In this episode of the Reinventing Finance Podcast, ⁠KASKO⁠ CEO & Co-Founder Nikolaus Sühr speaks with Viola Zsédely-Takács, Business Development Director for New Growth Engines at Ageas.

During the conversation Viola shares insights about how Ageas is scaling B2B2C insurance across Europe and Asia - focusing on distribution innovation, digital bank assurance, and what it really takes to industrialise embedded insurance.

Here are some of the key-topics discussed in the episode:

📍Strategic evolution at Ageas from the Impact 24 to Elevate 27 strategy, narrowing focus towards B2B2C distribution innovation.

📍Three innovation areas Ageas prioritised: health, protection (life products beyond traditional underwriting), and B2B2C partnerships, and how these areas intersect.

📍The challenge of adapting insurance products—especially protection products—for embedded and digital distribution contexts, with a strong emphasis on customer-centric simplification.

📍Differences in product design and UX between advisory channels (e.g. agent/broker) and digital or embedded journeys.

📍Concrete use cases from India and Turkey, including successful digital loan and credit life products with optional riders like unemployment protection.

📍Scalability as a core principle, including standardised product backends, reusable assets, and partnerships to allow onboarding of new B2B2C partners in as little as 48 hours.

📍Digital B2B2C distribution channel strategies beyond bank assurance, including telcos, e-commerce, digital wallets, and microfinance institutions—while deliberately excluding red ocean segments like travel.

📍The importance of flexible technology stacks and external partnerships over bespoke internal builds to ensure adaptability, speed, and cost-effectiveness.

📍Key performance indicators used to track success, including business inflows, number of lives insured, product profitability, and number of reusable assets.

📍Cultural and operational insights from implementing a centralised B2B2C innovation model across 13 markets with diverse regulatory and digital maturity levels.

Check out the episode to find out more!

#insurance #insuranceindustry #insurers #versicherung #b2b2c #insuranceproducts #distribution

In this episode of the Reinventing Finance Podcast, KASKO CEO & Co-Founder Nikolaus Sühr speaks with Christopher Meyer-Mölleringhof, Venture Lead for Pet Insurance at Fressnapf Maxi Zoo about how Europe’s leading pet retailer successfully launched its own pet insurance offering. Here are some of the key-insights from the episode:

➡️ Fressnapf Maxi Zoo’s entrance into pet insurance, focusing on high demand, commercial attractiveness, and its role in their broader pet care ecosystem.

➡️ The business model decision to act as an insurance agent rather than take on risk, partnering with Petolo in Germany and launching a white-labelled Maxi Zoo Assurance in France.

➡️ The role of co-creation in insurance product development, ensuring tailored coverage, transparency, and an easy buying journey to drive adoption.

➡️ Key product differentiators, such as breed-specific disease coverage, pre-existing conditions, and integration of an online vet service as a built-in benefit.

➡️ The power of brand trust and customer access, reducing acquisition costs and increasing conversions by embedding insurance into an existing pet care ecosystem.

➡️ Retail distribution and customer engagement, including digital-first sales, store employee education, and referral incentives.

➡️ Challenges in aligning retail and insurance mindsets, particularly regarding long-term revenue models and ecosystem-driven engagement.

➡️ The future of embedded insurance, highlighting opportunities for non-insurance brands to co-create and distribute innovative insurance products.

Check out the episode to find out more!

#petinsurance #insurance #insuranceindustry #business #businessgrowth #strategy

In this episode of the Reinventing Finance Podcast, KASKO CEO & Co-Founder Nikolaus Sühr welcomed Lars Markull, embedded finance expert and host of the Embedded Finance Review Podcast, to discuss together how insurers can harness embedded finance models to drive customer engagement, unlock new revenue opportunities, and strategically integrate financial services into their offerings.

They dive into real-world embedded finance use cases that demonstrate how financial products can be embedded seamlessly into insurance and other industries, reshaping customer experiences and business models.

Here are some of the topics discussed in the podcast:

📍The role of embedded finance and its intersection with insurance, exploring how non-financial brands integrate financial services to enhance their core offerings.

📍Financing solutions for rejected insurance claims, offering customers alternative funding options rather than outright claim denial.

📍Life insurance payouts linked to investment products, such as savings accounts, ETFs, or fixed-term deposits, to retain customer engagement.

📍Risk management financing for SMEs, enabling businesses like hotels and restaurants to invest in preventative measures with insurer-backed lending.

📍Refund protection insurance in e-commerce and travel, helping businesses reduce purchase friction and increase conversions.

