Behind the Desk...

In episode 9 of season three of Behind the Desk I am joined by Nisha Manaktala, who is the CTO at Hiscox, one of the biggest brands in Insurance. I've known her for several years now, and her 20-year career journey into leadership is massively impressive, including being named a CIO Top 100. 

It was great to chat to her and understand more about her early career, her passion for technology, which started at 11 years of age, and some brilliant advice for anyone looking to take the next step up. She also challenges our thinking, and shines a light on key issues such as talent retention, talent attraction and creating an environment where people are connected to their work with passion and purpose. 

She's the kind of person you can really sit to and talk for hours about this, so let’s get behind the desk with Nisha. 

Connect with Nisha on LinkedIn. 

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn. 

In the fourth episode of season three of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I am joined by Somita Yogi, Chief Data Officer. She has recently left her role at Animal Friends and has an impressive career history, holding key leadership roles at the Post Office, Tui and SunGard.

Somita is a dynamic leader in the Insurtech space and has some brilliant insight and anecdotes on how you can evolve from being a hands-on technologist to a business leader. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and she has been a great personality to have on the podcast this season. In this episode we discuss her career so far as well as how she manages work life balance with two children, her thoughts on diversity and insurance, wider technology and how she sees the market developing over the coming years.

Connect with Somita on LinkedIn.

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn.

In the seventh episode of season three of Behind the Desk I am joined by Kim Gray, who has recently left her role at NTT data as Head of Insurance and Head of Diversity & Inclusion to build her own company called Inclusive City, with a focus on Insurance & DE&I Advisory Consulting and Executive Coaching. 

Kim has a 20 year plus career history in insurance banking management consulting and has seen a lot across the years in the financial services sector. I was absolutely engrossed in this chat from start to finish. She provides some brilliant insight and advice for people at all levels in their career. She talks about her early life, how she climbed the ladder as a ‘dubious hire’, her advice for changing the narrative for women in leadership and her golden rule for success, with some interesting stories thrown in between. 

Kim might be my favourite guest so far... 

So, let's get behind the desk with Kim Gray. 

Connect with Kim on LinkedIn. 

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn. 

In the sixth episode of season three of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I am joined by Lisa Gibbard, who is the Chief Information Officer at Thomas Miller. 

Lisa is arguably the most experienced tech leader I've had on the podcast so far. She started her career at NatWest bank and has since gone on to hold senior leadership roles with the likes of Aon Ltd, Aspen Insurance Group and MS Amlin. There isn't much Lisa hasn't experienced or seen throughout her career and her insights into the challenges facing the insurance industry are fascinating from both a business and diversity and inclusion perspective. 

I've known Lisa for a while, but only from afar. And it was great to get into what makes her tick and understand more about how she's achieved so much in her career. 

So, without further delay, let's get behind the desk with Lisa Gibbard.

Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn. 

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn. 

In the fifth episode of season three of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I am joined by Parul Kaul-Green, who is the new Chief Digital Strategy Officer at Liberty Speciality Markets.  

Parul has spent the last few years leading technology and digital strategy transformation efforts at AXA, and now has the exciting opportunity to join Liberty during their digital transformation. She has a slightly different background to a lot of my other guests, having spent most of her career in corporate strategy, she's evolved into a technology strategy leader and is now one of the most highly regarded figures in Insurance and Insurtech.  

In this episode, we really get into some deep discussions around digital transformation, diversity and inclusion, and even tap into what Parul does to unwind. She is a true thought leader and her insights into the current state of the market are invaluable. 

Let's get behind the desk with Parul.

Connect with Parul on LinkedIn.

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn. 

In the fourth episode of season three of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I'm joined by Lloyd's of London Chief Information and Change Officer, Rebecca Womersley. This episode is a re-release from season one of my podcast, and for good reason.  

Rebecca has an impressive 20-year career history that started in telecoms and has evolved into leading tech and change at one of the most iconic and rapidly evolving organisations in the UK insurance sector.  

In this episode, we talk about Rebecca's journey in project and change management, and getting into the insurance sector, onboarding at Lloyd's completely remotely, working in the US, her views on female diversity in insurance and much much more. 

Let's get behind the desk with Rebecca Womersley.

Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn.

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn.

In my third episode of season 3 of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I am joined by Janthana Kaenprakhamroy, CEO and founder of Tapoly. While trying to insure a rental property, she spotted a golden opportunity to start her own business. Six years later, she's won countless awards and has a business now entering scale up mode.

Janthana is a pioneer for going after what you love and aligning to your core values to succeed. Her story is genuinely incredible and her insight inspiring. Our conversation covers her career to date, thoughts on entrepreneurship, hurdles to entry as an Insurtech start up, flexible working and levelling out the playing field for women in leadership. I really enjoyed getting to know her and you will too. 

Let’s get behind the desk with Janthana.

Connect with Janthana on LinkedIn.

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn.

On the second episode of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I am joined by Bilge Mert, CTO (Chief Technology Officer) at Brit Insurance. She has only recently joined Brit, leading their technology team and has been tasked with the next phase of the firm's technology transformation. 

Bilge is one of the most successful and highly regarded tech leaders in the insurance space right now. She has risen through the ranks quickly and has a brilliant story to tell.  

This is a fascinating conversation, where we talk about her early life and her love of math's and engineering, her views on gender diversity in technology and the insurance space, and some great insight into how she believes bridging the gap between the business and technology is the most critical skill for technologists to master. 

Let’s get behind the desk with Bilge Mert. 

Connect with Bilge on LinkedIn.

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn.

Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas is back, and my first guest is Ciara Conway, Group Chief Architect at Aviva. Ciara has an infectious personality, and I am thrilled to have her join me to kick off season two of the podcast.  

We had a great conversation and covered a lot of ground including her journey into technology, which is an unusual one, the challenges she's faced around being a female in a very male dominated sector and her views on gender diversity and the progress we’re making within the insurance and technology space.

Her views on where the sector is headed are spot on and she is passionate about leaving a legacy, by removing legacy tech, and walks us through her ambitious plans for Aviva's future.  

Let’s get behind the desk with Ciara Conway.

Connect with Ciara on LinkedIn.

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn. 

In my seventh episode of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I'm joined the director of technology at Wesleyan, Nick Meikle.

Nick has an impressive career history, working in the insurance sector for nearly 30 years. Nick started in consulting, then moved into industry, working for some of the biggest insurance brands in the country.

In this episode, we get into his views on how the sector is changing and Nick shares some great advice for all the budding technology leaders listening.

Nick is a highly experienced and respected leader with a huge, impressive career journey.

Let's get behind the desk with Nick Meikle.

Connect with Nick on LinkedIn.

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn.