Strategies for Successful Engagement
Metro Toronto Convention Centre — March 9-10, 2015
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ICTC2015 was held Monday & Tuesday, March 9-10, 2015.
Our 2016 conference will be held Monday, February 29, 2016.
ICTC2015 Topics and Speakers
The 13th annual Insurance-Canada.ca P&C Technology Conference continues the tradition of content-rich, interactive sessions, presented by a faculty of senior practitioners, consultants, and suppliers.
The topics listed here generally illuminate the use of technology in the Canadian P&C insurance industry with best practices today and trends and directions towards tomorrow. The speakers, including insurance practitioners, analysts, consultants and technology providers, bring experience and thought leadership to their presentations.
Monday, March 9 Plenary Sessions Welcome (8:30am, Location: Hall 105) “The Influence of Technology on Insurance: Recently”(8:35am, 105) “The Individual Enterprise: How Mobility Redefines Business” (8:55am, 105) Cyber Risk “Cyber Risk: A Two-Edged Sword” (10:10am, 107) “Leveraging Technology for a More Dynamic Cyber Risk Insurance Product” (11:30am, 107) Business Transformation “Enabling Next-Generation Customer Engagement Experience for Insurance Providers” (1:15pm, 107) “Mobility: Why the larger strategy (and not just BYOD) is so important” (1:45pm, 107) “Modernization Beyond Core Systems” (2:15pm, 107) “How Insurers Can Win with the Internet of Things”(2:45pm, 107) Broker-Oriented Sessions “Broker Marketing Emerges Again” (10:10am, 105) “The State of our Industry and Trends Driving Innovation at Applied” (10:50am, 105) “The ‘eSolution Evolution’: Adopt. Embrace. Enjoy.”(11:15am, 105) “Brokers Winning Customers” (11:40am, 105) “IBAO Hosts – Match Game! #OWNit” (1:15pm, 105) “Survey says: Collaboration is Key” (2:00pm, 105) “Brokers and Cyber Risk” (2:45pm, 105) Plenary Session “The Digital Conundrum: Digital is Binary, Consumers are a Continuum” (4:00pm, 105) Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Awards Ceremony (4:45pm, 105) ![]()
Reception (5:15pm, Exhibit Hall 106)
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Tuesday, March 10 Plenary Sessions Welcome (8:30am, Location: Hall 105) “The Influence of Technology on Insurance: Near-Term”(8:35am, 105) “Customer Experience: The Big Picture” (8:55am, 105) “Case Study: Customers Come First in Rapid Core Systems Deployment Combining Lean and Agile”(9:35am, 105) Telematics “Telematics Beyond UBI: Value Add and Customer Engagement” (11:00am, 107) “Broker-Friendly Telematics is a Reality” (11:40am, 107) Business Transformation “How Location Can Mitigate Risk To Your Portfolio”(1:15pm, 107) “Insuring the Digital Native Without Leaving Traditional Customers Behind” (1:45pm, 107) “Operationalizing Big Data & Analytics” (2:15pm, 107) Senior Leadership Round Table (by invitation only) Core Systems “Modern Core System Data Improves Marketing”(3:15pm, 107) “Modern Core System Data Improves Underwriting & Claims” (3:35pm, 107) “Policy and Claim Systems Moving to Tomorrow”(3:55pm, 107) Transforming Customer Engagement “The State of Insurance & Customer Engagement”(11:00am, 105) “The Virtual Office: Keeping It Real” (11:25am, 105) “How E-Signatures Transform the Insurance Customer Experience” (11:50am, 105) “Policyholder Engagement: A Personalized Approach to Customer Service” (1:15pm, 105) “Insurance Service Providers and the Communications Circle” (1:35pm, 105) “From Data and Transactions to the Outside World”(1:55pm, 105) “A Blueprint for Customer-Centricity in the Digital Era”(2:15pm, 105) “Getting Engaged with Reality: Bringing Communications to Life” (3:15pm, 105) “IoT: How it May Impact the Communications Mix”(3:50pm, 105) Plenary Session & Close “The Influence of Technology on Insurance: Looking Farther Ahead” (4:30pm, 105) |
Presentation Outlines
“The Influence of Technology on Insurance: Recently”
– Mark Breading, Partner and Chief Research Officer, Strategy Meets Action
– Mike Fitzgerald, Senior Analyst – Insurance, Celent
– Jamie Bisker, Industry Analyst & Thought LeaderTechnology is increasingly an integral part of not only our personal lives, but our businesses as well. We are dependent upon it, and we look to technology to help us gain a competitive edge in almost any aspect of our business that we might choose to consider.
