ICEF2019: Faculty

• Session: A Peek Into The Future of Insurance

Tim Attia is the CEO and Co-Founder of Slice Labs, a technology startup and the insurance engine leading tomorrow’s cloud-based, on-demand digital services ecosystems. Using AI, machine learning, and Ph.D. behavioral science expertise in Slice’s Insurance Cloud Services (ICS) platform and Slice Mind capabilities, the company is enabling insurers and technology companies to build truly intelligent and intuitive pay-as-you-go digital insurance products protecting the insured anytime and anywhere.

Tim began his career with a large technology and management consulting firm and has since continued to work with major global insurance carriers on technology and distribution.

Learn more about Slice Labs in the InsurTech Spotlight or visit slice.is for more info.

• Session: TBA

David A. Crozier is president and chief executive officer of Everest Canada, and chair of the Investment Committee of the Board of Directors. He and his team are responsible for all primary underwriting and claim operations of Everest Insurance® in Canada.

Dave was previously senior vice president, operations, at Economical Insurance responsible for all field underwriting operations, specialty divisions, subsidiaries, claims, and sales & marketing. He was president, Economical Financial, chairman of Family Insurance Solutions of Vancouver, and vice chairman of Mattei Insurance Services of Seattle.

He joined Economical in 2006 from Chubb Insurance Company of Canada, where he had most recently been vice president, prairies. Through his career at Chubb he held positions of increasing responsibility that include manager of an energy, property & marine department in Vancouver, regional marketing & sales manager for western Canada and vice president of personal insurance in Ontario. He began his career with Continental Canada (now Northbridge Insurance) in 1992 as a commercial underwriter in the Toronto and Vancouver offices.

Dave was co-founder and a member of the board of directors of Slingshot Communications Inc., a marketing and communications company. He recently concluded his term as a member of the Governing Committee of the Nuclear Insurance Association of Canada.

With a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Guelph, Mr. Crozier also holds both his Chartered Insurance Professional and Canadian Risk Management designations.

• Session: Taking The Leap – And The Risk – Of Innovation

Aly spent his early career as a financial advisor at TD Bank. Intrigued by the way technology and innovation were shaping financial services, Aly decided to join an employee benefits startup as the first employee. Aly helped scale the company into acquisition by one of Canada’s largest third-party administrators for group insurance, Benefits By Design (BBD).

Aly served as Managing Partner at BBD before launching Finaeo in 2016. Aly is also the Co-Founder of TriCelerate, a not-for-profit tech incubator to help youth move from idea to product.

Finaeo is a digital marketplace that connects insurance carriers, advisors and clients through one platform to accelerate policy fulfillment. For more about Finaeo, please visit finaeo.com.

• Session: Taking Action For Your Insurance Future

John Elliott has more than 20 years of experience overseeing large international technology teams within the financial services and insurance sectors. Since he completed a career as an officer in the US Army, his roles have included senior IT and business roles, focused on insurance, financial services, and risk management.

John is currently the CIO and SVP of RSA of Canada.

Over these diverse assignments, John developed deep expertise in IT strategy and execution, infrastructure and operations management, application development management and transformation. He holds a Bachelors in Mathematics from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a Masters of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters of Science in Mathematics from MIT and a Masters in Computer Science from NYU Polytechnic.

• Session: Insights From Building a Brokers' Commercial Lines Analytics Platform

A self proclaimed ‘insurance data geek’ Susanna recently spear-headed the development of Policy Works latest product offering, a cloud-based Analytics tool for commercial brokers.

Having been a commercial broker for over ten years prior to joining Policy Works, Susanna intimately understands challenges facing the insurance industry and broker distribution channel. Since joining Policy Works in 2003, Susanna has helped develop our industry-leading implementation process, built an outstanding client services team of professionals earning the excellent reputation Policy Works has with its customers today.

In addition to an interest in commercial insurance data quality, Susanna’s focus as Director, Partner Services ensures successful delivery of all third-party partner services (onboarding, education, and support) throughout the Policy Works network.

