Explore every episode of the podcast Profiles in Risk

Tony chats with Ann Kelley, Autorpreneur, Speaker and Creative, author of Roof Rules: How Hidden Power Dynamics Shape Personal Development. We chat about career development, how the rules have changed, how to grow talent, and so much more. A career conversation you should not miss!

Ann Kelly: https://wwww.linkedin.com/in/ann-kelley-greville-124bb038a/?skipRedirect=true

Roof Rules: https://amzn.to/4svldSP

Note: Insurance Nerds gets an affiliate fee from Amazon if you buy the book using the link above.

Video Version: https://youtu.be/tsNL2pkh8B4

Tony chats with Bridgette Ferraro, CEO at iCopy. They make record retrieval for regulated industries like insurance easier, more efficient, and simply much better by combining cutting edge AI with a human in the loop. This conversation was a lot more fun and interesting than it had any right to be. A cannot miss episode!

Bridgette Ferraro: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bridgette-ferraro-94a7773b/
iCopy: https://www.icopylegal.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/wAp-MxV1sOw

Tony chats with Kyle Moore, Founder at SettleSmart, they have created the first tool for consumers to use to negotiate a fair settlement after a small car accident WITHOUT needing to hire a lawyer. This could be HUGE in avoiding needless and expensive involvement by lawyers in claims they really aren't needed in.

Kyle Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-moore-b3505126/
SettleSmart: https://www.linkedin.com/company/settlesmartclaims/

Tony chats with Hamesh Chawla, Co-Founder & CEO at Mulberri. He is a returning guest from episode 397. Mulberri has evolved a lot and is now very focused on enabling MGAs. If you're in the MGA space you owe it to yourself to watch this space!

Hamesh Chawla: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamesh-chawla-9354042/
Mulberri: https://www.mulberri.io/
Prior Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIgC4cXQNVI

Video Version: https://youtu.be/mCSs9u8IkTQ

In this milestone episode Tony chats with Kit Chastain, CEO and Lauren Golanty, COO at Third to First. EPLU is broken, and we must fix it.

Kit Chastain: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kitchaskin/
Lauren Golanty: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-golanty/

Third-to-First: https://www.linkedin.com/company/third-to-first/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/AD8nREIfbQc

Tony chat with Nga Phan, Head of Product at Bolt, they are an insurance Distribution exchange connecting hundreds of carrier P&C products to end consumers and customers.

Nga Pha: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phannga/
Bolt: https://bolttech.io/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/sBQjw6PaKww

Tony chats with Brian Riemer, CEO at Riemer Insurance Group, about his path growing up in his dad's agency, actively choosing to go get an Ivy League education to get away from insurance, and deciding to come back and take over the family agency. We also talk about how he transformed the agency since taking over and how to run a modern agency. This is a great conversation no #insurance agent should miss!

Brian Riemer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-riemer-3b1b473a/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/arScj9A1AnE

Tony chats with Brianna Kimber, Director of Education at CLM Chicago and her career, claims careers in general, and especially why every claims adjuster should join CLM. A fun conversation you shouldn't miss!

Brianna Kimber: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianna-kimber/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/98dxHLqjTVQ

Tony chats with David Kindlon, Co-Founder & VP of Strategic Partnerships & Growth at Eppione, they are a global employee benefits platform which allows the employer, the employee and the insurance broker/benefits consultant to interact in one space. Benefits and compliance are different in every country. They built a global platform that can be used globally by a larger employee or locally by a local employer.

David Kindlon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkindlon/
Eppione: https://www.eppione.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/hjcxwS2bDn8

I chat with Vivek Krishnamurthy, Partner at Commerce Ventures. We chat about it's like to invest in insurtechs and some of his war stories. We also discuss the future of insurtech. An awesome conversation you shouldn't miss!

Vivek Krishnamurthy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkri/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/qsZKRsNjCVU

Tony chats with Kyle Nakatsuji, Founder & CEO at ClearCover & Dearborn Labs. Kyle started ClearCover a decade ago, and still runs it. Now he has also founded Dearborn a forward-deployed technology and AI firm focused exclusively on insurance. This new concierge practice is powered by the proprietary technology stack, data infrastructure and the leadership team that built Clearcover and its multiple licensed insurance carriers into a nationally recognized digital insurer. An absolutely fascinating conversation you simply can't miss!