Hear from those who closely monitor the use of technology in our industry as they present the case for the technology which has had the most significant influence on insurance over the last two or three years.
“The Individual Enterprise: How Mobility Redefines Business”
– Christian Corso, National Leader, IBM Interactive Experience (IBMiX)
Mobile is radically changing the way we interact with the world. Everything from how we buy to how we learn to how we entertain ourselves is moving to mobile platforms with stunning speed. Mobile devices not only play an important role in how we consume information, but they also create information – allowing businesses to use sophisticated data analytics to distill insights and context from this increasing volume of digital information.
This session will explore how combining the power of analytics with the ubiquity of mobile, provides organizations with the opportunity to serve up rich data on location, within the proper context, based on user preferences and behaviors. Join Christian Corso, National Leader for IBM Interactive Experience (IBMiX) and a Partner for IBM Global Services in Canada, as he shares stories and insights that demonstrate how the mobile experience is evolving, inciting insurers to be able to provide better support to customers and partners through contextually relevant experiences.
“Cyber Risk: A Two-Edged Sword”
– Moderator: Jamie Bisker, Industry Analyst & Thought Leader
– Gregory Eskins, Senior Vice President – Cyber Practice Leader, Marsh
– Paul Hancock, Vice President and Toronto Branch Manager, Crawford Canada
– Pawel Stefanski, Value Creation Executive, IBM Global Insurance IndustryA day does not go by without new headlines of the latest cyber security breach. While insurance carriers and brokers are susceptible to these threats, cyber risk offers opportunities as well. Customers are seeking first and third party coverage to cover assets, extra expenses, business interruption, liability, and more to give themselves and their customers’ peace of mind in the event of a breach.
Marsh, Inc. has estimated that the 2014 US market for Cyber insurance in the US will be US$2 billion, up 55% over the previous year. This could double in 2015.
However, the risk assessment, underwriting, and claims management requires new skills and approaches. This session brings three cyber risk experts to explore:
- Cyber risk exposures and assessment strategies;
- Risk management and loss control approaches;
- Trends in incidents and claims;
- Overview of current products, limitations and new approaches;
- Estimates of the potential size of the market in Canada.
“Leveraging Technology for a More Dynamic Cyber Risk Insurance Product”
– Moderator: Monique Hesseling, Partner, Strategy Meets Action
– Mark Orosz, CSO & CIO, Oceanwide
– Gary Miller, Global Director, Business Development & Solution Engineering, Cyber Security, CGI
– Phil Baker, President, Creechurch UnderwritersCyber Risks are on the rise and carriers need to better understand and more effectively rate the risks their clients are facing. During this session, you will hear from a panel of experts on best practices and emerging technologies available to assess cyber risk vulnerabilities for this quickly expanding insurance market. Attendees will learn how one carrier has started to use technology to not only assess and address cyber risks facing their insureds but also to more accurately underwrite the cyber risk itself.
“Enabling Next-Generation Customer Engagement Experience for Insurance Providers”
– Roland Bloesch, Director – Financial Services, hybris software, an SAP company
The insurance industry is at a key point in the evolution of commerce, as customers engage across many digital touch-points seeking a consistent, contextual, and highly relevant experience across all of them. Innovations in omnichannel, cloud, actionable analytics, and mobile are playing a key role in transforming the customer experience. But what does the transformation roadmap look like for insurance providers and where do you start? Join your peers to hear from Brian Walker, Chief Strategy Officer, hybris software, to learn how insurers can enable the next-generation customer engagement experience.
“Mobility: Why the larger strategy (and not just BYOD) is so important”
– Graham Chalk, Manager – Enterprise Mobility Management, TELUS
The insurance industry is facing its biggest technological shift in recent times. The proliferation of smart devices and their rapid adoption by customers are prodding an industry that has traditionally adopted a “wait and watch” approach to technological progression. Mobility has become essential for keeping pace with competitors and meeting the demands of agents, the broker community and end customers.
Many insurance organizations find themselves starting with BYOD rather than focusing on what they are trying to achieve, strategically, with mobility. Rather than simply focusing on managing devices and applications, a true mobility strategy goes broader to focus on key outcomes. Getting to the value inherent in mobility also presents insurers with its share of challenges including protecting sensitive customer data, modernizing legacy systems to enable greater mobility and managing integration with carrier and MGA systems.
This session will focus on how mobility is changing the landscape and critical elements to consider in building a holistic mobility strategy.
