As insurers look ahead to 2026, one question looms large: how do you stay trusted, relevant, and competitive in a world shaped by platforms, AI, and rising customer expectations?

In this standout end-of-year episode of Building Tomorrow’s Insurer, Kanopi Founder & CEO Nigel Fellowes-Freeman is joined by Emma Fawcett, CEO of Compare Club - Australia’s largest independent comparison platform.

Emma brings a rare perspective shaped by leadership roles at MYOB, News Corp, and now the centre of insurance distribution. Together, they explore what insurers can learn from platforms that sit closest to customer decision-making.

This conversation dives into:

• Why value matters more than price in modern insurance

• How comparison platforms are reshaping trust, advice, and distribution

• The role of data and AI in delivering personalisation without crossing the “creepy” line

• Where insurers are missing opportunities across claims, complaints, and lifecycle moments

• How partnerships, ecosystems, and comparators can fuel smarter product design

• What agentic AI really means for insurers, and where human expertise still matters most

If you’re thinking about customer experience, platform partnerships, AI adoption, or the future of insurance distribution, this is a must-listen conversation to close out the year.

Payments might be the least glamorous part of insurance — but they’re one of the most powerful levers for customer experience, efficiency, and competitive advantage.

In this episode of Building Tomorrow’s Insurer, Nigel Fellowes-Freeman sits down with Ed Wiley (Head of Growth, Monoova) and David Greene (Chief Commercial Officer, Monoova) to unpack one of the most overlooked transformation opportunities in insurance: how money actually moves.

Monoova’s team has spent decades reshaping payment infrastructure across industries. Today, they break down what insurers need to know — and what they can learn from more advanced sectors like e-commerce, utilities, and cross-border payments.

In this episode:

• Why insurance payments are “stuck in the ’90s”

• How real-time payments (NPP & PayTo) unlock instant customer delight

• The hidden cost of direct debit — and why BECS deprecation makes change unavoidable

• What e-commerce can teach insurers about conversion and checkout journeys

• Automating reconciliation: the 5% problem that drives 95% of customer complaints

• How partners can help insurers modernise without multi-year transformation

• The future of payments: ubiquity, automation, and AI-enabled money movement

Whether you’re an insurer, an underwriter, or an insurtech founder — this episode gives you a clear view of where payments are heading, and why the next five years will redefine how premiums and claims flow.

What happens when you build one of Asia’s most successful digital insurers—then decide to start over?

In this episode of Building Tomorrow’s Insurer, Walter de Oude, Founder and CEO of Chocolate Finance (and previously Founder of Singlife), joins Kanopi CEO Nigel Fellowes-Freeman for an honest conversation about risk, reinvention, and the blurry lines between banking, insurance, and asset management.

Walter shares his journey from actuary to founder, including:

• The hard-won lessons of launching Singapore Life from scratch

• Why branding and customer trust can be a company’s strongest assets

• How he’s now building Chocolate Finance, a capital-light model for smarter, happier money

• What the future of financial ecosystems might look like as banks, insurers, and asset managers converge

This one’s for anyone fascinated by where finance goes next—and what it takes to build something truly new.

How do you grow a business fast—without losing what made it special?

In this episode of Building Tomorrow’s Insurer, host and Kanopi CEO Nigel Fellowes-Freeman sits down with Katie Stranaghan, Head of Financial Lines at High Street Underwriting Agency, to explore how High Street scaled from a small family business to one of Australia’s leading underwriting agencies while keeping people and culture at the core.

Katie shares her journey from joining High Street straight out of school to helping shape its next chapter of growth, technology, and leadership.

Tune in as she discusses:

• Building technology that enhances—not replaces—human connection

• Maintaining authenticity during rapid expansion

• How culture drives customer experience

• The next evolution of underwriting and broker partnerships

For anyone scaling a business or leading through change, this episode is packed with lessons on staying grounded while moving fast.

Underwriting agencies are evolving fast — balancing growth, culture, and technology while staying relevant to brokers and customers.

In this episode of Building Tomorrow’s Insurer, host and Kanopi CEO Nigel Fellowes-Freeman sits down with Marc Crossman, Executive GM of Distribution and Strategy at UAA Group, to unpack what it takes to lead transformation in today’s market.