Kyle Nakatsuji: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylenakatsuji/
Old Episode about ClearCover: https://youtu.be/2u1x2GAXVSY?si=Jr_70LbeIQMQOQe8
ClearCover: https://clearcover.com/
Dearborn Labs: https://dearbornlabs.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/aX48qP2Tio0

Tony chats with Jeffrey Glusman, Founder & CEO and David Ratner, Chief Investment Officer at Blockchain Deposit Insurance Corporation (BDIC). BDIC  is building the FDIC equivalent for crypto! No other player is working on offering deposit insurance for the 99% of people who are interested in crypto but can't afford the possibility of losing their money. A fascinating conversation!

Tony chats with Craig Caryl, Founder & CEO at InsureMep, they are a tech enabled MGA that created software that tracks electrical, mechanical and plumbing of large electrical facilities to track risk and prevent losses. This was a fantastic conversation you should not miss!

Craig Caryl: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-caryl/
InsureMEP: https://www.insuremep.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/Ljxf9KrJaNk

Tony chats with Grace McNamara, Chief Strategy Officer at Elfie, they are the health superapp that brings all your health apps into one place with one seamless experience and give you better insights. A fascinating episode!

Grace McNamara: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-mcnamara-irelandlondonnewyork/

Elfie: https://www.elfie.co/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/t5VyIRBKE5A

Tony chats with Chris Casaleggio, Regional Director NE at MC Consultans, Forensic Expert, and Claims Author. Chris has written six books about the claims trade! Today we chat about his latest book: "Claims Crossroads: Fresh Starts, Smart Pivors & New Paths for Adjusters". The entire series is fantastic, but this latest entry is so important. What happens when a claims adjusters decides they need to seek a different direction? Don't leave the industry, there are many ways to make the most of your claims background and Chris can help you find the way!

Chris Casaleggio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casaleggio/
Claims Crosswords: https://amzn.to/4l1sUhv

Tony chats with Kristina Fahl, Founder & CEO at Shuttlebee, 54% of K-12 students in the US don't have traditional school bus service. Kristina set out to solve this issue with a network of highly vetted micro-entrepreneurs and found that insurance was the main stumbling block her partners faced. This is the story of how she's solving that problem. A fascinating episode you cannot miss!

Kristina Fahl: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinagfahl/
ShuttleBee: https://getshuttlebee.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/jkbdAMbZOvo

Tony chats with Serge Salager, CEO at Visualping, a simple idea that's incredibly useful. Be notified when an important change happens online. Sounds simple, but the insurance underwriting implications are massive. Don't miss this one!

Serge Salager: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergesalager/
Visualping: https://visualping.io/

Tony chats with Kelly Donahue-Piro at Agency Performance Partners, they are the BFF every independent agency owner needs, regardless of the size of your agency. If you're not loving the way your agency is running, think you might need to update your processes or your systems, you owe it to yourself to chat with Kelly and her team. They can help in many ways from deep in-person consulting and training to affordable access to the most in-depth and comprehensive online school on how to run every aspect of a modern insurance agency.

Kelly Donahue-Piro: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellydonahuepiro/

Agency Performance Partners: https://www.agencyperformancepartners.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/2IuIyPYFk2A

Tony chats with David Stafford, Co-Founder and COO at Substance, they are a budding insurtech, currently in pre-seed funding round, that is building an An MGA that is powered by AI and robotics to completely change the risk evaluation and loss prevention process focused in warehouse and supply chain space. Their technology will have applicability to warehouses, manufacturing, and the fast growing space of data centers. They completely turn the model upside down with proprietary products starting in property. Instead of a loss control inspection they create a deep digital twin of the facility to 2 mm of precision using video, sensors and lidar. Once the policy is written they leave behind the robot to continuously scan the facility in case something changes, think of it like an industrial roomba, and his name is FELIX. An incredible conversation you wouldn't miss! #Insurance #insurtech 

David Stafford: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-stafford-b842048/
Substance: https://substance-corp.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/ICfUpKMSHQs

Tony chats with Nicolas Christiaen, Co-Founder andCEO at Donna, this is an update episode. Nicolas first appeared in PIR Ep. 693. Donna is an amazing AI assistant for sales teams and she just keeps getting better. Whether you're in sales or run a sales team you shouldn't miss this episode!