“Modernization Beyond Core Systems”
– Peter Symons, Regional Vice President – Central Canada, Mariner Innovations
Successful replacement / remediation of core systems is an important part of an Insurance Company’s Modernization strategy, but it’s only part of the job. Policy, Claims and Billing are not the only systems that a CIO has to worry about. However, the size and complexity of those core projects often result in the smaller and less mission-critical, but still key systems not getting the attention they need or deserve.
What happens the day the last RPG or VB6 programmer in the IT shop retires?
This presentation will discuss the risks of not considering the modernization of those non-core systems and present some possible options to remediate the risk of legacy technology.
“How Insurers Can Win with the Internet of Things”
– Mike Clifton, Vice President, Cognizant
Internet of Things (IoT), sharing Economy and digital all have one thing in common. They all change the nature of risk. Leading analysts, industry pundits and venture capitalists foresee a seismic shift happening within P&C insurance. In this session we will discuss:
- Big bets being made on IoT by major industry players and its impact on insurance.
- Look at evidence from within insurance and adjacent markets – Are these signs of a new trend?
- Potential new business models for insurers based on IoT – wearables, connected home, vehicle telematics, etc.
We will also explore the opportunities for insurers to reshape the customer experience and become trusted advisors by leveraging IoT.
“Broker Marketing Emerges Again”
– Moderator: Wendy Watson, President, ORBiT
– Sherif Gemayel, President, Sharp Insurance
– Zac Sutherland, Producer, Sutherland Insurance Brokers
– Adam Mitchell, President, Mitchell and Whale Insurance Brokers
– Bill Morris, Senior Partner, NavicomAs the consumer, now mobile, digital, accustomed to accessing any information anytime, becomes increasingly representative of the market place, the old practices of buying insurance where dad did, or at the office down the street, are being challenged by the attention that digital insurance marketers are paying to them. Explore this rise to more prominence of marketing by insurance brokers with Wendy and the panel joining her.
“The State of our Industry and Trends Driving Innovation at Applied”
– Jeff Purdy, Senior Vice President – International Operations, Applied Systems
As the lines continue to blur between the physical world as we know it and the rapidly expanding digital world, there is tremendous opportunity for the insurance industry to enhance and connect digital interactions between brokers, insurers and consumers. Jeff Purdy, Applied Systems’ Senior Vice President of International Operations, will discuss the rapid changes to the insurance industry landscape, key trends driving innovation at Applied and the strategy to support brokers in the digitally connected world.
“The ‘eSolution Evolution’: Adopt. Embrace. Enjoy.”
– Pat Durepos, President, Keal Technology
When you are encouraged by a technology supplier to adopt new innovations, you may think, Why, What and How (“Why should I? What do I have to gain? How do I do it?”). It is no secret that some prefer to delay rather than embrace it. The reality is if you don’t do anything, you are ultimately falling behind. In 2015, your consumers want access now. The good news is, Brokers can do it now, do it right and do it electronically. The forward-thinking Brokers are embracing technology and leveraging it to connect consumer, brokers and insurers, on demand and in real time. In this session, Keal shares eSolutions for a successful digital relationship for all stakeholders from start to finish. Adopt, embrace and enjoy the rewards that come with it.
– Moderator: Jeff Pearce, Canadian Insurance Top Broker
– Pat Durepos, President, Keal Technology
– Jeff Purdy, Senior Vice President – International Operations, Applied Systems
– Wendy Watson, President, ORBiT
– Paul Taylor, Vice President – Sales, Brovada TechnologiesThe insurance marketplace – our customers and prospects – is there to be won, or lost. This panel will discuss the opportunities and challenges of using – today – the technologies provided by the panelists. Wendy’s passion for broker success is sure to elicit audience comments and questions, and keep moderator Jeff on his toes.
“IBAO Hosts – Match Game! #OWNit”
– Traci Boland, First Vice President, IBAO
Come on down! Taking the theme of the popular television panel game show, The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario will ask their “contestants” a series of simple, fill-in-the-blank-questions. The contestants will write their answers on index cards and reveal their answer one by one. Do their answers match? We’re intrigued to find out. Participants include representatives from a BMS vendor, a broker and an insurance company.
We all have different strategies, but do we have the common vision and foundations needed to truly OWN our future? #OWNit.
“Survey says: Collaboration is Key”
– Kevin Warren, Director of Operations, IBRI
Independent Broker Resources Inc. presents the product status of their current offerings (ingenie, fleetadvisor and the mass market solution) and the collaborative opportunities that lie within their telematics technology solution.
