InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant & Robin Merttens

What will the specialty insurance market look like a decade from now? Will we still be talking about legacy systems and manual processes, or will the model itself have changed?

In this panel discussion from InsTech’s Outpace. Outprice. Outperform event, Robin Merttens leads a conversation with four senior experts on the future of the market and the forces that could reshape it.

Featuring:

• Paul Carr...

In this milestone edition of Partners Chat, Robin and Matthew sit down for their first episode since InsTech's transition to new ownership. With nearly 11 years of leadership behind them, they reflect candidly on founding and growing the business, navigating a sales process and what lies ahead under Datos Insights.

Listeners will get rare insights into what it actually takes to sell a company: what they learned, what caught them of...

If you want a masterclass in how to build a business, sell it well and stay hungry for the next idea, listen to Bob Frady.

In this episode, Matthew Grant catches up with Bob, CEO and Co-founder of PropertyLens and former CEO and founder of Hazard Hub, to hear what he’s learned across three startups, why he’s building again post-exit and how he’s turning deep domain expertise into tools that actually help people.

From fire hydrants ...

Insurers have had fair warning: the hard market is softening, and those still relying on legacy tech may soon feel the chill. So what does it take to stay competitive as conditions turn?

In this episode, Robin Merttens is joined once again by Dani Katz, Co-founder and Director of Optalitix, for a sharp analysis of what’s changed since their last conversation and why now really is the time to fix the roof.

Dani brings a clear messag...

At its best, parametric insurance delivers clarity when volatility strikes. But scaling that promise takes more than models: it takes real claims data, market feedback and the ability to solve for both reinsurers’ confidence and cedents’ earnings risk.

In this episode, Matthew Grant speaks with Matt Coleman, Chief Risk Officer at The Demex Group, a reinsurance MGA using a new modelled loss index to reshape how the market covers sev...

What does it take to rebuild after disaster as a business leader, a homeowner and a policyholder?

Garret Gray has spent his career trying to improve how insurers and property owners respond to damage. As President of Insurance Solutions at Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) and founder of Next Gear Solutions, he’s been at the centre of building tools for claims, risk assessment and recovery.

But this year, the conversation became person...

Why has claims innovation taken off in personal lines, but still lags behind in specialty?

It’s a question that many in the market have asked and in this episode, a panel of senior experts set out to answer it.

Hosted by Andrew Pedler, Vice President at Reserv, this special discussion brings together three experienced voices from across the claims and consulting landscape: Chris Payne (Partner, EY), Andy Stevenson (Consultant Direc...

What does it take to build an MGA that not only launches but lasts?

Tim Quayle has spent the past decade answering that question, not in theory, but in practice. As CEO of OneAdvent, a London-based MGA incubator and service platform, he’s helped launch and scale more than 15 underwriting businesses and seen plenty more that didn’t make it.

In this episode, Matthew Grant speaks to Tim about the real ingredients of MGA success. Not t...

Enhanced underwriting has become one of the most talked-about shifts in the London Market, but it’s also one of the least clearly defined.

In this episode, we share a live panel discussion from our Enhanced Underwriting event, featuring:

• Colum D’Auria, Canopius
• Rob Jarvis, Tokio Marine Kiln
• Tessa Wardle, QBE

The conversation begins wit...

At its core, insurance underwriting is about judgment: making sense of messy information, pricing for uncertainty and doing it at speed. Technology and AI should make that easier, but is it really the answer to underwriting’s most persistent challenges?

In this episode, Robin Merttens speaks to Guillaume Bonnissent, CEO and founder of Quotech, a platform built specifically for underwriting teams.

Guillaume brings a rare combination...

At its best, insurance is about clarity in uncertain times. Pricing that reflects reality. Promises that hold up when things go wrong. 

In this episode, I speak with Todd Rissel, CEO and co-founder of e2Value, an independent company that has spent the last 25 years helping insurers and homeowners understand the real cost of rebuilding property, and the wider economic forces shaping those numbers.

Todd brings both practical insight ...

Underwriting is undergoing a fundamental shift. As technology matures and data becomes more accessible, insurers and brokers are rethinking how they deploy capital, manage risk and respond to client needs in real time.

In this special episode of the InsTech podcast, recorded live at our event “The growth of Enhanced Underwriting — the opportunity and the role of technology in realising it”, Robin Merttens is joined by Clyde Bernste...

With generative AI, engineering excellence and legacy system resilience all under one remit, what does it take to lead digital transformation at one of the world’s largest reinsurers?

In this episode, Robin Merttens is joined by Pravina Ladva, Group Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Swiss Re, to explore what it means to drive impact through innovation at scale.

Pravina shares how Swiss Re is helping clients get more from thei...

What happens when one of the world’s largest brokers and a digital-first underwriting platform team up to rethink risk trading?

In this episode, Robin Merttens is joined by Sasa Brcerevic, Head of Portfolio and Delegated Strategy at Aon, and Ed Howkins, Chief Growth Officer at Artificial Labs. Together, they explore the evolving dynamics of wholesale broking, why now is the moment to digitise trading relationships and how insurers ...

How can insurers make accurate loss estimates before adjusters are on the ground, and why does it matter?

In this episode, Matthew Grant speaks with Will Bonner, Chief Operating Officer at McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS), about how the company uses satellite data, open-source intelligence and human expertise to deliver early insights on catastrophic events. From wildfires in California to civil unrest in the Pacific, the conve...

What if underwriters could instantly triage submissions and reduce time spent on repetitive admin, without changing how they work?

Matthew Grant speaks with Matt McGrillis, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Send, to explore how the company’s underwriting workbench is embedding AI into core workflows to help underwriters write more business, more profitably.

Now on its third feature with InsTech, Send has evolved from an early...

Attracting and retaining talent in the London Market is an evolving concern, with the PwC CEO Survey revealing that 93% of respondents either recognise the need to change or are already adapting their strategies to address it. Let’s discuss how!

In this special podcast episode done in partnership with PwC, we invited Anna Craston, Senior Manager, to host a panel discussion to explore the critical trends shaping talent management in...

The ultimate insurtech podcast crossover.

In this episode, Matthew Grant is joined by Rob Beller and Lee Boyd, co-hosts of the FNO: InsureTech Podcast, for a cross-continental conversation on what they’ve learned after more than 300 episodes spotlighting insurance innovation. Rob and Lee share insights from their day jobs at Alacrity Solutions and discuss the realities of claims management in the US, the cultural differences they n...

Where tariffs bring chaos, ChAI brings cover.

In this episode, Robin Merttens speaks with Tristan Fletcher, co-founder and CEO of ChAI, about how his team is using financial market techniques and AI to build insurance products that protect manufacturers from volatile input costs. What began in the world of hedge funds and speculative trading is now helping companies like recyclers and food manufacturers hedge against unpredictable ...