Many thanks to all our judges for their time and expertise.
Veekash is a partner within Milliman's global Property and Casualty (P&C) practice, with a rich career that spans several decades. He has been at the forefront of driving growth and facilitating turnarounds for major financial organisations, specialising in developing and executing strategic initiatives for companies adapting to the challenges of innovation and change.
As a recognised insurance industry expert, Veekash's deep understanding of P&C classes has made him a trusted advisor and a valuable executive team member. His experience includes notable roles within the Lloyd's Market and Swiss Re, where he made significant contributions.
Recently, Veekash has been focusing on due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, preparing Lloyd’s and US Statements of Actuarial Opinion, acting as expert witness, and leading changes in risk and actuarial functions. His strategic vision combined with risk and actuarial expertise has established him as a respected speaker and thought leader in the global P&C field.
After a brief dabble in clinical psychology, Jenny started her technology career as a consultant with Accenture. She was involved in system implementations across a diverse range of organisations such as the Department of Work & Pensions, Centrica and the RNLI. She joined QBE in 2010 with no experience of the Insurance industry.
Prior to her current role in Data & Analytics, she has managed solution architecture, release management and IT Operations. She is passionate about using technology to empower people, enable processes and deliver business value.
Mark Broadhurst is managing director of DXC’s Insurance Software and BPS business in Europe. He is responsible for all aspects of DXC’s Insurance business across UK & Europe including financial performance, sales, marketing, customer experience, delivery and partners.
Mark is passionate about delivering excellence, and empowering teams to ensure that DXC delivers on its commitments to our customers across the Insurance sector, helping them transform how they deliver the experience that today’s buyers expect, using DXC’s insurance software and services to deliver business growth.
Mark joined DXC in November 2021, with a proven track record of success in Insurance with leadership roles in both customer and vendor organisations. Prior to joining DXC he was the Group Director for Insurance at Eurobase International and, in a career spanning more than 30 years, he has also held leadership roles in companies that include Aviva, Intellect Design Arena and Equifax.
Matt is a serial entrepreneur who founded Sønr to help insurance companies better source and connect with best-in-class investment, acquisition and partnership opportunities.
His company Sønr combines a SaaS market intelligence platform, which tracks 3M+ companies globally, with a team of researchers and analysts. It also hosts a suite of innovation management tools designed for teams to better collaborate and track scouting, PoCs and investment activity.
Matt’s team now works with 50 insurers around the world including Lloyds, Chaucer, WTW, Travelers, Munich Re, Generali and Tokio Marine.
He is a frequent public speaker, enjoys learning from fellow innovators, and is at his happiest when he has a snowboard strapped to his feet.
With an insurance career spanning over 30 years, Adrian Coupland has become a key-player in the industry. His journey has seen him work in various capacities, from insurance broking businesses to leadership roles at software companies.
Today, Adrian is at the helm of Earnix's EMEA business, a global leader in AI-driven analytics, pricing, rating, and underwriting solutions. Adrian's understanding of the insurance landscape and his commitment to innovation have positioned him as a key adviser in the adoption of data analytics and AI technologies. Through his leadership, he has empowered insurers and brokers alike to enhance their operational efficiencies and navigate today’s complex market dynamics with confidence.
Rosie is a dynamic force in the Lloyd’s market, bringing over a decade of experience as a broker specializing in risk management. Since joining Lloyd’s in August 2020, Rosie has been at the forefront of driving strategic initiatives to advance innovation and accelerate transformation within the industry.
As a visionary leader of the Lloyd's Lab, Rosie has propelled it to international acclaim, positioning it as a pioneering Insurtech Accelerator. Under her guidance, the program is poised to launch its thirteenth cohort, a testament to her unwavering commitment to fostering innovation.
With a comprehensive role that spans from engaging with prospective InsurTechs and insurers to meticulously planning and executing the ten-week program, Rosie is dedicated to pushing boundaries and fostering collaboration within the Lloyd’s market. Her visionary leadership has facilitated the launch of numerous ground-breaking insurance products, underscoring her ability to catalyse change and drive innovation forward.
An esteemed international conference speaker, Rosie's insights and expertise are sought after on a global scale, further solidifying her reputation as a trailblazer in the Lloyd’s market. With her passion for accelerating innovation, Rosie is reshaping the landscape of insurance, propelling the Lloyd’s market into a new era of dynamic growth and opportunity.
