Vertafore released a list about the Top 25 Disruptors in the insurance industry. From the way you buy and sell insurance, to how you learn about new opportunities to grow your business, these are the investors, thought leaders, and executives driving innovation in the insurance industry today.
Matthew Wong, Senior Research Analyst – CB Insights
Matthew founded CB Insights, a New York-based research and analysis firm. He is one of the few analysts who have prioritized the burgeoning InsurTech industry and as a result, writes ‘Insurance Tech Insights‘, a weekly newsletter and blog that discusses developing trends and investments in insurance.
Florian Graillot, Investor – AXA Strategic Ventures
Florian and his company, AXA Strategic Ventures, are hyper focused on investing money in strategic startups driving innovation in the insurance industry. He is a frequent thought leader and contributor to top publications such as TechCrunch. Recently, he was named the industry’s most influential contributor by InsurTech News.
Sabine VanderLinden, Managing Director – Startupbootcamp
Sabine is an expert in InsurTech concepts, having judged a number of customer experience, digital, and insurance innovation awards. Her opinions are widely respected when she recognizes others for the work they do in evolving the industry forward.
Matteo Carbone, Principal – Bain & Company
Matteo is one of the founding fathers of InsurTech. His “Four Ps of InsurTech” has provided the framework for industry analysts to group startup companies seeking to disrupt the industry. Perhaps more importantly, this research also acts as a roadmap for insurers looking to revolutionize their technology partnerships in a disruptive era.
Denise Garth, Senior Vice President – Majesco
Denise is driving change in an industry preparing for the future. She’s held multiple leadership roles as a CIO and business executive at leading insurance companies, research and consulting firms, and trade associations such as ACORD. Her “5 Charts on Insurance Disruption” helped crystalize accelerating disruption in the industry and provided a framework for understanding it.
Dave Dias, Founder – Insurance Thought Leadership
Dave founded Insurance Thought Leadership, a platform that allows leaders in the insurance community to share their innovative ideas in the hopes of ultimately transforming the industry. Deemed the “chief evangelist” for ITL, Dave is a driver for change in the industry, by empowering insurance thought leaders to network and exchange ideas.
Ali Safavi, Director – Plug and Play Insurance Startup Accelerator
Ali leads the InsurTech practice at Plug and Play, a startup accelerator in Silicon Valley. His thought leadership has clearly articulated the role that “nimble” startups can play in disrupting a massive market quickly if large, entrenched companies don’t adapt soon.
Mike Connor, CEO – SVIA and Chair – InsurTech Expo
Mike‘s roles as CEO of SVIA and Chair of InsurTech Expo give him a front row seat to disruption in the $5 billion insurance industry. A former product manager during Apple’s early days, he’s helped drive innovation firsthand and understands the role end-users play in forcing change, sharing his experiences as a published author in the book “Creating Insanely Great Customers.”
Bill Sullivan, Head of Global Financial Services Market Intelligence – Capgemini
Bill heads the Global Financial Services Market Intelligence at Capgemini, a role that has earned him recognition as a thought leader in the industry and many awards in the InsurTech and FinTech industry. A trusted advisor, Bill has shared his expertise globally and has consulted companies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Ellen Carney, Principal Analyst at Forrester
Ellen is a principal analyst at Forrester, where she pushes “traditional” insurers to embrace technology to fight disruption in the industry. Her research on technology trends makes her a highly sought and qualified thought leader, often leading to speaking positions at insurance and Forrester events.
Deb Smallwood, Founder – Strategy Meets Action
Deb is the founder of Strategy Meets Action, which is dedicated to modernizing the insurance industry through collaborative research, events, consulting, and more. As an insurance industry expert, influencer, and strategic advisor, Deb continuously presents new ways technology can be utilized to move the insurance industry forward, and to boost its effectiveness and efficiency.
Minh Q. Tran, General Partner – AXA Strategic Ventures
Minh is a General Partner at AXA Strategic Ventures, where he employs his expertise to help InsurTech startups grow and reach their potential to ultimately help the industry as a whole thrive and continue to innovate. Credited with coining the term InsurTech, Minh is truly a thought leader and disruptor in the industry, and empowers startups to follow suit.