📍Business protection solutions for industry-specific needs, such as tailored financial products for restaurants and retailers.

📍Lessons from fintech pioneers, including how Shopify, Metro Financial Services, and MUSE leverage embedded finance to monetise payments, lending, and banking products.

📍Challenges and opportunities for insurers, including regulatory scrutiny, the importance of timing when launching embedded finance products, and strategies to add value beyond traditional insurance.

This episode provides insights for insurance leaders looking to capitalise on #embeddedfinance trends and redefine their role in the evolving financial #ecosystem.

In this episode of the Reinventing Finance Podcast,KASKO CEO & Co-Founder Nikolaus Sühr (Nick), talks with Alexander Bockelmann, Group CTO at Baloise Group.During their conversationAlexander shares and discusses with Nick:📍 His background and role at Baloise Group, transitioning from environmental science to leading IT transformation in insurance across multiple countries.

📍 Baloise’s strategic IT priorities, focusing on technical profitability, operational excellence, growth, and capital efficiency, with IT playing a critical role in driving efficiency and digital transformation.

📍 Balancing short-term business needs with long-term IT investments, ensuring modernisation efforts like cloud migration and technical debt reduction align with shifting business priorities.The shift from perimeter-based to asset-based security models, strengthening cybersecurity strategies to protect digital assets in an increasingly connected environment.

📍 The challenges of centralising IT across multiple markets, navigating trade-offs between standardisation and local flexibility under Baloise’s One IT strategy.

📍 Difficult trade-offs in IT strategy, including stopping multi-year projects when financial or technical risks outweigh potential benefits and prioritising long-term IT modernisation over short-term business demands.

📍 AI adoption in insurance, from AI-driven financial advisory tools and speech bots in customer service to embedding AI in business processes for automation, document analysis, and operational efficiency.

📍 Scaling AI beyond proofs of concept, focusing on high-impact, scalable use cases that improve efficiency across entire functions rather than niche, siloed applications.

📍 The evolution of AI agents and their impact on insurance, exploring how autonomous AI could reshape underwriting, claims, and operational workflows while raising questions about cost structures and enterprise adoption.

📍 Key IT projects for 2025, including cloud migration for core insurance systems, strengthening enterprise data capabilities, implementing zero-trust security models, and enhancing broker integrations through BIPRO standards.Check out the episode to find out more.

#podcast #insurance #insuranceindustry #insurancetech #insurtech #innovation #cto #businessgrowth

In this episode of the Reinventing Finance Podcast, KASKO CEO & Co-Founder Nikolaus Sühr (Nick) speaks with Lars Gehrmann, Chief Digital Officer at Qatar Insurance Group, about fostering innovation and navigating the unique dynamics of the Middle Eastern insurance market.

In this episode of the Reinventing Finance Podcast, KASKO CEO- & Co-Founder Nikolaus Sühr speaks with Randel Bennett, Head of Qixent, about driving insurance innovation for startups and transforming bold ideas into market-ready, profitable products.

During the conversation Randel shares and discusses the following insights with Nick:

📍His background in insurance product design and development, and how Qixent specialises in transforming insurance ideas into profitable products by guiding clients from idea to product to profit.

📍Qixent’s process for supporting startups and established businesses:

- Providing essential insurance coverages like D&O, liability, and cyber risk for startups.

- Acting as an insurance broker or appointed representative to simplify market entry for new ventures.

- Offering feasibility studies, idea validation, and sourcing partnerships with insurers, distributors, and carriers

- Utilising Qixent’s own licences and agents to create a proving ground for clients, reducing their need to establish their own partnerships initially.

📍Client types and use cases, including:

- Startups and MGAs looking to launch innovative insurance products.

-County Mutuals seeking modernisation and growth strategies to maintain relevance.

- Non-traditional businesses in insurance-adjacent industries wanting to add insurance as a revenue stream.

📍Examples of client collaborations, including both implemented and ongoing projects:

- Developing insurance products for Hispanic consumers in the US with Spanish-first digital experiences and fair fee structures.

- Creating solutions for athletes with name, image, and likeness (NIL) value, addressing risks like cybersecurity and personal liability.

- Designing wildfire risk mitigation frameworks in California and workplace safety solutions using computer vision and wearable tech.

📍Qixent’s commercial model with the clear focus on scalability and value creation for clients.

📍 Industry challenges, like the pitfalls of cost-plus pricing models and the race to the bottom in consumer pricing, and advocating for value-based pricing approaches.

📍 Predictions about the future of insurance, including the potential disappearance of personal auto insurance as autonomous vehicles and manufacturer-provided liability products gain traction.