• Session: Leadership and Speed to Accelerate a Path to the Future of Insurance

Denise Garth is Senior Vice President Strategic Marketing responsible for leading marketing, industry relations and innovation in support of Majesco’s client centric strategy, working closely with Majesco customers, partners and the industry.

She is a recognized Top 50 InsurTech Influencer and industry leader with both P&C and L&A insurance experience as a CIO and business executive with deep international ties in Asia and Europe through her ACORD leadership role. Denise is an acknowledged strategic thinker, innovation leader, international speaker, and author of thought leadership and articles regarding the key issues and opportunities facing the industry today to prepare for the future.

Prior to joining Majesco, Denise held business and technology senior executive roles with leading insurance companies, including Mutual of Omaha, CUNA Mutual and Century Cos. of America. At ACORD, she was vice president, standards and membership driving ACORD’s international expansion and market presence. While at Innovation Group, she was EVP, strategic marketing and global head of market strategy where she re-established the company’s position through market-driven strategy and solutions. Most recently she was Partner and Chief Digital Officer with Strategy Meets Action, leading the Innovation Practice evaluating emerging technologies, outside industry trends, and innovation and their implications and opportunities for the industry.

Denise is a Cum Laude graduate, with a BS in Math and Computer Science from Central College in Iowa, MBA work at the University of Northern Iowa and attended various executive leadership programs.

• Session: Taking Action For Your Insurance Future
• Session: Taking The Leap – And The Risk – Of Innovation

Doug Grant has been helping the insurance industry in Canada make effective use of technology for many years. From a business-impact and application perspective, he has helped individual companies and cross-industry groups in both Property & Casualty and Life insurance.

The progress of technology from the the basement computer room to the desk-top terminal and PC, to portable laptops to smartphones and tablets and now BYOD has been a fascinating journey. Processes extended to business partners through connected systems has continued to improve efficiency and timeliness.

The web brought the customer directly into the equation. Social functions have enabled new levels of connectedness, triggering the current focus on customer experience and engagement, which can paradoxically both enhance loyalty and increase freedom of choice.

Doug is a founding partner in Insurance-Canada.ca, a leading Canadian Insurance resource centre for consumer and insurance professional alike. He organizes and hosts regularly scheduled Insurance-Canada.ca conferences and other events.

Married with two sons, Doug is a recent migrant from house to condo (too much stuff – not enough space), both in the heart of downtown Toronto.

• Session: Why Insurance?: An Industry Whose Time Has Come ... At Last

Chris Houston is a seasoned consultant who helps his clients bring about fundamental change in the organizations they lead. His experience spans 30+ years as a consultant, coach, mentor and facilitator of senior leaders across North America, Western Europe and Asia.

Chris is a ‘natural’ consultant, and to him, the work is a calling, a craft and a passion. He brings a creative mind, demand for results and a caring heart to his clients and the issues of business strategy, leadership development, organization design and change management. Chris serves by challenging and strengthening to build “hopeful realists” – and loves the intricate and often intensely personal process of helping leaders and their organizations grow and thrive, even in extremely challenging conditions. Many of his consulting relationships last for years, transitioning through the natural stages of growth as needs and conditions change. For many clients, the benefits of an experienced ‘third party’, who remains close enough for relevance yet removed enough for objectivity, has proven to provide a valuable resource to help through challenging times and achieve positive results.

Chris took his MBA (Gold Medallist) at the Ivey Business School in London, Ontario, in 1987, before joining the General Management practice in the Toronto office of Woods Gordon, the Canadian consulting affiliate of Arthur Young International (now EY), leading a variety of strategic planning and organizational change assignments for a number of large clients. In 1990, Chris joined Change Lab International, and in 1994, he and colleague Morrey Ewing formed The Change Alliance; since then, Chris has worked primarily as a ‘sole practitioner’ – often partnering with colleagues ‘inside’ his client organizations.

• Session: What Can The Insurance Industry Learn From Retail Evolution?

Susan Johnston is a Managing Director in Accenture’s Financial Services Practice, responsible for the Insurance Practice across Canada.

With over 33 years of experience in financial services, Susan has helped clients with business transformation for claims and case management, policy administration and product management, and software implementations across multiple vendor products. She is passionate about bringing innovative solutions to clients and has a deep understanding of workers’ compensation, disability management, and P&C insurance.