Elizabeth Lumley, Director of Global Ecosystem Development – Startupbootcamp FinTech & InsurTech
Elizabeth is the Director of Global Ecosystem Development at Startupbootcamp FinTech and InsurTech, where she seeks to disrupt the insurance industry and challenge the way traditional agencies function. Elizabeth provides advice, mentorship, and networking opportunities to InsurTech startups to help them reach their full potential and benefit the industry as a whole.
Andrey Kunov, Ph.D, CEO – Silicon Valley Innovation Center
Dr. Andrey serves as CEO of Silicon Valley Innovation Center & is a Co-Founder/Board Member of Silicon Valley Insurance Accelerator, both of which enable companies to innovate and disrupt the traditional insurance industry. At 2015’s NewCo Silicon Valley event, Dr. Andrey presented a session entitled, “The Gateway to Disruptive Innovations,” highlighting the future potential of the industry and the value of disruptive technologies.
Michael Ian Coles, Managing Director – Coles Advisory Partners
Michael is the Managing Director of Coles Advisory Partners in New York, which aims to inspire a new generation of ideas, including the incorporation of technology, into the global insurance industry. During this year’s NYC InsurTech Leaders in Risk Future event, Michael spoke about growth and innovation in the industry.
Luke Cohler, Co-Founder – Jetty Insurance
Luke co-founded Jetty Insurance, a technology-enabled, Property & Casualty insurance start-up geared towards serving urban millennials. Luke presented his thought leadership at this year’s NYC InsurTech Leaders in Risk Future event.
Steve Gunderson, Managing Director – Accenture Strategy, Insurance
Steve exemplifies InsurTech thought leadership as Managing Director of Accenture Strategy, Insurance, as well as co-author of “Taking the “I” out of Insurance Distribution”, which provides a look at how multi-industry partnerships are redefining the insurance distribution ecosystem. By helping clients develop innovative strategies, he is a key participant in the growth and transformation of the traditional insurance industry.
Hugh Terry, Founder – The Digital Insurer
Hugh is the founder of The Digital Insurer, which serves as a forum for over 10,000 insurance professionals to share ideas regarding the digital insurance industry in Singapore. Hugh is also the Director of Insight Consulting, where he helps insurance companies (in Asia) implement innovative digital insurance strategies.
Sam Friedman, Insurance Research Leader – Deloitte Center for Financial Services
Sam provides thought leadership and leads the primary research on insurance at Deloitte. He shares his research and recommendations to help companies understand the state of the market, including Deloitte’s research report on disruption earlier this year “Insurers on the Brink: Disrupt or be Disrupted“. He also blogs twice monthly for PropertyCasualty360.com.
Bill Pieroni, CEO – ACORD
Bill is the CEO of ACORD, a nonprofit association providing the global insurance industry with data standards and solutions that facilitate accurate, effective, and efficient data exchange. Bill applies more than 25 years of experience at Fortune 500 companies, including McKinsey, Accenture, and IBM, to inform his decisions at ACORD and propel the industry forward.
Curtis Barton, Co-founder and President – Venture Pacific Insurance Services
Curtis’s role as Co-Founder and President at Venture Pacific Insurance Services in California allows him to strengthen the power of technology to deliver real time insurance solutions to clients. His accomplishments as a thought leader in the insurance industry earned him a spot on Insurance Business America’s 2016 Hot 100 list.
Michael Albert, Founder – AskKodiak
Michael founded AskKodiak, a platform designed to help carriers communicate with agents and brokers. He also represents the industry as a thought leader on social media by regularly participating in conversations about InsurTech and has held speaking engagements at events such as Insurance Disrupted 2016.
Shai Wininger, President and Co-founder – Lemonade
Shai co-founded Lemonade, the first peer-to-peer insurance company powered by innovations in technology. Shai seeks to disrupt the status quo through incorporating technology in every step of the insurance process.
Kitty Ambers, CEO – NetVU
Kitty is CEO of NetVU (Network of Vertafore Users) with more than 30 years of diverse experience in the insurance industry. She’s worked as an agent, a manager, an independent consultant and educator, and the Executive Director for the AIMS Society, just to name a few. She works to empower NetVU members through networking, community building, and advocacy within the industry and with Vertafore.
Sebastien Meunier, Senior Manager at Chappuis Halder & Co.
Sebastien earned a spot in the Top 20 list of InsurTech’s 50 most influential thought leaders by frequently sharing his passion for innovation in the insurance industry. Recognized as an InsurTech expert, Sebastien often contributes relevant and forward thinking articles that add value to the insurance industry community.
