The Insurance Podcast

AI and its impact is looked at with curiosity, desire, concern, and a bit of fear, but with insurance its presence is often seen with affecting distribution and customer experience. However, is enough focus happening on use within the underwriting chair? Jeff Sutton, Senior VP Sales and Marketing for Markel shares what he sees and how Markel is finding advantages with underwriting and for their partners.

In this episode:

• How AI is helping with sales and experience by starting with risk submissions
• Why empowering the experience of relationships should be an end goal
• What AI tools are being used across underwriting
• When and how AI will affect the distribution experience
• Declared Interests- some fun stories about Jeff
• What kinds of AI are being used and where to find them

Jeff reveals how using AI to modernize and innovate underwriting processes is leading to better relationships and how other insurance entities can move forward and do the same.

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Marketing for insurance is a challenge when it's easy but when the space becomes more competitive and crowded, what can be done to stand out? Steve Pieroway, founder of Benevolent Marketing talks, content, creative, messaging and more.

In this episode:

• How understanding lived experience matters for marketing
• Why content needs to be aligned with strategy
• What kind of journey is going to resonate with clients
• Steve's confession during Declared Interests
• The importance of understanding martech vs insuretech

Steve's entertaining insights drive this episode and shed light on an area where so many across the insurance industry are trying to carve space, develop their brand, and deliver a value proposition that can resonate with partners and customers.

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Never before has reinsurance been talking about so much by so many across insurance. At ReConnect 2025 we talked with the people who are finding new ways to raise, manage, measure, regulate, and distribute capital into the insurance industry.

In this episode:

• How regulatory authorities are working to help make reinsurance secure and accessible
• How actuaries are measuring and allocating capacity to the market
• Why companies are promoting reinsurers and accelerating their growth
• When legal and accounting services are your partner to growth and compliance
• Success stories of newly started reinsurers and how they help the market.

Reinsurance is accessible and in the Cayman Islands the industry is poised for growth and taking on more risk to back stop a rapidly changing insurance market.

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Graham Haigh has seen a thing or two during his insurance career, now looking at a deserved retirement he sounds off about some of the problems he sees in the P&C sector.

In this episode:

• What he sees as the biggest challenge in the industry
• Scaling up with mergers and acquisitions
• Should insurers continue to be a part aggregating distribution
• Where new success is being found and who is having it
• Why product innovation is hard to do (really?)
• Why Graham agrees Charles Brindamour owes the hosts a favour

As Graham looks to take a well deserved break before he figures out what to do with his free time we share a great candid chat about the industry, friendships and why it really is an amazing ecosytem to work and live within.

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Legacy insurance technology is costly and debatably efficient but there is more and more talk about the hidden fees that come with accessing your data. Sherif Gemayel, founder of Trufla Technology shares some thoughts on what he calls "Tech Tariffs". In this episode:

• What the true cost of operation is for many brokers and agents
• Why you are paying a fee for a non-revenue generating action
• How technology and SaaS services are priced and the extra charges
• Why core systems need to deliver core value for insurance agents and brokers
• Learn how to avoid paying a tech tariff

Sherif knows a thing or two about how insurance distribution works as he's built a company to support the channel, but that does not mean he sits back and let's others get away with unjust and unfair charges.

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Data is still the principal currency for insurance businesses but as more try to leverage the value of their data for modernization and AI adoption, what issues do they face? Mike Allee, President of Universal Conversion Technologies, shares what organizations need to consider for their future.

In this episode:

• Why understanding your data before embarking on modernization is key to success
• The importance of knowing what data you can use and how
• How AI adoption requires data preparedness
• What processes and considerations insurance entities need to consider when managing data
• NEW guest feature- Declared Interests!

Mike pulls back the veil of how understanding data and preparing for AI or other system modernization will help with success and allow companies to scale better and faster.

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Insurance brokers and agents are always looking for efficiencies and QuickFacts might be the one insuretech startup that delivers right away. The founders, Jeff and Christy Barsalou share their story and lessons as a startup, how to grow and how stepping away from the broker world was key to being better for their target market.

In this episode:

• How a startup mentality works and lessons learned
• Why scaling matters but not at all costs
• When to look for help and how to find the right partners for your project
• What the insurance workplace will be in the future as technology drives change
• Plus a few personal stories and a lot of laughs about how change creates the unexpected.

Jeff and Christy are two of the funnest people you can meet and if you have not had the pleasure this will be the introduction you need to learn about one of the best insuretechs on the market.

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Selling insurance easily is a challenge that is slowly being solved but not easily. Angela Sethi, CEO and co-founder of Mangopolicy, believes the solution is not that far off:

In this episode:

• How existing technology can power insurance sales without headaches
• Why brokers and agents need to look at insurance sales differently for future success
• The importance of brokers working to develop products and no rely solely on insurers
• How new thinking from outside insurance can learn and adapt for success
• Why building a tech stack should include sales tech
• How Ibiza Spain can be a motivator for meditation and planning- year really.

Angela is the kind of personality the insurance industry needs and she has a vision and the experience to pull off a juicy plan with Mangopolicy.

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CAT event and losses are never a good story but the insurance industry is coming together to look at the future and how to address the problems CAT losses cause.

In this episode:

• Why parametric insurance solutions align with CAT events
• How building codes need to consider variations in climate across regions
• The technology and people driving efficiency for claims settlement and adjusting
• How insurance is addressing humanitarian needs when CAT losses happen

With CAT events and costs on the rise there is no better time to prepare for the next one and CAT IQ Connect delivers insight, expertise and ideas to help insurance cope with worst case scenarios.

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