Susan brings together the suite of technology capabilities such as Cloud, Digital, Distributed Ledger, Advanced Analytics, and CRM, with human capital management services to fully enable her clients’ success. She takes pride in guiding clients through their transformation journeys.

• Session: Adopting A Digital-First Mindset To Improve CX And Efficiency

Warren Lederer provides the day-to-day leadership and management for Madison Advisors aligned with the mission and core values of the company. His responsibilities include collaborating with the management team to develop and implement document workflow strategies that enable Madison Advisors’ clients, their sales professionals and customer engagement teams to better understand, anticipate and respond to their organization’s needs and the needs of their customers.

Warren has 25 years of executive and management experience in the document management marketplace. Prior to joining Madison Advisors, he was the chief relationship officer at EDM Americas. In this role, Warren oversaw the internal processes and resources for effectively managing and growing client relationships. Warren’s extensive background also includes being the founding President of On-Demand Technology Solutions; Vice President of Sales for Personix, output division for Fiserv Corporation; and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Vestcom International (now RR Donnelley).

Warren earned a B.S. in public policy and management from State University of New York, Buffalo and an Executive Management Certification from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.

Madison Advisors specializes in offering Fortune 1000 companies context-specific guidance for a range of content delivery strategies, particularly those addressing enterprise output technologies and print and electronic customer communications. Madison Advisors’ analysts and consulting professionals are dedicated to technology and market research that is delivered through short-term project engagements as well as articles, publications and presentations. In addition, the company’s hands-on experience developed through assisting its clients with deploying selected solutions adds a practical dimension to their approach not typically found with consulting generalists or other analyst firms.

• Session: TBA

Gerald Legrove is the managing partner of Insurance-Canada.ca.

He is president of DGA Careers, an executive recruitment firm serving the Canadian P&C industry, and a past member of the Alumni Board of the Rotman School of Business, and is also former president of the Toronto Junior Board of Trade.

Gerald has held senior executive positions with a successful commercial insurance company and a large international insurance brokerage firm. He holds a Bachelors Degree in commerce and an MBA.

• Session: What Insurance Platforms Can Do for Insurers and for Platform Sponsors
• Session: Taking Action For Your Insurance Future

Donald Light is a Director in Celent’s North America Property/Casualty Insurance Practice. His coverage areas include: technology and business strategy; connected car and connected home, autonomous motor vehicles, insurance platforms, InsurTech, voice strategy, digital, the Internet of Things, the new architecture for insurance solutions, and due diligence for insurance technology M&A transactions.

His recent consulting work includes: a due diligence assignment for a Private Equity investor considering the acquisition of an insurance technology firm; a build or buy analysis for core system modernization, and integration of an acquisition of an insurance technology firm.

Donald is widely quoted in the press and media, including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, NBC and CBS Evening News, CNBC, and National Public Radio. He is a frequent presenter at industry conferences including those sponsored by IASA, ACORD, and PCI.

Prior to joining Celent, Donald was an insurance subject matter expert with Sapient and for his own firm, where he advised senior managers at major insurers and other financial institutions. He has also held a senior research position in Allstate’s Research and Planning Center.

Donald has a B.A. in economics from Princeton University, and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

• Session: Put The Wow! In Customer Experience Through Automation

As SVP of Market Strategy at Adlib Software, Scott has built his career in content management by driving industry initiatives related to data capture, archival, knowledge management, Enterprise Content Management and File Analytics.

Scott regularly engages Adlib's customers and partners to analyze and assess latest trends in the ECM space, and stays up to speed on industry best practices by attending global engagements and industry events. He is also a member of several boards and speaks at several industry events each year.

Scott has an Honours BA from the University of Toronto. Outside of the office, Scott shifts gears to enjoy time with family and friends, traveling the world and -- of course -- pursue his love of all things automobiles.

• Session: Taking The Leap – And The Risk – Of Innovation

Neil Mitchell is the co-founder and president of Player’s Health Cover, and an InsurTech investor and advisor, and a mental health advocate.