Ed Gaze leads Innovative Risk Labs (IRL), a broker and incubator for Insurtech startups. He spent four years at Lloyd's Lab, where he spearheaded the integration of insurtech into the Lloyd's of London market and fostered a culture of innovation.
Ed also recently launched JustParent, the UK's first parental leave insurance policy for businesses, in partnership with Apollo's innovation consortium at Lloyd's.
Ed's career has spanned engineering, finance, and management consulting, including time spent advising royalty and high-net-worth individuals at KPMG and consulting for major corporations.
Ed is also a Trustee and Treasurer of Stepney City Farm, a charity that is a world away from insurance, but a stone’s throw from the City.
Emma is a Specialist Claims Consultant at Ecclesiastical Insurance UK and an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute. She has over 25 years insurance experience specialising in claims, the last 15 years managing Major and Complex Property Damage and Business Interruption claims across Commercial, Residential, High Net Worth and specialist Heritage risks.
In her current role, Emma has responsibility for providing coaching and technical training across the property claims department and has responsibility for the fraud detection and investigation performance of the Property Claims department.
Sarah brings over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry to her new role as the UK Director of Sales – Specialist Investigation Services at Charles Taylor.
In her previous role as Commercial Director, she excelled in forging strategic partnerships, developing and executing commercial plans, and optimising business operations for maximum profitability. Sarah has a profound understanding of the insurance sector and the fraud landscape, making her an expert in fraud investigation and prevention. Her leadership skills and problem-solving abilities have been key in driving commercial growth. Additionally, Sarah is a passionate advocate for fraud prevention, having written extensively on the subject, and she is an active member of the Insurance Times Fraud Charter.
Mark is a veteran within the insurance sector. Originally a Lloyd's Syndicate claims specialist, he began what has become a long entrepreneurial journey in the late 1990s. He pioneered outsourced claims management services, Having successfully scaled the company, he exited and since times has used his skills to help other businesses reach their ambitions and grow. He is an insurtech co-founder and now focuses his time on working with innovators, most notably extensively mentoring at the Lloyd's Lab. In 2017 he was admitted as a Freeman at the Company of Entrepreneurs, one of the City of London's younger Livery Companies. He is currently serving as its Master. With a passion for social inclusion he supports many underserved entrepreneurs and is Chair of the Trust Board at education charity, City Gateway.
Ola has enjoyed working in the London Market Insurance Sector for over twelve years on UK Retail, Product Recall, Terrorism, Onshore Energy and Parametric. Ola's background in Human-Computer Interaction and Psychology has fueled his passion for working on new approaches to risk transfer and managing risk for clients. He's proud to be named Insurance Times Technology Champion of the Year.
He has just become the Business Development Director for the UK & Ireland for Descartes Underwriting, a specialist Parametric Insurance MGA and Insurer who covers Natural Catastrophe exposure Globally. As one of the Pioneers of Parametric Insurance, He has enjoyed building a distribution strategy for one of the first successful Parametric solutions in the London Market. He wants the market to keep improving, transforming how we cover risk and continue closing the protection gap. Winning the headline award at the Claims Excellence Awards this year for outstanding claims handling.
Simon joined Markel in November 2019 as marketing director, UK from his previous role as head of marketing at Travelers. He began his marketing career at Weber Shandwick/ McCann and has worked in-house and agency-side in the US, Asia-Pacific and Europe with a range of brands including Shell, Honda and Allianz. Simon is a member of the Worshipful Company of Marketors and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
At Markel, Simon leads the UK marketing function with responsibility for insight, proposition development, brand, internal comms, PR and digital. He is a member of UK Executive team and the Markel International Diversity & Inclusion network.
Simon is married with two children and enjoys football and motorsport.
Yannis is an insurtech, insurance and strategy consulting executive with more than 20 years of experience with a focus in digital primary insurance and an entrepreneurial mindset.
He is responsible for leading the growth of the Insurance business of Odevo across its UK businesses, customers and partner in support of their mission to become the leading force within property management and residential services powered by technology.
Kellie is Head of Intelligence and Insight at Crawford Legal Services. She is an experienced litigator with 27-year background of negligence claims including EL/PL and motor claims.
For the last 22 of those years Kellie has specialised in counter fraud and has expanded her knowledge base to include property claims and speciality risk. Kellie’s experience in fraud claims handling and litigation covers everything from cradle to grave including recoveries and contempt of court proceedings. When not foiling would be fraudsters, Kellie spends time with her family including 2 cats and a dog. In 2020, Kellie became an unwitting TikTok star thanks to one of her cats and her quick acting daughter! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSqLElRxWvM
Sam started off his career in 2006 servicing Travel Insurance policies. He quickly realised he had a knack for spotting dodgy looking claims and found himself helping the Counter Fraud Team. He hasn’t looked back since.
