Executive Director of Risk Management for a conversation about staying curious, listening across generations, and questioning the processes insurance keeps dragging into another renewal season. Mark shares how he approaches AI adoption with his team, including his response when the CFO asked how many positions the technology would eliminate. He also explains why brokers and underwriters need to spend time inside the businesses they insure, and why a digital application that still needs to be printed and signed deserves a little scrutiny. Plus: fabricated claims documents, an enthusiastic endorsement of New Zealand, and a dinosaur question that briefly catches our risk manager off guard. This episode is sponsored by our friends at Barga. Every claim is different. Barga puts in the work to find the opportunity through reuse, repair, parts, or material recovery. Learn more at Barga.ca.

    Grains of Salty: Mark Habersack of ResortsWorld and RIMS | Live from In2Risk

  5. Oct 25

    "This Woman's Work": Dr. Amy Diehl on Hostility and Women at Work

    “The goal of hostility … is to push women back, keep them in their assigned place in the gender hierarchy, underneath the men.” — Amy Diehl In the first of this two-part conversation, technology executive, gender equity researcher, and Glass Walls co-author Amy Diehl joins Salty and Producer Brett to name the barriers women encounter at work, including the ones they’ve been taught to blame themselves for. They dig into “Queen Bee” behavior: women in leadership who protect their position by shutting other women out. Amy explains how discrimination and the message that there’s only room for one woman at the top can fuel that behavior. Brett shares how it can derail a promising pipeline of women in insurance who hoped someone would help open a door. The conversation also tackles the constant demand to prove your expertise, the work women do that goes unrecognized, and the damage caused when leadership treats one woman at the table as enough. Salty shares that in 10 years of property claims, he’s worked with only two women providing ladder assists. That observation opens a discussion about women in physically demanding roles, the assumptions made about their capabilities, and the “concern” for their safety that can become another excuse to hold them back. Amy also explains why stepping away can become a rational choice for women, and what an industry loses when capable people decide they’ve had enough. In Part 2: physical safety, age bias, motherhood, and what meaningful support from colleagues and employers should look like. Please listen with care. If you'd like to share your own story, email TheSaltyAdjuster@gmail.com

    "This Woman's Work": Dr. Amy Diehl on Hostility and Women at Work

  6. Oct 24 ·  Bonus

    Grains of Salty: Insurance Has a Branding Problem with Brian Schmidt | Live from In2Risk

    “This industry has a place for people of any background.” Brian Schmidt was managing a beer garden, working late nights, and changing kegs when a college friend told him about a job involving motorcycles, collector cars, and considerably less beer on his clothes. That was his introduction to insurance. Live from the CPCU Society’s In2Risk in Las Vegas, Brian joins Salty and Producer Brett to talk about the careers people don’t know exist in this industry, and why we need to do a better job explaining them. He shares how experience in body shops, medical fields, and other professions can translate into meaningful insurance work. We also talk about making connections when you’re an introvert, what students can teach experienced professionals, and how previous guest Michael Koscielny Jr. helped Brian get involved in the CPCU community. Plus: the work before and after every meeting, a swear jar for “connection,” and a motorcycle enthusiast’s reminder that we work in risk management, not risk elimination. And finally, someone gives us a Spinosaurus. This episode is sponsored by our friends at Barga. Barga connects insurance partners with buyers through online auctions, helping find opportunities for equipment, commercial goods, building materials, and household items. Learn more at Barga.ca.

    Grains of Salty: Insurance Has a Branding Problem with Brian Schmidt | Live from In2Risk

  7. Oct 24 ·  Bonus

    Grains of Salty: "Who Takes Care of the Adjuster?" with Dr. Brad Gronke | Live from In2Risk

    “I was just a voice on the other end of the phone.” Dr. Brad Gronke still receives Christmas cards from a woman whose husband died in a workplace accident. As the adjuster on that claim, he helped make it possible for her to speak with her husband one last time. Live from the CPCU Society’s In2Risk in Las Vegas, Brad joins Salty and Producer Brett to talk about compassion, advocacy, and the recovery claims professionals need themselves. Salty shares his own experience with vicarious trauma: handling a claim involving a 13-year-old boy who died by suicide. Six or seven years later, he still thinks about it. He remembers, too, the manager who paused his incoming assignments and checked on him, giving him time to process what he’d encountered. Brad explains why that time matters and why leaders need to make room for it. We also discuss his hope that AI will give adjusters more time to listen and help. There are laughs along the way: a humbling CPCU exam, a shared dislike of “circle back,” and the dinosaur dad routine that earned this episode its title. This episode is sponsored by our friends at Barga. Barga connects insurance partners with buyers through online auctions, helping find opportunities for equipment, commercial goods, building materials, and household items. Learn more at Barga.ca.

    Grains of Salty: "Who Takes Care of the Adjuster?" with Dr. Brad Gronke | Live from In2Risk

  8. Oct 23 ·  Bonus

    Grains of Salty: “Insurance Found Me” with The Legendary Michael Koscielny Jr. | Live from In2Risk

    “You have to learn to trust people.” Early in Michael Koscielny Jr.’s underwriting career, a manager helped him think through a decision, then trusted him to make it. He’s carried that lesson ever since. In our fourth of ten episodes recorded Live from the CPCU Society’s In2Risk in Las Vegas, the former CPCU Society president, educator, author, and founder of Born2Lead joins Salty and Producer Brett to share what 44 years in insurance have taught him, and what his students are teaching him now. Michael credits Precious Norman-Walton’s “Your network is your net worth” advice as a reminder to use his connections to help others. He also shares how previous guest and friend of the show Chris Stanley helped inspire his minibook approach to writing. We talk about mentors who become students, students who ask good questions, and why Michael now teaches the CPCU accounting class he once needed a tutor to pass. Plus: whether someone can be Born2Lead and still run a terrible meeting, another questionable CPCU acronym, and a dinosaur choice we respect. This episode is sponsored by our friends at Barga. Barga connects insurance partners with buyers through online auctions, helping find opportunities for equipment, commercial goods, building materials, and household items. Learn more at Barga.ca.

    Grains of Salty: “Insurance Found Me” with The Legendary Michael Koscielny Jr. | Live from In2Risk
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The Salty Adjuster is a pod about the humans and human stories behind claims: The adjusters deployed away from home eating gas station peanuts in a car at midnight. The homeowners staring at a pile of wet drywall wondering what happens next. The contractor who’s been injured on the job. Hosted anonymously by The Salty Adjuster, a longtime claims professional with deep experience in property and catastrophe losses, the show talks about the part of this industry that usually gets edited out of conference panels and LinkedIn posts: the human part. Email the show: TheSaltyAdjuster@gmail.com

Information

  • Creator
    The Salty Adjuster by CoVerse Communications
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    80
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © The Salty Adjuster by CoVerse Communications
  • Show Website
    The Salty Adjuster

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