Neil is a former member of Marsh Canada's National Executive & Management Committee and has previously served as the National Practice Leader for Marsh Canada's Consumer & Commercial Practice, consisting of Small to Mid-Sized Enterprises, Commercial Programs (inclusive of third party distribution), Group Home & Auto and High Net Worth/VIP Personal Lines. In leading the practice, his primary functional tasks included, business development, client management, program/product development, retail and third party distribution and systems management.

• Session: Insights From Building a Brokers' Commercial Lines Analytics Platform

Steve Pieroway is Vice President of Marketing & Sales at Policy Works Inc. Policy Works' core product is the leading commercial management system (CMS) in the Canadian market, helping commercially focused brokers standardize and grow their commercial lines business. Earlier this spring, Policy Works launched phase 1 of its cloud-based analytics tool. Combining rich, standardized policy data with workflow activity data, the analytics tool gives management an out-of-the-box solution to generate commercial lines insights.

Steve began his career in advertising (don't hold this against him) only to land at Policy Works Inc in 2003. Since then, he has held different roles from Director of Marketing to VP, Client Services & Marketing, and VP, Revenue Generation. He currently sits on the Policy Works executive team.

• Session: Taking The Leap – And The Risk – Of Innovation

Sachin Rustagi is Director of Digital Innovation at Gore Mutual. He is responsible for leading a team focused on developing an incubator and digital innovation lab. His team’s objectives include collaborating and investing in the insurtech & broker ecosystem, while exploring and testing new insurance product ideas.

Prior to joining Gore Mutual, Sachin held various roles that focused in digital strategy, CRM & marketing automation, customer acquisition and e-commerce innovation. He has over 13 years of experience at large enterprises and startups across different industries, including telecommunications, financial services, retail and technology.

Sachin holds a B.Math from the University of Waterloo and has a Masters in Management Innovation from Queen’s University.

• Session: What Can The Insurance Industry Learn From Retail Evolution?

Iliana Oris Valiente, CPA, CA, CBP (Certified Bitcoin Professional) is a Managing Director at Accenture where she oversees both the Canada Innovation Hub and the Canadian blockchain practice, working with clients to support their strategic transformation journeys leveraging the latest emerging technologies.

Iliana is widely credited for being a trailblazer in the blockchain industry, leading initiatives to conceptualize and build blockchain solutions across industries – focusing on financial services, supply chain, health and public sector. Iliana has strong views on how the network effects of this technology will impact multiple industry verticals, and how it will radically change many status quo business models. Most recently, she founded ColliderX, a non-profit blockchain research and development organization, where she also chairs the board of directors. Iliana is also a contributor to the Tapscott-led Blockchain Research Institute, an Associate at the Creative Destruction Lab, and on the Emerging Leaders Advisory Council for CPA Ontario.

Based in Toronto, Iliana graduated summa cum laude from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and is a certified public accountant and chartered accountant (CPA,CA).

Iliana is a published author and sought-after speaker, having presented at a number of North American and European conferences and events. She has been featured in print and online media, radio and television outlets including CNBC, CBC, NPR, BetaKit, IT World Canada, American Banker, and was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People In the Blockchain Industry by Coindesk, the main news publication in the industry in 2017.

• Session: TBA

Patrick has more than 25 years of experience enabling technology and electronic commerce in the insurance and risk management communities. Patrick is a Founding Partner of Insurance-Canada.ca, Inc., the premier source for Canadian information on insurance & technology.

Patrick currently serves as Insurance-Canada.ca's Director of Products and Services, and sits on the company's Advisory Board. He edits the Intersection, Insurance-Canada.ca's blog, produces and hosts on-line and in-person events, and develops bespoke offerings for Insurance-Canada.ca's clients.

Throughout his career, Patrick has held senior management positions with insurance companies, distributors, consulting firms, and technology solution providers. He serves on boards and committees of various industry associations.

Patrick authors articles for leading trade publications and has spoken at insurance and technology conferences in Canada, the US, UK, Europe, and Bermuda.

Bobbi and Patrick Vice enjoy living and working in the heart of downtown Toronto, Canada.