Tony Lew on InsurTechNY, AI, and the Human Side of Insurance | Connected Conversations

In this episode of Connected Conversations in Insurance, host Ray Huang sits down with Tony Lew, co-founder and managing director of InsurTechNY, to discuss how the organization grew from filling a community gap in New York’s insurance innovation scene into a multi-pronged hub offering events, a corporate innovation membership program, an MGA-focused accelerator, and an early-stage venture fund.

Tony breaks down how InsureTechNY helps carriers and brokers at different stages of innovation through education, market intelligence, and curated startup partnerships, and he previews the InsurTechNY conference’s content tracks, networking, expo expansion, and multiple pitch competitions.

The conversation also explores how agencies can prioritize core systems like an AMS and CRM, automate back-office work, evaluate emerging AI tools, and differentiate in a rapidly changing landscape while keeping humans central to insurance.

00:00 Why InsurTech NY Started

00:41 Meet Tony Lew

01:47 Four Pillars of the Hub

04:18 Corporate Innovation Program

06:14 Inside the Annual Conference

08:06 Startup Competitions and Expo

12:35 Global Reach and Attendees

13:09 Sponsor Break Canopy Connect

14:15 Agency Tech Differentiation

20:47 AI Hype vs Real Use Cases

24:45 Sponsor Break Automation Pitch

25:49 Human Side of Insurance

31:44 Hot Take AI Agencies Scaling

34:11 Wrap Up and Where to Learn