InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant & Robin Merttens

Introduction In this episode, Matthew Grant speaks with Rachel Delhaise, Chief Sustainability Officer at Convex, about what climate sustainability really looks like inside a modern insurance business. While attention may have shifted elsewhere, the underlying challenges have not gone away. Rachel offers a clear view of how insurers are continuing to respond through underwriting decisions, risk modelling and long-term investment thinking. Rachel joined Convex in the early stages of the business to build its sustainability approach from the ground up. Her role spans three core areas: identifying opportunities in the transition, strengthening how climate risk is understood and managed and supporting cutting-edge carbon science research. Together, these reflect a broader shift in how insurers are positioning themselves as active participants in enabling change. The conversation explores how insurance is supporting emerging technologies such as carbon capture and storage, where underwriting plays a critical role in making projects viable. Rachel also shares how the industry is approaching increasingly complex risks, from wildfire to flood, in a world where historical data is no longer a reliable guide. Drawing on her experience across underwriting, investment and industry collaboration, she explains why the fundamentals of risk still matter, even as new tools and models emerge. She also highlights the growing influence of insurance thinking across the wider financial system, as banks and investors begin to grapple with physical climate risk in more sophisticated ways. At the heart of the discussion is a simple but important idea: insurance has a unique ability to enable progress, but only if it is brought into the conversation early and used intelligently. In this conversation, Rachel shares: Why sustainability remains a core strategic priority, even as public attention fluctuates How insurers are supporting the transition through underwriting and investment, not just policy statements What it takes to insure emerging areas like carbon capture and storage Why pricing, rather than capacity, is often the real constraint in renewable energy insurance How insurers are adapting to climate risk with limited historical data Why understanding exposure and vulnerability is still fundamental to modelling future risk What the protection gap reveals about global resilience and economic stability How insurance expertise is shaping how banks and investors assess climate risk Why involving insurers earlier can significantly improve the success of large projects Rachel’s recommendations Podcast: Fossil vs Future Book: The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson 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.

In this episode, Robin Merttens speaks with Sasha Haco, CEO and Co-founder of Unitary, about how AI is being applied in practical, high-impact ways across insurance operations. Sasha’s route into the industry is far from typical. With a background in astrophysics and no prior experience in insurance, she set out to build something tangible using AI, focusing on real-world problems rather than theoretical ones. What began as a mission to make the internet safer has evolved into a fast-growing platform that automates some of the most manual and time-consuming processes in insurance. From bordereaux handling to claims and policy administration, the focus is on removing repetitive work without requiring insurers to overhaul their existing systems. Drawing on her experience building Unitary from the ground up, Sasha shares a clear and practical perspective on where AI is delivering value today, how insurers can get started quickly and what it takes to stand out in an increasingly competitive market. At the heart of the discussion is a simple idea: meaningful progress often starts with tackling the most overlooked and operationally painful tasks. In this conversation, Sasha shares: Why coming from outside insurance can unlock new ways of solving entrenched problems How virtual agents can replicate human workflows across legacy systems without integration Where insurers are seeing the fastest returns from automation today Why speed to ROI is becoming a defining factor in AI adoption How trust and customer outcomes are emerging as key competitive advantages What it takes to build and scale in a crowded AI landscape Why the biggest barrier to automation is often mindset, not technology 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.

In this episode, Matthew Grant and Robin Merttens hit the 400-episode mark and ask a slightly uncomfortable question: after all these conversations, are we still human or just very convincing AI? What follows is a sharp, unscripted reflection on how the industry has evolved from early insurtech scepticism to today’s surge of enthusiasm around generative AI. But beneath the milestone moment is a more interesting story, how insurance has shifted from resisting technology to almost over-embracing it, and what happens next when the tools are no longer the problem. Drawing on years at the centre of the market’s innovation community, Matthew and Robin explore the move from experimentation to execution, why “grown-up AI” is now the real challenge and where genuine commercial value is starting to emerge. In this conversation, Matthew and Robin share: Why the industry has gone from fighting technology to actively chasing it What “grown-up AI” really means and why governance and orchestration now matter more than new tools How underwriters and brokers are finally seeing immediate value from AI in their day-to-day work The risk of being overwhelmed by point solutions and what happens without a coherent strategy The two very different playbooks for building AI businesses and which one is gaining traction Why revenue is arriving faster for startups and how that is reshaping investment dynamics What is fuelling the current boom in MGAs and why now feels like a defining moment The contrasting rise of younger founders and experienced operators launching their own ventures Why much of the market is still writing familiar risks and what that says about true innovation Whether insurers are losing their appetite for harder, more unusual risks How community, curiosity and shared learning continue to underpin real progress in insurance And why, despite everything, face-to-face conversations still matter more than ever If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant or Robin Merttens on LinkedIn.

