In this episode of The Insurance Technology Podcast, Reid speaks to “the man, the myth, the legend,” Kabir Syed, about his accidental journey into InsurTech. While not a technologist, a programmer or a broker, his love for research, data and solving problems led to happy accidents throughout his career. Serving in 14 different roles at Marsh McLennan because they “didn’t know what to do with him,” Kabir was instrumental in establishing the company’s global risk benchmarking platform, for which the company is still known today. He went on to found RiskMatch, which he grew from a startup to one of the industry’s leading analytics platforms in just four years. An InsurTech thought leader and influencer for more than two decades, Kabir is also a great storyteller as you’ll soon discover in Part 1 of this compelling conversation.

Episode Highlights

• How Kabir got into insurance technology (2:17)
• The impetus for Marsh McLennan's benchmarking platform (5:36)
• The importance of asking "Why" (10:20)
• Why core industry problems are not being solved (15:20)
• What's holding back the industry (22:05)

About the Guest

Kabir Syed is the Founder & CEO of Ennabl, Inc., a bespoke cloud-based platform for insurance intermediaries. He has 28+ years in insurance at startups and large organizations. Kabir founded RiskMatch, a data analytics company in 2013 and exited to Bain Capital & Vista in 2017. Prior to that, he was at Marsh McLennan in various roles including strategy, operations, and marketing. Kabir sits on various boards for InsurTech and FinTech corporations.

In this episode of The Insurance Technology Podcast, the legendary Dennis Chookaszian returns to talk to Reid about the evolution of agency management systems. Going back to the days when long hair and bell-bottoms were in fashion, Dennis walks us through the fascinating history of the management system – from computer punch cards right up to today’s two insurance software titans, Applied Systems and Vertafore. You’ll be amazed by the people involved, who went on to build some of the biggest insurance technology companies in the world.

Episode Highlights 

• The early days of agency management with Hollerith punch cards (2:05)
• Dennis’ involvement in the development of the management system (6:45)
• Trying to put together a deal between Applied and AMS (11:09) 
• Some of the creative companies that were offshoots (16:18)
• Core problems that still exist (24:58)
• Insurance technology trends Dennis sees now (27:54)

About the Guest

Dennis Chookaszian is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and teaches courses in Corporate Governance. Before his professorship, he was with CNA Insurance for 26 years, serving as chairman and CEO for seven years, then chairman of the executive committee for three years. Prior to that, he was President for two years and CFO for 15 years. After CNA, he was chairman and CEO of mPower Inc., an internet financial advisory service. Prior to CNA, Dennis was a management consultant with Deloitte for eight years.

Warning: This episode is a bit of a history lesson. To some, “Exchange” is a cuss word, while others may not even know what that means.

In this episode of The Insurance Technology Podcast, the legendary Dennis Chookaszian joins Reid to talk about the many attempts to create an industry-wide Exchange. Dennis was there from the outset and involved in all four major attempts.

Find out how they got started, who was involved, and why Dennis thinks they failed. And if you don’t know much about the beginnings of insurtech, this is one history lesson you don’t want to miss.     

Episode Highlights

• Dennis shares how he got involved in the insurance industry (2:32)
• Dennis discusses the first iteration of how the Exchange came to be (6:01)
• Dennis explains the single entry multiple company interface (SEMCI) concept (8:57)
• Dennis gives his perspective on why the Exchanges failed (11:47)

About the Guest

Dennis Chookaszian is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and teaches courses in Corporate Governance. Before his professorship, he was with CNA Insurance for 26 years, serving as chairman and CEO for seven years, then chairman of the executive committee for three years. Prior to that, he was President for two years and CFO for 15 years. After CNA, he was chairman and CEO of mPower Inc., an internet financial advisory service. Prior to CNA, Dennis was a management consultant with Deloitte for eight years. 

Full episode coming starting May 7! Get a sneak peek of Episode 2 of The Insurance Technology Podcast with Reid Holzworth.

Back with his guest from Episode 1, Dennis Chookaszian joins Reid to discuss the history of the agency management systems. You’ll be amazed by the people involved, who went on to build some of the biggest insurance technology companies in the world.

About the Guest

Dennis Chookaszian is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and teaches courses in Corporate Governance. Before his professorship, he was with CNA Insurance for 26 years, serving as chairman and CEO for seven years, then chairman of the executive committee for three years. Prior to that, he was President for two years and CFO for 15 years. After CNA, he was chairman and CEO of mPower Inc., an internet financial advisory service. Prior to CNA, Dennis was a management consultant with Deloitte for eight years. 

Full episodes coming starting May 7! Get a sneak peek at Episode 1 of The Insurance Technology Podcast with Reid Holzworth.

Warning: This episode is a bit of a history lesson. To some, “Exchange” is a cuss word, while others may not even know what that means. Reid's guest Dennis Chookaszian takes us through our industry’s countless attempts to create an Exchange.

About the Guest

Dennis Chookaszian is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and teaches courses in Corporate Governance. Before his professorship, he was with CNA Insurance for 26 years, serving as chairman and CEO for seven years, then chairman of the executive committee for three years. Prior to that, he was President for two years and CFO for 15 years. After CNA, he was chairman and CEO of mPower Inc., an internet financial advisory service. Prior to CNA, Dennis was a management consultant with Deloitte for eight years.