Outpace. Outprice. Outperform: The Future of Specialty Underwriting

We were back in New York on June 3rd, once again bringing together the technology companies, insurers and brokers that had been leading the way in achieving major efficiency gains and underwriting improvements through the use of innovation.

A lot had happened in the previous 12 months. New challenges had emerged, but new solutions had delivered measurable cost savings and insurers had benefitted from multi-million dollar opportunities.

Once again, we showcased companies that had successfully expanded into the US after making their mark in the UK and Europe, and we were joined by US underwriters and leading commentators who looked ahead to what might be expected in 2026.

We brought the future to life with proven use cases and live demonstrations with plenty of networking opportunities in an excellent venue. Attendance was limited to 100 participants, with priority given to insurers, brokers, MGAs and InsTech corporate members. As in previous years, the event sold out quickly.

Programme Highlights:

Opening Session: Special keynote by the new Head of Insurance at Google Cloud.
Building Smarter: 5 Real-World Tips for Agentic AI Rollout (Cytora):
- Real-life, practical guidance for successfully implementing digitization projects. Demonstration of Agentic AI in action.
What’s Your Move 37? Winning with Google Agentspace:
- Practical insights into Agentic AI, empowering users and customers. Led by Katarina Homindova and Toby Kovacs from Google Cloud.
From Map to Mandate: Cloud-Native Spatial Analytics (CARTO):
- Explore dynamic, spatial analytics transforming risk management. Real-world applications of satellite data and hazard models presented by Gideon Singer, Ph.D.
How to increase both underwriter happiness and quote to bind ratio (Concirrus & Applied Underwriters):
- Real-world insights into how AI boosts quote-to-bind ratios in underwriting.
Next-Level Underwriting Panel (Cytora, Concirrus, CARTO):
- Discussion on leveraging speed and intelligence in underwriting processes.
Insurer Panel – Underwriting Evolution:
- Inside perspectives on GenAI deployment, balancing automation and human decision-making, and strategies for portfolio optimization.

View photos from the event here:

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Programme

12:15 pm - 1:30 pm

Registration & lunch

1:30 pm - 1:45 pm

Welcome

Christina Lucas, Global Director & Market Leader for Insurance, Google Cloud
Hosted by Robin Merttens, Executive Chairman, InsTech

1:45 pm - 2:05 pm

Building smarter: 5 real-world tips for agentic AI rollout

In this session, we’ll break down live, in-production examples and unpack the five critical areas every organization must master to drive a successful digitization project. No theory, no fluff — just real case studies, real lessons, and real takeaways you can put to work

Hosted by Juan de Castro, CCO/COO, Cytora
Allison Thornicroft, VP, Business Solutions Lead, Arch Insurance
Neeren Chauhan, Chief Innovation and AI Officer, Tokio Marine Group
Yaemish Rughoo, Information Technology Program Director, Everen

2:05 pm - 2:25 pm

How to increase both underwriter happiness and quote to bind ratio

Join Concirrus and Applied Underwriters for a behind the scenes look at how AI is already transforming specialty underwriting today. This session will showcase how Applied is using Concirrus technology to ingest complex submission packs, rate, and quote specialty risks in under two minutes, across classes like Property, Construction, PV&T, Marine and Aviation.

Expect live insights, practical metrics, and a clear eyed discussion of what it actually takes to move the quote to bind needle. If you’re looking to understand how modern insurers are using AI to drive real business outcomes, not just buzzwords, this is the session for you.

Andy Yeoman, CEO and Co-founder, Concirrus
Donna D’Oria, VP, Aviation Operations Manager, Applied Underwriters Aviation
Hosted by Robin Merttens, Executive Chairman, InsTech

2.25 pm - 2.35 pm

Is this it? Reflections from covering 30 years of technology and insurance

Paul Carroll, Editor-in-Chief, Insurance Thought Leadership
Hosted by Nicholas Berry, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP

2:35 pm - 2.50 pm

From map to mandate: how Cloud-Native spatial analytics is redefining insurance risk

As climate volatility accelerates, insurers face a new mandate: move beyond static risk assessments and embrace dynamic, spatially-driven decision-making. In this keynote, we’ll explore how cloud-native spatial analytics, powered by CARTO and Google Cloud, transforms risk management from reactive mapping to proactive intelligence. Through real-world examples, we’ll show how insurers are scaling the visualization of total insured value, climate exposure, and hazard impact across entire portfolios, no longer as a siloed exercise, but as a core operational function.

Learn how satellite data, hazard models, and underwriting layers are integrated at scale to drive faster, more precise decisions, and why spatial insight is now critical to resilience, solvency, and growth.

Risk is changing faster than ever. Managing it demands maps that are live, scalable, and built for the realities of a shifting climate; because today, where risk lives, maps must lead.

Gideon Singer, Ph.D., Solutions Engineer, CARTO
Hosted by Toby Kovacs, Account Director, Google Cloud

3.00 pm - 3.30 pm

Networking break

3:30 pm - 3:45 pm

What's your Move 37? How you can make the winning move with Google Agentspace

Agentic AI is THE buzzword of 2025. What does it mean and how can you take advantage of it easily and quickly?

Learn how you can empower and delight your users and customers with Google Agentspace, whether you’re a developer or a business leader.

What is “Move 37”? Google “move 37 Google DeepMind AlphaGo” to find out.

Katarina Homindova, FinTech Sales Lead – Digital Natives, Google Cloud
Hosted by Toby Kovacs, Account Director, Google Cloud

3:45 pm - 4:05 pm

The Long Tail: How Agentic AI enables deeper strategies

Agentic AI is dominating the conversation—but are you actually putting it to work? If you’re worried you don’t have the technical skillset to take advantage of this transformative technology, you’re not alone. In this session, Federato will show how new products like Orchestrate take agentic AI to the next level. Discover how you can use natural language to build intelligent, automated workflows—without writing a single line of code. You’ll walk away with a practical vision of how to bring AI to life across your organization.

Will Ross, CEO and Co-Founder, Federato

4:05 pm - 4:30 pm

The Future of Specialty Insurance - where will we be in 10 years time?

In this session, we will ask the audience and our panel for their views on where the specialty insurance market is heading. We will be canvassing views on how we collectively see the insurance model changing over the next 10 years. We will look at the individual parts of the value chain and assess whether it will change and in some cases even exist.