In this episode, Robin Merttens is joined by Martha Dreiling, Co-founder and President of Reserv, to explore how AI is actually transforming claims, and why the biggest breakthroughs are happening in places most people overlook. With a background spanning FinTech, InsurTech and risk analytics, Martha brings a practical perspective on how data and technology can improve decision-making, not just automate existing processes. At Reserv, she’s helping build a claims model that combines operational efficiency with quality, while challenging long-standing assumptions about how claims should be handled and paid for. In this conversation, Martha shares: Why the most valuable AI in claims is “boring but brilliant”, not flashy How continuous monitoring is quietly improving claims outcomes at scale Why efficiency alone is no longer enough, and what it takes to deliver quality alongside it How claims data is becoming a critical input into underwriting and pricing decisions The challenge of legacy systems and why data fragmentation still holds the industry back What real AI adoption looks like, and why execution is starting to outpace strategy How AI is exposing misaligned incentives in traditional time-and-expense TPA models Why insurers need to rethink how they pay for claims services in an AI-driven world The shift from technology transformation to human and workflow transformation How reducing administrative burden can refocus claims handlers on empathy and judgement Why better claims operations ultimately matter for affordability and customer outcomes 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.

In this episode, Matthew Grant is joined by Richard Louden, Partner (Indirect Tax Financial Services) at KPMG, and Candy Staples, Director (Innovation Reliefs and Incentives), to explore a topic that many insurance and InsurTech businesses underestimate until it becomes expensive: tax. While tax is often viewed as a back-office concern for finance teams, it can have a significant strategic impact on how insurance businesses operate, scale and ultimately exit. From the complexities of VAT and Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) to the opportunities created by R&D tax incentives and the Patent Box regime, the conversation highlights both the risks of getting tax wrong and the upside of approaching it proactively. Richard brings more than two decades of experience advising insurers and intermediaries on indirect tax. He explains why VAT behaves differently in insurance compared with most industries, and why misunderstandings around exemptions, commissions and international services regularly create costly problems for growing businesses. Candy focuses on the more positive side of the equation: how innovation incentives can help companies recover the cost of developing new technology. For InsurTech firms investing heavily in product development, these incentives can represent a meaningful source of funding and cash flow if captured correctly. At the heart of the discussion is a simple message: tax is not just about compliance. Managed properly, it can influence profitability, operational efficiency and investment decisions across the insurance value chain. In this conversation, Richard and Candy share: Why VAT behaves differently in insurance and why exempt supplies can quietly increase operating costs The common misconception that commission structures automatically determine VAT treatment How the reverse charge mechanism on overseas services often creates unexpected liabilities Why start-ups have a strategic advantage when designing tax processes from day one How R&D tax credits can return meaningful cash to companies investing in innovation Why capturing technical challenges and development work early is critical for successful claims How the Patent Box regime can reduce corporation tax on profits linked to patented technology Why tax incentives should be considered alongside broader decisions about where companies locate teams, IP and development hubs KPMG are also hosting post-ITI drinks in London with Insurtech UK to navigate the headwinds of today's economic and regulatory challenges facing insurers and insurtechs alike over cocktails, food and conversation. Click here to register your interest: https://insurtechuk.org/events/0319-one-last-stop-from-headwinds-to-happy-hour/ Additionally KPMG Actuarial have released a white paper on Smarter Pricing, Smarter Insurance. How integrated data, AI and governance transform underwriting and growth. Download to read here: https://m.marketing.kpmg.uk/webApp/Smarter_pricing_Smarter_insurance_whitepaper 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.

In this episode, Robin Merttens moderates a panel with Tessa Wardle of QBE, Emily Stanford of Gallagher and Jonathan Spry of Envelop Risk, recorded live at the InsTech London event Some lead, others follow: Smart underwriting and broking strategies for 2026. As algorithmic underwriting and portfolio solutions reshape the London Market, insurers, brokers and reinsurers are rethinking how risk is placed, followed and managed at scale. Facilities are multiplying, digital trading models are emerging and data is becoming the foundation of increasingly automated underwriting decisions. Drawing on perspectives from underwriting, broking and reinsurance, the panel explores what portfolio underwriting really looks like in practice today. They discuss how facilities are evolving, why broker strategies are changing and what it takes to run sustainable portfolio capacity in a market that is becoming more digital and more data-driven. At the centre of the discussion is a growing tension between ambition and infrastructure. The market wants faster placement, smarter capital allocation and more algorithmic decision-making, yet many firms are still wrestling with fragmented data, legacy systems and inconsistent standards. In this conversation, Tessa, Emily and Jonathan share: Why portfolio solutions have become one of the fastest-growing models in the London Market How brokers are evolving their placement strategies as facilities and pre-placed capacity expand Why selecting the right portfolio leader is critical for long-term facility performance How improving data quality is becoming a prerequisite for digital trading and algorithmic underwriting Why incentives across brokers, carriers and reinsurers matter when it comes to better data How AI is reshaping risk, creating new liability exposures and changing how insurers analyse emerging threats Why capital providers are increasingly demanding greater transparency and portfolio insight 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.