This session aims to reveal the opportunity for collaboration that lies before us.
– Jad McGregor, President, ABEX – Affiliated Brokers Exchange Inc.
– Serge Solski, Vice President – Business Development, Watsec Cyber Risk ManagementCyber risk is very different than most traditional business risks. Its scope and impact is often underestimated and its frequency, for the most part, goes unreported. This is why cyber is the #1 risk that businesses face today.
Key takeaways from this session will be:
- Learn what businesses need to do to help their clients effectively manage this emerging risk;
- Understand how to position your brokerage as a leader in this rapidly evolving marketplace;
- Recognize that while cyber risk presents your business with a tremendous growth opportunity, it also exposes your brokerage to a significant risk that could cripple your business;
“The Digital Conundrum: Digital is Binary, Consumers are a Continuum”
– Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, Vice President and Distinguished Analyst, Gartner
Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, Vice-President and Distinguished Analyst, Gartner, will review major consumer trends which are driving insurance innovation. Focus on the connected consumer and shifts in behavior will be explored, and discussion will center around its direct and indirect impact on the insurance business model.
“The Influence of Technology on Insurance: Near-Term”
– Mark Breading, Partner and Chief Research Officer, Strategy Meets Action
– Mike Fitzgerald, Senior Analyst – Insurance, Celent
– Jamie Bisker, Industry Analyst & Thought LeaderOver the course of recent years, technology has evolved from a necessary evil that has to be endured into a ubiquitous tool at the heart of the unavoidable truth that businesses require technology just to survive and have to embrace it in order to thrive.
Our technology and insurance experts will each make the case for a technology that is already in use and which they feel will most influence insurance this year and next.
“Customer Experience (CX): The Big Picture”
– David Smith, Vice President – Insurance Consulting, IGATE
– Carmelo Ayala, Director, IGATEThis session explores the Customer Experience challenges that cross technologies, business, and cost boundaries. Whether your challenges range from digitization, voice of the customer, single view of the customer, or contact center effectiveness; this session will provide you with a comprehensive approach for insurance utilizing business and technology optimization for success. Join us for insights into transforming your business and meeting your Customer Experience challenges.
“Case Study: Customers Come First in Rapid Core Systems Deployment Combining Lean and Agile”
– Pascal Lavoie, CIO, Industrial Alliance Auto and Home
– Philippe Lafreniere, SVP – Insurance Solutions, EIS GroupAn innovative Canadian insurer needed to refresh its core policy, billing and claims systems to support new personal lines products and an enhanced customer experience. The business mandate was urgent.
When the insurer’s Lean organization approach meet the software supplier’s Agile implementation method, the joint team delivered a high quality product in a compressed time frame. Quantifiable business impacts demonstrate the power of a clear mandate when combined with modern technologies and focused methodologies.
“Telematics Beyond UBI: Value Add and Customer Engagement”
– Phil Henville, Vice President – Product Development, Quindell
– David Gallagher, Vice President – Marketing, QuindellTo be its most effective telematics must be much more than a passive, discount-based insurance tool. Rather it needs to be proactive, and broad in scope. This presentation explores what this means, and why such actions deliver benefits beyond just the insurance sector. This includes initiatives to:
- Change driver safety, and driving patterns using frequent interactions, alerts, and incentives;
- Monitor the health of the vehicle – including service work, maintenance, and diagnostics;
- Save money – for drivers, insurers, and society through less frequent collisions and claims, reduced insurance premiums;
- Reduce risks for fleets as well as individual drivers.
This session will provide case study examples of value-add initiatives and business case data to help attendees understand the benefits to clients and insurers and the methods for successfully introducing these innovations.
“Broker-Friendly Telematics is a Reality”
– Blair Currie, Vice President Business Development, IMS
– Hugh McTavish, President, Godfrey-Morrow Insurance and Financial Services
– Lara Ghaddar, Director – Sales & Business Development, IMSThis session highlights how brokers, as well as insurance companies with broker-based distribution systems, are embracing telematics for both personal lines and commercial lines. What does this mean for the industry?
In this session, you will learn:
- How brokers are innovating with telematics.
- How insurance companies are incorporating broker networks in this emerging space.
- Opportunities in both personal lines and commercial lines.
“How Location Can Mitigate Risk To Your Portfolio”
– Moderator: Steve Sigal, Vice President – Product Management, DMTI Spatial
The challenges of the “new normal” – the trend to more and larger catastrophic losses in Canada simply means that the risk exposure in your portfolio is increasing. Find out how Canadian insurers are levering location analytics to connect to a growing world of data in order to better visualize, analyze and take action on their book of business, enabling increased productivity and better risk management.
