InsurTech Geek Podcast

Ep. 180: The Future of Cyber Insurance and Parametric Risk

Cyber risk is evolving faster than the policies written to cover it. Rick Wong, Head of Insurance at Parametrix Insurance, sits down with James Benham live at RIMS 2026 to talk about the future of parametric cyber — and why the standard tech E&O form wasn't designed for the exposures that actually matter today.   Parametrix is a Lloyd's coverholder writing parametric cyber, SLA, and enterprise risk. Named Cyber Underwriting Team of the Year at the Intelligent Insurer Awards, Q1 2026 already at 60% of full-year 2025 volume.   In this episode: → Why standard cyber policies fail data centers → How parametric products are being used as financial tools — not just risk transfer → AI-powered criminal organizations, nation-state actors, and what's coming in cyber threats → Building a differentiated MGA in a space with growing capacity and real opportunity   Guest: Rick Wong - Head of Insurance at Parametrix Insurance Website: https://www.parametrixinsurance.com/ [https://www.parametrixinsurance.com/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-b-wong/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-b-wong/]   Host: James Benham - Founder & CEO at JBKnowledge   Sponsor: Terra - Cloud-native Workers' Comp and P&C platform | terra.insure

Access, Operations, and Scale: Rethinking the Insurance Market with PoloWorks

Paul Andrews and Mark Elliott of PoloWorks join us to discuss how insurers can access, operate, and scale across the Lloyd’s and broader insurance market. Drawing on decades of experience across underwriting, reinsurance, and operations, they share how PoloWorks is simplifying complexity through turnkey managing agency solutions, outsourced services, and support across the full insurance lifecycle.

Innovation at Scale: How Generali Is Shaping the Future of Insurance

Danilo Raponi, Group Head of Innovation at Generali, joins us to discuss how one of the world’s largest insurers structures and scales innovation. From venture investments and startup partnerships to AI, IoT, and climate-focused solutions, Danilo shares how Generali is evolving insurance from a reactive claims payer to a proactive partner in risk prevention.

Leading Digital & AI Transformation in Global Insurance

Dr. Thomas Kuhnt, Chief Information Officer and Chief Operating Officer at HDI Global SE, joins hosts James Benham and Rob Galbraith to explore leading digital and AI transformation in corporate and specialty insurance — recorded live at Insurtech Insights London on March 18, 2026. Dr. Kuhnt's path is unlike most in insurance. A PhD in algebraic number theory from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 15 years at McKinsey building the European insurance practice, and now a dual CIO/COO seat overseeing technology, operations, and transformation at one of the world's oldest and largest industrial insurers. He brings a systems thinker's lens to one of the most complex transformation challenges in the industry. In this episode: • Why organizations must stop waiting for perfect conditions and start experimenting with AI now • How agentic AI is transforming input management and underwriting workflows at HDI Global • Why business leads — not IT — should own AI transformation in global insurance organizations • The process trap: how applying AI to broken workflows just accelerates the breaking • What the next 5–10 years really looks like for underwriters and claims professionals at the desk level Key Quotes: "Don't wait. Start to experiment and iterate. This is not going to go away." "Business becomes IT — and IT becomes business." "We're overestimating the short-term impact — but underestimating it in the long term." "Seventy to eighty percent of an underwriter's work is just rekeying data. That's not really underwriting." "The first question should always be why — and that's an ops question, not a tech question." 🔗 Connect: Dr. Thomas Kuhnt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kuhnt/ HDI Global SE: https://www.hdi.global/ | https://www.linkedin.com/company/hdi-global/ 👤 Hosts: James Benham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbenham Rob Galbraith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-galbraith/ 🎙️ This episode is sponsored by Terra — the next-generation Workers' Comp and Commercial P&C Software. Visit 👉 https://terra.insure / https://www.linkedin.com/company/terrainsure/ 📌 Find InsurTech Geek: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insuretechgeek/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/InsurtechGeek Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insurtechgeek/ Subscribe, rate, and comment. As always — Enjoy the Ride & Geek Out! 🤓

Reimagining Risk in the Age of AI | Amir Kabir | InsurTech Geek Ep. 176

Amir Kabir, Founding & Managing Partner at Overlook Ventures, joins hosts James Benham and Rob Galbraith to reimagine risk in the age of AI — what the last decade of insurtech got wrong, where the next wave of opportunity actually lives, and why "liability is getting weird" is an understatement. Amir spent the first chapter of his career in Germany, building enterprise software at a Karlsruhe startup that was eventually acquired by a Silicon Valley company. In 2013 he immigrated to the US for an MBA at Georgetown, became the third person on the founding team at Munich Re Ventures, and helped grow that fund from $50M to over $1B. He later served as General Partner at AV8 Ventures leading the financial services practice before launching Overlook Ventures to invest full-time at the intersection of risk and frontier technology. In this episode: • Why the early insurtech era mistook insurance for a scalable SaaS business • "Insurance is a get-rich-slowly business" — and what that means for exit math • The Overlook thesis: investing in the infrastructure of risk across every tech cycle • Where AI is real in insurance today (claims, underwriting data extraction) — and where regulation still slows it down • The emerging risk categories that don't fit today's policy structures: autonomous systems, longevity, and reputational narrative risk Key Quotes: "Insurance is a get-rich-slowly business." "Technology moves in cycles. Risk always evolves through them." "Liability is getting weird." "Try to find a problem before you find a solution." "A brand can be destroyed in 48 hours by a viral moment." 🔗 Connect: Amir Kabir: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirkabir/ Overlook Ventures: https://www.overlook.vc | https://www.linkedin.com/company/overlookvc/ 👤 Hosts: James Benham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbenham Rob Galbraith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-galbraith/ 🎙️ This episode is sponsored by Terra — the next-generation Workers' Comp and Commercial P&C Software. Visit 👉 https://terra.insure / https://www.linkedin.com/company/terrainsure/ 📌 Find InsurTech Geek: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insuretechgeek/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/InsurtechGeek Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insurtechgeek/ Subscribe, rate, and comment. As always — Enjoy the Ride & Geek Out! 🤓