In this episode, Matthew Grant sits down with Nicola Turner and Alex Ley, co-founders of Scrub AI, to explore one of the most pressing strategic questions facing insurers today: Build vs Buy in the age of generative AI. Five years into building an AI-driven data cleansing platform for carriers and brokers, Nicola and Alex have seen the market shift from scepticism to urgency. Boardrooms are now asking how AI is being embedded into underwriting workflows, and whether those capabilities should be developed internally or sourced from specialists. Drawing on their experience building deterministic AI models for exposure data and catastrophe modelling, they offer a grounded perspective on what works, what breaks and where the real risks sit. At the heart of the discussion is a simple truth: getting to 80% is easy. Getting the final 20% right is where strategy, domain expertise and long-term thinking matter most. In this conversation, Nicola and Alex share: Why Build vs Buy has intensified as generative AI moves from experimentation to executive priority How investor pressure and board-level scrutiny are shaping AI strategy inside large carriers Why generative AI can accelerate development but does not remove the complexity of insurance data The danger of plausible but wrong outputs in exposure management and catastrophe modelling Why deterministic AI still plays a critical role in delivering consistent, renewal-ready data How inconsistent data cleaning can distort underwriting decisions and renewal pricing The hidden cost of technical debt when insurers attempt to build internally Why maintaining and iterating ai tools is often harder than building the first version 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.

In this episode, Robin Merttens sits down with Frank Perkins, CEO and Co-founder of inari, to explore what it really takes to build and scale a modern MGA in 2026. From founding an insurance business himself to leading a technology company serving specialist MGAs across Europe, Frank brings a rare dual perspective. He understands both the pressure of getting premium through the door and the responsibility of building systems that underwriters actually want to use. As private equity capital accelerates into the sector and niche, digital-first MGAs proliferate across continental Europe, the conversation turns to speed, integration and the quiet evolution of the underwriting workbench. In this conversation, Frank shares: Why technology literacy is now firmly in the hands of business users, not just IT departments How the rise of highly specialised MGAs is reshaping what underwriting platforms need to deliver Why “rip and replace” transformation programmes are giving way to orchestration and coexistence How AI is materially accelerating integrations and onboarding, cutting rollout times from months to days The difference between generic AI tooling and insurance-specific intelligence Why speed of execution is becoming a defining competitive advantage What a tightening market cycle will mean for operational efficiency Why continental Europe may offer the next major growth wave for MGAs How culture and domain expertise can matter as much as code in a crowded market 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.

In this episode, we bring you a live panel from InsTech’s May event at CodeNode, exploring how automation is reshaping claims in the Lloyd’s and London market — and why the belief that specialty is too complex to automate no longer stands. Moderated by Matthew Grant, CEO of InsTech, the panel features Simon White, Chief Claims Officer at Apollo, Aidan O’Neill, Founder and CEO of DOCOsoft, and Zoe Woods, Claims Improvement Manager at Lloyd’s. Specialty claims have long been viewed as too bespoke, too nuanced and too reliant on human judgement for automation to play a meaningful role. But as underwriting becomes algorithmic and distribution turns digital, claims can no longer lag behind. This conversation moves beyond theory to evidence. Automation is already embedded in live workflows across the market. The firms adopting early are seeing measurable operational gains. In this conversation, they share: Why the myth that specialty claims cannot be automated is finally breaking down How Apollo processed more than 23,000 claims through automated checks, cutting handling times to under a working day What happens when you ask claims handlers to map every task they repeat on each file Why automation should augment decision-making rather than create black boxes How structured data and integrated dashboards unlock meaningful AI use cases What Lloyd’s is doing to balance innovation with oversight in a syndicated market Why modular, plug-and-play services are replacing large-scale transformation programmes What specialty can learn from automation in motor and property lines Why starting small with repeatable processes creates fast, tangible wins How claims is shifting from cost centre to strategic differentiator 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.