Nicolas Christiaen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaschristiaen/
Donna: https://www.askdonna.com

Tony chats with Stephen Stonberg, Co-Founder & CEO at Tabit Insurance, they are the world’s first (re)insurance company allowed to hold all of its regulatory capital in Bitcoin. This brings an entirely new source of capital into the global (re)insurance market, and provides complete transparency with regulatory capital visible on the blockchain. The Company is focused on innovating the balance sheet of (re)insurance, and all policies and premiums are denominated in Fiat currencies. A fascinating conversation that you shouldn't miss!

Stephen Stoberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-stonberg/
Tabit Insurance: https://www.tabitinsurance.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/Rz7amk83Ryg

Tony chats with Harry Vardigans, Head of Insurance at Fathom, they are a modern cat modeling company focused on hazard mapping and catastrophe modeling on a global basis. Traditional models reflect risk from 20 years ago. Fathom provides the 2026 view of risk. A fascinating conversation you shouldn't miss!

Harry Vardigans: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-vardigans-a42b1612b/
Fathom: https://www.fathom.global/

Tony chats with Austin Carroll, Founder & CEO at Warrant, they are the AI agent for marketing compliance and offers compliance-first social selling and marketing approval platform for regulated industries.

Austin Carroll: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austincarroll/
Warrant: https://www.hellowarrant.com/

Tony chats with Vishal Sankhla, Co-Founder and CEO at Outmarket AI, they are an insurance operating system that helps brokers grow revenue, cut coasts, and reduce risk. They aim to help brokers do their admin work 2-3x faster and it's all built with the core design principle of letting you work the way you work without having to change your processes. A great conversation you shouldn't miss!

Vishal Sankhla: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishalsankhla/
Outmarket AI: https://outmarket.ai/

Tony chats with Curt Hess, US Executive President at Vitesse US, they are a global treasury and payments solutions provider connecting the claims ecosystem with their unified financial infrastructure platform. Claims payments can get incredibly complex, with multiple parties, multiple approvers, and lots of friction and operational and capital inefficiencies. Vitesse solves a lot of those inefficiencies and gives you visibility into how every dollar moves through your claims.

Curt Hess: https://www.linkedin.com/in/curt-hess-81425251/
Vitesse US: https://www.vitesse.io/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/59zPQewpr4Y

Tony chats with Will Demitro, President at Recon Risk. Will had a successful Underwriter and then Carrier Sales Manager career, before deciding to bet on himself and open an independent agency. We chat about his career and why he left the carrier world to start an agency.

Will Demitro: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamd31/details/experience/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/Mt86dxvDDts

Tony chats with Ted Vandenberg about his 35 year insurance career integrating insurance and what we now call Analytics.

Ted Vandenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardvandenberg/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/cRQzkTlcVjk

Tony chats with Amrish Singh, Co-Founder and CEO at Liberate, they create customer facing AI workers for insurance agencies and carriers. They AI can answer phone calls, emails, SMS, and a lot of the other activities that don't require a license. A fascinating conversation you don't want to miss!

Amrish Singh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amrishsingh/
Liberate: https://www.liberateinc.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/3FG9PTlI15Y

Tony chats with Alex Rodov, Founder at Emtech Group, a widely recognized pioneer in software QA testing. We talk about why software QA testing is now a huge deal in the era of developers using AI to create code, and how Emtech can help.

Alex Rodov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrodov/
Emtech: https://emtechgroup.com/

For insurance agents and brokers, being a trusted advisor is the holy grail of professionalism. When your clients rely on you for advice, you are creating value for them beyond the insurance policy.

Becoming a trusted advisor means that you are bringing wisdom and advice, and that it is thoughtful, precise, and predominantly accurate. Over time, your credibility goes up, and credibility is a major pillar of trust.

In this Profiles in Risk episode, Nick spoke with Marketing Expert Paula Warden and Zywave's Director of Content Cloud Jamie Nelson about how agents and brokers can become subject matter experts and thought leaders using content strategies. They specifically looked into using Zywave's Content Cloud library with examples from both Jaime and Paula on how agencies and brokerages have successfully used these strategies to drive inbound traffic, leading to new business opportunities.

Slapping ChatGPT into your agency for content development is not the solution to becoming a thought leader using content...it will likely produce a lot of erroneous information, that could be counterproductive. Content Cloud uses thought leaders to generate the content for you to then share with your marketplace. A useful feature to have for agencies looking to driving inbound traffic and wishing to remain lean and mean.