“Insuring the Digital Native Without Leaving Traditional Customers Behind”
– Lisa Woodley, Vice President – Experience Design, NTT DATA
Profile the Digital Native and value they drive. According to Gartner, “By YE16, insurers leading in digitalization will financially outperform slower digital adopters by 100%.”
Yet, according to Gartner, “Through YE16, consumer preferences for traditional interaction will stall the use of digital insurance channels to below 30%.”
How do we reconcile this fact? Can expensive digital investments serve both sets of customers?
As illustrated in a new policyholder acquisition scenario, segmenting customers by traditional vs. digital modes of engagement becomes too much of a dichotomy.
Underlying solutions need to be in place to provide a seamless experience:
- Engaging customer education, such as gamification, to draw in Digital Natives;
- Consistent user experience, giving customer service agents and independent agents seamless views that are as advanced as customers;
- Shared data across systems to integrate across digital and traditional modes of customer interaction.
In conclusion, omnichannel models and customer experience blending across modes of engagement (regardless of new or traditional) are the power and flexibility of digital.
“Operationalizing Big Data & Analytics”
– Moderator: Rick Rass, President, Commercial Insurance Analytics
– Colin Smith, Senior Vice President of Operations, OPTA Information Intelligence
– Stan Ivankovic, Sales Consultant, Environics AnalyticsAnalytic tools have been used in insurance for to gain insight from the past and to provide guidelines for the future. These are referred to as Descriptive and Predictive Analytics.
Leading organizations are using new tools and big data to move into what has been called “the final frontier of analytic capabilities” – Prescriptive Analytics. This approach can not only anticipate what will happen, but provide an understanding of why it will happen and how to take advantage of future opportunities.
This interactive session will provide you with an understanding of current and future uses of data and advanced analytic tools, and help you plan for the operationalization of the technologies.
– Host: Patrick Vice, Partner, Insurance-Canada.ca
Facilitators:
– Jamie Bisker, Industry Analyst & Thought Leader
– Philippe Lafreniere, SVP – Insurance Solutions, EIS Group
– Mike Fitzgerald, Senior Analyst – Insurance, Celent
– Connie Bonello, Associate Partner, IBM Canada
– Tom Steckner, Client Technical Leader, IBM Canada
– Monique Hesseling, Partner, Strategy Meets Action
– David Smith, Vice President – Insurance Consulting, IGATEPlease note, participation in the Senior Leadership Round Table is by invitation only.
“Modern Core System Data Improves Marketing”
– Rich Barbarino, Director – Sales Engineering, OneShield
Modern core systems obviously store more and better data than previous generations, and the data inherently carries the essence of the insurance business itself – a detailed transaction record of all the clients and the policy and claim transactions that you and they conducted. That information can be – and should be – invaluable for marketing and sales purposes. Explore the opportunities and the challenges.
“Modern Core System Data Improves Underwriting & Claims”
– Neil Betteridge, Vice President – Strategy, Guidewire
Explore the ways that today’s core systems supporting policy and claims processing and management have been morphing as they adapt to an increasingly digital world. What is contributing to better underwriting decisions, improved claims handling and settlements and more accurate product pricing. Richer data in modern core systems provides the fuel for insurers looking to apply analytics, while embedding guidance from new analytic models in core underwriting and claims processes powers better decision-making and profitability.
“Policy and Claim Systems Moving to Tomorrow”
– Moderator: Joe Golobic, Principal, Park Lane Resources
– Mark Orosz, CSO & CIO, Oceanwide
– Neil Betteridge, Vice President – Strategy, Guidewire
– Rich Barbarino, Director – Sales Engineering, OneShield
– Fazi Zand, SVP – Product Development, EIS GroupThe members of the panel spend a good portion of their time speaking with customers, analyzing the trends and directions and developing strategies to support the marketplace their customers live in. Explore with the group the issues, challenges, opportunities that early adopters of new technologies in the modern policy and claims systems have just started to use, and those that the panelists expect will be needed in the three to five year horizon.
“The State of Insurance & Customer Engagement”
– Mark Breading, Partner and Chief Research Officer, Strategy Meets Action
Many insurers are in fact working on transforming customer engagement. What is the current state of strategies and plans for the range of initiatives that enable improvement in this area? Mark Breading will share recent research on the overall state of customer experience/engagement, including issues like customer journey mapping, single view of the customer, omni-channel, and customer communications.