Over the years he has dipped into a variety of products and investigated a wide array of scams across Travel Insurance, Mortgage Protection and Pet. However, most of his career has been spent focused on the Motor arena. This is where he developed specialisms and interests in Organised Fraud, Motorcycle Fraud, Vehicle Damage Fraud and Personal Injury Fraud strategy.
Sam is honoured to be selected as a Judge and wishes all the finalists the very best of luck.
Fleur is an experienced Fraud and Financial Crime professional with over 20 years’ experience across the insurance and financial services industry, and has implemented industry first, innovative award-winning strategies.
Fleur has extensive experience in designing and implementing fraud and financial crime frameworks across multiple products and delivery channels. Prior to joining Covea, Fleur has managed financial crime digital transformation programmes across the financial services industry and previously led the way in the PCW sector with the fight against fraud by implementing award winning, industry first, point of quote fraud controls and behavioural insight to the insurance comparison market. Fleur strives hard to encourage collaboration across the industry and break down the silos that have historically existed.
As CEO of Applied Systems Europe, Tom is responsible for leading the company’s UK and Ireland strategy, operations and regional growth mission. He has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the B2B technology sector serving multiple industries, including the European Insurance industry. He served as COO of Node4 Ltd., a leading private equity backed technology services company comprising private and public cloud services, connectivity, and collaboration solutions, where he was responsible for driving customer growth and retention and for scaling operations. He has experience leading rapid organisational growth and transformation.
Ruth is Product and Strategy Director at Concirrus, a leading provider of insurance intelligence and technology.
Ruth is responsible for spearheading Concirrus' product vision and innovation strategy, leveraging her deep understanding of both technology and insurance to develop solutions that address the evolving needs of the market.
Ruth has 24 years of experience in the insurance industry which have included leadership roles at Mastercard, where as Vice President Insurance, she had global responsibility for identifying new insurance opportunities, as well as Chubb, CLS and Fusion Insurance, where she responsibility for marketing, strategy, and digital transformation.
Ruth is also a patented inventor and established advisor, mentor, and writer on insurance innovation.
Simon is the Founder and Managing Director of Moonrock Drone Insurance.
Simon launched the company in 2016, and it was the UK’s first dedicated online platform-based insurance scheme, solely offering policies to the rapidly expanding commercial and consumer drone market. Moonrock is now a fully authorised MGA in the UK and one of the largest drone insurers in the UK.
Since then, Simon has earned a reputation as an industry leader for drone insurance and currently sits on the UK government’s advisory committee for drones which consults along with the CAA and Department for Transport.
Nick has worked in IT for the last 11 years, starting out as a junior software developer, building in-house software solutions, and working his way up to now sit at board level with Alps as the head of the IT department, covering all areas from servers, phone systems, security and much more.
Developing bespoke efficiencies through software solutions is still his main passion. He enjoys the challenge of complicated and time consuming tasks and coming up with a logical programming solution that can be implemented and automated to save time and improve accuracy for team members and clients.
Joe has more than 30 years of experience in the technology and insurance sectors. He has a unique understanding of insurance distribution and modern technology innovation.
Joe began his career working at a national insurance brokerage before founding his own broker business. He then joined the leadership team of Insurecom, which was recognised in the ‘Fast Track’ 100. Later, he joined the board of a top 100 UK brokerage to lead projects in Europe and Asia.
In 2011, Joe rejoined Insurecom and played a crucial role in a strategic rethink, which ultimately led to a successful acquisition by Applied Systems Inc. As Managing Director, he led Applied’s UK broker business and delivered significant growth in sales and revenue. Joe then assumed the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer for Applied Systems European business.
Joe joined IS2 in 2022, and the company benefits from his extensive experience and strategic guidance.
An experienced insurance and e-trade professional, Julie has worked in the industry for over 20 years in a variety of roles including underwriting, account management and e-trading.
In her previous role Julie was responsible for e-trading for Allianz Commercial including Allianz’s extranet, QuoteSME, and its digital capabilities; with the mantra of creating simple solutions for complex scenarios.
Julie’s current role includes applying her experience and knowledge to support the design and build of solutions for Digital Trading in Transformation. Julie is a passionate advocate of harnessing technology to deliver the best customer experiences and outcomes.