Tune in as Marc shares:

• Why distribution strategy is shifting from visibility to value

• How UAA is embedding tech and culture to drive transformation

• Lessons from leading teams across Australia and Singapore

• The future role of underwriting agencies in insurance

For leaders navigating change and growth in underwriting, this episode is a must-listen.

How do insurers balance innovation with an ever-tightening web of regulation?

In this episode, host Nigel Fellowes-Freeman sits down with award-winning litigator and regulatory specialist Kezia David to unpack the forces reshaping insurance in Australia and beyond.

Kezia shares:

• Why ASIC’s crackdown is changing every stage of the policy lifecycle

• The biggest blind spots insurers still face—and how to address them

• How innovation and compliance can (and must) work together

• What startups need to know to avoid regulatory pitfalls

• Why proactive, customer-first approaches to Nat Cat events matter more than ever

A sharp, timely conversation for anyone navigating the next wave of accountability and customer expectation in insurance.

Insurance for small businesses has always been complex, expensive, and underserved. But what if technology and partnerships could change that?

In this episode of Building Tomorrow’s Insurer, host Nigel Fellowes-Freeman sits down with Eric Mignot, Founder and Chairman of +Simple, to explore how one of Europe’s most ambitious digital brokers is reshaping SME insurance.

From CFO at Suez, to leading Hiscox, to launching +Simple, Eric’s journey shows how insights from telecoms, utilities, and digital banking inspired him to reinvent insurance distribution.

Tune in to hear:

• Why expense ratios—not loss ratios—are the real challenge in SME insurance

• How +Simple scaled to 14,000 brokers across five countries

• The role of technology in simplifying underwriting, claims, and accounting

• Why programmatic M&A and capacity pooling became game-changers

• Eric’s lessons on raising capital, partnering smartly, and scaling across Europe

This is a must-listen for anyone building insurtech, rethinking distribution, or leading digital transformation in insurance.

Insurance policies aren’t just complex - they’re overwhelming. For brokers, underwriters, and customers alike, navigating thousands of pages of wording can feel like an impossible task.

In this episode of Building Tomorrow’s Insurer, host Nigel Fellowes-Freeman sits down with Jasmin Flori-Hess, Co-Founder of Raindrop, to explore how her startup is tackling one of insurance’s most overlooked challenges: policy complexity.

From Switzerland to Darwin, Jasmin shares her journey from corporate communications and change management to founding an insurtech powered by AI, machine learning, and natural language processing. Raindrop is on a mission to make policy wordings clearer, compliance more accurate, and the customer experience more transparent.

Tune in to hear:

• Why policy complexity is one of the industry’s biggest risks—and opportunities

• How Raindrop builds AI pipelines trained by insurance experts, not just generic models

• The role of trust, accuracy, and explainability in insurance AI

• What a future of hyper-personalised, customer-first insurance could look like

If you’re a broker, underwriter, or insurtech builder, this episode is packed with insight into how AI can simplify the most complex part of insurance.

When disaster strikes, speed and coordination make all the difference.

In this episode of Building Tomorrow’s Insurer, host Nigel Fellowes-Freeman sits down with Sam Ratcliff, COO of InsureBuild, to explore how technology, logistics, and human connection come together to transform claims.

From building a nationwide subcontractor network to deploying RPA and machine learning in repair management, Sam shares how InsureBuild is streamlining the claims process—without losing sight of the customer.

Tune in for insights on:

• Building and managing a 1,700-strong contractor network

• Using automation and AI to reduce claim cycle times

• Designing tech to serve people first, not just processes

• Why builders are the unsung heroes of disaster recovery

For anyone working in claims, repair, or customer experience, this is a must-listen.

What if the future of broking isn’t automation—it’s craftsmanship?

In this episode of Building Tomorrow’s Insurer, host and Kanopi CEO Nigel Fellowes-Freeman sits down with John Warburton, CEO and Co-Founder of Konsileo and Co-Chair of InsurTech UK. From cutting his teeth in regional branch offices to building a tech-driven brokerage with a people-first model, John shares a refreshingly human take on the future of insurance.

🔹 Why the real disruption in broking is cultural—not just digital
🔹 The untapped potential of brokers as “insurance artisans”
🔹 What insurers can learn from Robocop, Iron Man—and the SAS
🔹 How Konsileo is rethinking everything from commissions to capability

This episode is a masterclass in blending technology with human insight—and why the next wave of insurance innovation might feel more personal, not less.