Zywave Content Cloud Website:https://www.zywave.com/content-cloud/

Paula Warden - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-warden-44904912/
Jaime Nelson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamienelsonwi/

Tony chats with Evgeny Alexandrov, Founder and CEO at Pilotbird, a lifestyle analytics company that analyzes social data points focused on helping evaluate claims for the US market. A fascinating episode you shouldn't miss!

Evegny Alexandrov: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evgeny-aleksandrov/
Pilotbird: https://www.pilotbird.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/pit2BOSFzG8

Tony chats with Diane Delaney, Executive Director at PRMA, the Private Risk Management Association, the non-profit association built to bring together the high net worth insurance community. This is a fast growing and fascinating area of insurance and the PRMA serves it in many ways from education, to conferences, to advocacy, and more. A great episode!

Diane Delaney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-m-delaney/
PRMA: https://www.privateriskmanagement.org/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/GX8if6sKABw

This episode of Profiles in Risk is sponsored by Zywave:

Whether an insurer, agent, or service provider, the insurance industry is changing fast. Traditional growth strategies are no loner working. Unlock new levels of efficiency, resilience, and profitability with Zywave. Explore Zywave at: https://www.zywave.com/

Tony chats with Yandy Plasencia, CEO & Founder at DataHaven. This is an update episode, Yandy was on the show in Ep. 675. DataHaven is a core infrastructure company solving the foundational data problem. Their core focus is on making sure there are no data silo and data is available where it is needed to make the best decisions. This episode is about how the company has grown over this last year and the biggest learnings along the way.

Yandy Pasencia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yandyplasencia/
DataHaven: https://www.datahaven.software/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/CLBfiVv2TGs

This episode of Profiles in Risk is sponsored by Zywave:

Whether an insurer, agent, or service provider, the insurance industry is changing fast. Traditional growth strategies are no loner working. Unlock new levels of efficiency, resilience, and profitability with Zywave. Explore Zywave at: https://www.zywave.com/

Tony chats with Asaf Lifshitz, Co-Founder & CEO and Upasana Unni, COO at Sayata, an AI enabled markeplace for small commercial insurance that started in Cyber and then expanded. They recently got acquired and learned a LOT through that process, which is what the big focus of this conversation is about.

Asaf Lifshitz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asaflifshitz/
Upasana Unni: https://www.linkedin.com/in/upasana-unni/
Sayata: https://sayata.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/K0CKO8O0BE4

Prior Sayata Episodes: https://youtu.be/J_kJVAnd3Hk?si=S3VUTKJuZ_yThP5e and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYYb0YM3mCQ

This episode of Profiles in Risk is sponsored by Zywave:

Whether an insurer, agent, or service provider, the insurance industry is changing fast. Traditional growth strategies are no loner working. Unlock new levels of efficiency, resilience, and profitability with Zywave. Explore Zywave at: https://www.zywave.com/

Tony chats with John Stammen, CEO at Convr, they are an underwriting workbench for Commercial P&C insurers, brokers, and MGAs of all sizes.

John Stammen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnstammen/
Convr: https://convr.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/yOR3hbvBRNY

This episode of Profiles in Risk is sponsored by Zywave.

Whether an insurer, agent, or service provider, the insurance industry is changing fast. Traditional growth strategies are no loner working. Unlock new levels of efficiency, resilience, and profitability with Zywave. Explore Zywave at: https://www.zywave.com/

Tony chats with Debbie Brackeen, EVP Chief Innovation Officer & Corp. Development Officer at CSAA about their approach to innovation, how a 100 year old insurance company can truly innovate, and more. A very interesting conversation you shouldn't miss!

Debbie Brackeen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-brackeen/
CSAA: https://csaa-insurance.aaa.com

Video Version: https://youtu.be/jTN4uFfzJiY

Tony chats with Rose Hancock, VP of Product Management at Zywave, a leading software provider helping insurance agents, brokers, carriers, and service providers, really provide that service multiplier. From product creation, to distribution, to client services, they can help in every step of the insurance distribution process.

Rose Hancock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rose-hancock/
Zywave: https://www.zywave.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/D5sgFv9OiFA

Tony chats with Zac Townsend, CEO at Meanwhile, the first and only life insurance company denominated in Bitcoin. Built in Bermuda with its entire balance sheet denominated in Bitcoin, and with a worldwide monopoly on Bitcoin life insurance, this is one fascinating conversation you should not miss!

Zachary Townsend: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zactownsend/
Meanwhile: https://meanwhile.bm/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/uVBr-D8-Mvc

Tony chats with Charles Johnson, Head of Product Growth at Insuraviews, they provide strategic insights through advanced analytics of insurance rate filings. They take all the rate fillings through a robust ingestion process and layer on analytics and AI to give you powerful insights. This is a game changer, especially for smaller carriers that don't have a large competitive intelligence team.

Charles Johnson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-johnson-actuary/
Insuraviews: https://www.insuraviews.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/e4-5n8TPEOc

Tony chats with Andrew Kelly about PLUS, the Professional Liability Underwriting Society. Tony is obsessed with insurance education but has spent his entire career on the P&C side. This is a great introduction to the world of continuing education on the Professional Liability side and why you should dive in! We talk RPLU, CPLP, Exec PLP, and more.

Andrew Kelly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjkelly/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/hAPRbLjFDKA

Tony chats with award winning innovator Meg Duty, SVP at Puritan Life and Canvas Annuity. Puritan Life is a life carrier started in the 1950s which they have now turned into an all-cloud shop. They built Canvas Annuity, the first all digital annuity platform. An incredible story of true innovation, opening up a product to a whole new market, and all without alienating your existing distribution channels. Lots to learn from this one. A cannot miss episode!

Video Version: https://youtu.be/tjh5xgSPbPs

Tony chats with Chak Kolli, PhD, CTO at Magile Software. Insurance companies are struggling to understand the risks of AI and Magile Software is here to help them understand and manage that risk better. A fascinating conversation you cannot miss!

Chak Kolli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chak-kolli/
Magile Software: https://www.linkedin.com/company/magile-software/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/XT0q6dkFT6Q

Tony chats with Tim Lovett, Head of Enterprise Division at Blitz, they are a new fully digital API-enabled commercial lines E&S carrier that can service the entire distribution ecosystem from direct, to retailers, to wholesalers.

Tim Lovett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timlovett/
Blitz: https://www.blitzinsurance.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/5ttJvASdaJ0

Tony chats with Mel Faxon, Co-Founder & COO at Hey Mirza, they are basically Turbotax for government benefits. Her Mirza is focused on helping lower income people connect with the variety of programs they might qualify for, from their home, in their native language.

Mel Faxon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-faxon/
Hey Mirza: https://heymirza.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/dg3rZFa-cW4

Tony chats with Rich Benci, CEO at Omega Benefits, they help HR teams communicate benefit information to their employees, a task more complicated than I ever expected.

Rich Benci: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbenci/
Omega Benefits: https://omegabenefits.net/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/iFskLfY1Z0g

Tony chats with Nakita Devlin, CEO & Founder at Ric, the first parametric catastrophe product focused on the employee benefit market! Their parametric managing general agent will host micro parametric products with the first one being a parametric flood product for rain across the US. The plan is for this to be the first of many climate parametric products offered as an employee benefit. A very interesting concept and a conversation you shouldn't miss!

Nakita Devlin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nakita-devlin-38155916/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/tYxf7MTEhfo

Tony chats with Paul Prendergast, Co-Founder and CEO at Kayna, they make it easy for vertical SAAS company to do embedded insurance.

Paul Prendergast: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulincork/
Kayna: https://www.kayna.io/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/_OYgTHmXE7I

Tony chats with Gregg Golson about his career in claims, his involvement in CPCU, advice for the next generation, and his consulting endeavors.

Gregg Golson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregggolsoncpcu/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/ieaJ7VAAbQ8

Tony chats with Jake Tamarkin - Co-Founder & President at Everyday Life Insurance, they are building the premiere life insurance platform for everyday people. They are an independent life insurance agency that caters to people that want to do business online. They use machine learning and other tools to help people find the best fitting Life product for them.

Jake Tamarkin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-tamarkin/
Everyday Life: https://everydaylifeinsurance.com/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/pazFw5gARAU

Tony chats with Liam Harris, Co-Founder and CEO at ThreadWise, they are a commercial co-pilot for commercial insurance communications starting with email. They believe that while commercial brokering is complex, the tools shouldn't be. Their goal is to clean the data before it gets dirty and allow brokers to do the work they're licensed to do. Their biggest focus to start with is the submission workflow.

Liam Harris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-harreys/
ThreadWise: https://threadwise.ai/

Video Version: https://youtu.be/1AhcQxGlfsw