Backed by Space, Built for Insurance: James Rendell, Founder of BirdsEyeView

Backed by Space, Built for Insurance: James Rendell, Founder of BirdsEyeView

In the latest episode of the Leadership in Insurance Podcast, host Dan Briselden sits down with James Rendell, CEO and founder of BirdsEyeView — a UK-based insurance technology company backed by the European Space Agency — for a conversation that spans the journey from Lloyds broker to InsurTech entrepreneur. James brings a rare blend of market knowledge and technological curiosity to the world of natural catastrophe modelling. His path didn't start with a lightbulb moment: it started with a genuine obsession with emerging technology, a willingness to show up alone to InsurTech events, and a growing conviction that satellite data could meaningfully improve how the insurance market models and manages catastrophe risk. In this episode, James and Dan explore: 🔹 How BirdsEyeView secured backing from the European Space Agency and why that rigorous, year-long process turned out to be the best thing the business ever did 🔹 Why building customer-first — really understanding the day-to-day problems underwriters face — has been the key driver of early traction across Lloyds, Australia and the US 🔹 The challenge of selling into a market that's historically slow to adopt new technology, and how to shorten the sales cycle by starting niche and expanding from there 🔹 Why secondary perils like wildfire and severe convective storm represent the biggest product opportunity and where BirdsEyeView is investing to stay ahead of the incumbents 🔹 How AI has already transformed output at BirdsEyeView — and why James believes the science-heavy, domain-specific nature of catastrophe modelling keeps them well ahead of any AI-generated challengers James also shares his vision for where BirdsEyeView is heading: to become the go-to tool for at-desk hazard modelling and exposure management — bridging the long-standing gap between the lightweight tools underwriters use daily and the sophisticated outputs of the traditional vendor models. If you work in underwriting, exposure management, or catastrophe risk — or if you're building a business in the Lloyds or cover holder market — this episode is full of honest, hard-won insight from a founder who's done it the right way. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

CompScience's Josh Butler: Better Data, Better Safety, Better Underwriting

What happens when you bring self-driving car technology to workplace safety and what does it mean for the future of insurance? In the latest episode of The Leadership in Insurance Podcast, host Alex Bond sits down with Josh Butler, Founder & CEO of CompScience, to explore how AI and computer vision are fundamentally reshaping workers' compensation underwriting and loss control. Josh shares how CompScience was born from a personal moment — a family member's construction site accident — and how the same technology that powers autonomous vehicles is now helping carriers finally understand workplace risk at a level that was never before possible. The results speak for themselves. Customers are seeing injury rates drop by 20-30% — not by replacing loss control professionals, but by giving them the data and authority to act as true consultants rather than just salespeople. On what's driving CompScience's success, Butler is clear: "Leaders need to get hands-on with AI to understand the challenges and opportunities. You can't just watch from the sidelines." Josh and Alex also dig into the wider market landscape: how advances in LLMs and agentic AI have transformed who can build software, why problem-solvers are now more valuable than coders, and the regulatory risks that keep him up at night. A fascinating conversation for anyone at the intersection of AI, safety, and insurance. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Data First, AI Second: Stan Smith, Founder & CEO of Gradient AI

In the latest episode of the Leadership in Insurance Podcast, host Dan Briselden sits down with Stan Smith, CEO and founder of Gradient AI — one of the fastest-growing AI platforms in the insurance industry — for a wide-ranging conversation on data, decisioning, and what it actually takes to build something that sticks in this market. Stan is a six-time startup veteran who came to insurance not from the industry itself, but from a deep belief that machine learning could solve problems most insurers didn't yet know how to articulate. His route in — through Milliman's franchise model and a patient, trust-first approach to data partnerships — is one of the most instructive origin stories in InsurTech. In this episode, Stan and Dan explore: 🔹 How Stan leveraged Milliman's brand to unlock carrier data at a time when no one was handing it over — and why that decision became the foundation of Gradient's competitive moat 🔹 The real ROI numbers: from single-digit millions on smaller books to 10x returns confirmed by clients' own internal data science teams and why Stan measures success by value delivered, not just revenue earned 🔹 How Gradient navigated the journey from MGA-focused startup to large carrier partner, and why the warmest first carrier deals came through MGAs using their paper 🔹 Where AI is genuinely replacing human effort in insurance and where Stan believes human judgement will always be the differentiator, from complex claims to nuanced underwriting calls 🔹 The governance and bias challenge in AI-powered underwriting, and why Stan thinks regulators will increasingly focus on what data models are fed, not just how they work Stan also shares his vision for where Gradient is heading next — from individual healthcare lines like Medicare Advantage and MedSupp through to disability and life — and why he believes there has never been a better time to be building AI in insurance. If you work in underwriting, claims, or insurance technology — or if you're trying to understand what AI adoption actually looks like at scale across the carrier and MGA market — this episode is packed with hard-won insight from someone who has been building in this space for over a decade. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

From Fintech to Insurtech: Nolana’s Ty Zamkow on his Journey into the Lloyd's Market

Ty didn't set out to disrupt insurance. He built his career at Google and Amazon, launched a fintech company and then found himself staring at one of the most fragmented, manual-heavy industries in the world. He saw an opportunity. So he built Nolana. In the latest episode of the Leadership in Insurance Podcast, host Alex Bond sits down with Ty, Co-Founder & CEO of Nolana, for an honest and wide-ranging conversation about what it really takes to bring AI into insurance operations. Ty shares how Nolana's AI-powered platform is tackling the complexity of claims processing — across voice, email, and chatbots — with a product built in three layers: an operating system for AI agents, a suite of pre-built agents, and a customisable agent builder for insurers who want to go further. They also get into: ✅ Why the Lloyd's market is ripe for AI and uniquely challenging ✅ How voice AI is changing the way FNOL is captured and understood ✅ The team's experience inside the Lloyd's Lab accelerator programme ✅ Their bold vision: same-day claims payouts, self-serve processes, and better loss ratios through smarter automation With a small but mighty team of six and a growing list of mentors from AXA, Hartford, and Lloyd's itself, Nolana is one to watch. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Tanner Hackett, CEO at Counterpart: Why Awareness of AI Isn't Enough

This week, host Alex Bond sits down with Tanner Hackett, CEO of Counterpart, a management liability and professional liability MGA that has written 35,000 policies for small businesses and raised $106 million to take on the inefficiencies baked into traditional insurance. Tanner's background isn't in insurance — it's in technology. He built and sold companies in e-commerce and marketing tech before turning his attention to this industry. That outsider perspective shapes everything about how Counterpart operates. In this episode, they cover: → Why the insurance industry now has collective awareness of AI's importance — but awareness and action are very different things → How being built AI-first from inception gives Counterpart a different starting point to legacy carriers → The case for flatter organisational structures and why giving people more information and autonomy leads to better outcomes than traditional hierarchy → What's driving rising claims severity and frequency and how business pressures on small companies are feeding through into losses → Counterpart's expansion into financial institutions coverage, and the product-launch infrastructure they've built to move faster Tanner also reflects on the unique challenge facing small businesses as AI becomes unavoidable and why he believes insurers should be doing more than just providing coverage. Well worth your time, wherever you sit in the industry. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.