Check out the episode to learn more about Insurance innovation for startups and how Randel Bennett is turning ideas into profitable insurance products

#insurance #US #insuranceinnovation #insurancecoverage #insuranceindustry #insurancepolicy #businessgrowth #business #startup #businessideas #newbusiness

In the latest episode of the Reinventing Finance Podcast, KASKO CEO & Co-Founder Nikolaus Sühr had the pleasure of talking with Phil Hobson, Managing Director and International Affinity Leader at Marsh. They discussed how one of the world's leading insurance brokers is redefining risk and insurance services globally.

With over 38 years of experience in the insurance industry—including 28 at Marsh—Phil shares how he blends startup innovation with a legacy business to deliver exceptional client value.

Here’s a glimpse into what Phil and Nick discussed in theirr podcast session:

📌Phil’s professional background

📌 Marsh and its role as an international distribution engine that keeps distribution costs low for its partners

📌 Why focusing on client pain point diagnosis, customer journey, digital distribution and offering consistent product delivery across countries is essential to their business model

📌 Which products are interesting in terms of cost vs. return and which are not attractive

📌 4 key sectors Marsh is focused on (Automotive, Shared Economy, Consumer Electronics & machinery & sponsored programs

📌 Client pain points & problems clients are willing to pay for

📌 Marsh’s expertise in product distribution globally and locally

📌 Why many InsurTechs fail and lessons learned about client acquisition success and partnering with carriers and distribution success

📌 Why evolution is the biggest competitor for traditional affinity delivery mechanism and how Marsh encounters evolution at a corporate level

📌 How Marsh is unlocking new business opportunities

📌 Why it’s important to think product agnostic when it comes to affinity.

Check out the episode to deep dive into the world of #affinity!

#insurance #insuranceindustry #distribution #Versicherung #Versicherungsbranche #podcast

In this episode of the Reinventing Finance Podcast, Nikolaus Sühr talks with Simon Moser, Co-Founder & CEO of Muffintech an AI tech startup developing the first conversational AI for Insurance Context!

In this episode of the Reinventing Finance Podcast, Nikolaus Sühr talks with Eliron Ekstein, Co-Founder & CEO of Ravin.AI, a tech start-up transforming the automotive industry with fully autonomous, over-the-air vehicle inspections using everyday cameras and AI.

In the conversation with Nick, Eliron shares insights about:

📍 Which macroeconomic factors are driving up repair costs and affecting the insurance industry

📍 How applying triage at the point of FNOL can significantly lower overhead costs

📍 How Ravin uses computer vision and deep learning to enhance transparency and cut inflated repair costs for insurers, fleet managers, and car rental companies

📍 What makes Ravin’s technology adaptable for global markets and quick deployment in new regions

📍 How Ravin achieves over 80% accuracy in pilot programs and improves with insurer collaboration

📍 How Ravin manages fleet and rental car damages while addressing inspection and damage assessment challenges 📍 How Ravin’s technology reduces fraud and minimises disputes

📍 Why tech adoption and automation have been slow in motor repair and insurance, and how Ravin provides effective solutions

📍 How Ravin’s B2B model speeds up claims processing and reduces overhead for insurers, car rental companies, and fleet managers

📍 How Ravin overcomes data quality issues most insurers have with their industry-specific repair data

📍 What role AI plays in detecting fraud, predicting damage, and optimizing repairs with Ravin’s technology

📍 How Ravin’s solutions can streamline logistics and cut body shop costs, creating a first positive impact for insurers within 90 days

Check out the episode to learn more!

#insurance #insurer# insuranceindurstry #KI #AI #Versicherung #Versicherungswirtschaft #Versicherungspodcast #Insights #optimisation

https://www.ravin.ai

Martin Schachinger is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Finnoconsult, a consulting firm that accompanies its customers from ideation of digital business ideas to the go2market of tailored solutions and which helps its customers from #banking and #insurance to become more digital.

Finnoconsult help serve customers in a better way by focusing on customer experience – not (as many do) on backend processes and backend activities non-customers don’t judge.

In the podcast episode with Nick, Martin shares insights and discusses:

📍Finnoconsult, Ennoconsult and their new partner AOE

📍Why the non-customer experience (from an outside perspective) should be considered more by banks or insurance firms

📍The Finnoscore, an evaluation methode developped by Finnoconsult to evaluate the digital experience offered by a bank or insurance firm

📍 AI in customer relations A/B testing and the importance of CTA when it comes to online experience

📍Transparency of prices and price comparison

📍 Advice to Insurance CEO's when it comes to digital experiences

Check out the episode!