From Dynamite to Reinsurance Tech: The Wild Origin Story Behind INTX Insurance Software.

In this episode, we go on an unexpectedly fascinating journey — starting with coyotes and foxes, moving through African farming and UK wildlife, and ending in the heart of what this conversation is really about: insurance, reinsurance, and building modern core systems for carriers.

Our guest, Robert Lewis, has one of the most unique backgrounds in the insurance world:

🧨 8th-generation insurance lineage

His family first entered the industry because they *couldn’t get insurance* for transporting dynamite into South African mines — so they built their own mutual group, which ultimately grew into a Lloyd’s syndicate.🌍 From Mozambique to London to Austin

Robert and his brother bought an insurance company in Mozambique 25 years ago. After struggling to find good software, they hired a young developer and built their own system, which eventually evolved into the modern platform that became Intx.

💻 Rewriting over 1 million lines of code

Intx has since been rebuilt for the U.S. market on a Microsoft stack (SQL Server, C#, Blazor) to avoid proprietary coding traps and to make it easier to hire local developers without dependence on offshore or legacy languages.

🧾 What Intx actually does

In this episode, we dig deep into policy administration, reinsurance software, assumed/ceded reinsurance, treaty management, facultative placements, loss corridors, retrocession, regulatory reserves, claims integration, and why Excel remains the “core system” for 55% of insurance professionals.

📉 Why legacy core systems are failing

We break down:

* Why siloed systems (claims separate from underwriting) break the data chain

* Why implementations cost carriers tens of millions

* Why external integrators drag timelines for years

* Why Intx is offering zero implementation cost and using its own insurance-literate team🏗 The new cohort of core system challengers

We discuss the Austin ecosystem (Guidewire → legacy, Duck Creek → aging guard, Socotra → modern competitor) and how Intx differentiates through its architecture, economics, and reinsurance depth.

✔️ Family origins in South African insurance

✔️ Building an 8-generation insurance legacy

✔️ Starting an insurance carrier in Mozambique

✔️ Building and modernizing core insurance software

✔️ The difference between proprietary vs. Microsoft stack tech

✔️ Reinsurance: ceded, assumed, treaties, facultative, loss corridors

✔️ Retrocessions and capital markets

✔️ Why Excel is still dominant in the industry

✔️ Why most core system implementations never end

✔️ The economics of modernizing a carrier

If you're an MGA, reinsurer, carrier, or investor in insurance infrastructure:

This episode offers a rare, insider look at the technical, financial, and operational pain points within the core systems world—and how the next wave of challenger platforms is addressing them.