“The Virtual Office: Keeping It Real”
– Francis Dion, CEO and Founder, Xpertdoc
This session examines the digital age and its impact on the way that insurers connect with their customers at each transactional touch point. Francis Dion, CEO and founder of Xpertdoc Technologies explores the world of interactive documents, web portals, and mobile technologies that are shaping business growth strategies for insurers in a virtual world. Yet even as mission-critical transactional documents move from physical production and distribution to electronic presentation, insurers must meet the same contractual, regulatory and evidentiary requirements of the traditional print and mail processes. Learn some of the ways that carriers are harnessing the speed and power of digital to drive success, while keeping it real.
“How E-Signatures Transform the Insurance Customer Experience”
– Witold Beilinski, Enterprise Solutions Architect, The Co-operators
– Andrea Masterton, Marketing Director, Silanis TechnologyToday’s insurance customer demands the convenience of doing business from anywhere, at any time and on the device of their choice. That’s why a growing number of insurance companies and brokers are adopting secure electronic signatures in order to keep processes digital while ensuring legal and compliance requirements are met.
In this session you’ll hear how one of the leading Canadian insurance companies, the Co-operators, is transforming the insurance customer experience across multiple channels. A direct response campaign combined with online e-signatures is helping the company capture a younger demographic through a slick and streamlined process; while Co-operators brokers are excited to retire their fax machines as they can now submit e-signed applications.
Through this story, we will share best practices for how to:
- Get started with e-signatures;
- Build your e-signature workflow to ensure ease-of-use;
- Ensure the security of your electronic records;
- Estimate project ROI;
- Promote adoption of e-signatures by brokers.
“Policyholder Engagement: A Personalized Approach to Customer Service”
– Jennifer Wilson, Solutions Marketing Manager – Insurance & Healthcare Global Solutions, Interactive Intelligence
Keeping up with customer demand for personalized and efficient communications can be time consuming and overwhelming. By building a holistic communications process to capture and organize customer interactions (calls, emails, chats, social and mobile interactions) while combining them with content and processes, insurers can provide customer service representatives with the information they need to engage in effective conversations. Further, a system that can learn from a customer’s communications habits will aid in the development of targeted communications. This session will explore the benefits having a policyholder engagement plan in place, including ROI, improved resource management, increased self-service, and providing a competitive customer experience.
“Insurance Service Providers and the Communications Circle”
– Sean Cassidy, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Benchmark IME
– Mathew Raymond, Principal, Director of Operations and Clinical Services, Benchmark IMEIn the P&C insurance space, insurers, MGAs and Brokers alike have a wide variety of services they use from a myriad of providers. In many cases, those providers deal with multiple insurance practitioners, and with the same customers, often on behalf of the insurance practitioner. In this session explore the challenges and opportunities that arise in communications and engagement between practitioner and provider, and three or more ways when all participants and the the end customer are invited into the communications circle.
“From Data and Transactions to the Outside World”
– Neil Betteridge, Vice President – Strategy, Guidewire
– Fazi Zand, SVP – Product Development, EIS GroupWith data and transactions resident in the “core” systems of policy, claims and billing, how can these systems not be an integral part of communicating with the customer. The two primary approaches to “connecting” are via an integrated interface with a Customer Communications Management (CCM) platform and the use of portals. Explore the positioning and evolution of these core systems as the organizations using them address the digital and engagement issues.
“A Blueprint for Customer-Centricity in the Digital Era”
– Kevin Meadows, Managing Director – Financial Services Operating Group, Accenture
Today’s consumers expect meaningful, engaging experiences that are highly relevant, personal, and consistent across channels.
That puts Insurance carriers and brokers at a cross-roads: either reinvent themselves to compete in the new distribution arena for the new insurance customer, or become a utility, providing superior underwriting skills and capital to existing and new distributors.
If the choice is to become truly customer-centric, the challenge is to develop the corporate ability to truly understand the customer’s stated and tacit needs, and to address them by providing highly personalized and remarkable experiences that are relevant to each individual’s preferences, circumstances and point in time. The customer-centric insurer must think and build its strategy, products, distribution channels and operations around its customers. It should clearly define its vision and develop new business and operating models capable of delivering these kinds of experiences, and of significantly increasing the value of every targeted customer and of the company as a whole.
“Getting Engaged with Reality: Bringing Communications to Life”
– Moderator: Doug Grant, Partner, Insurance-Canada.ca
– Sean Cassidy, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Benchmark IME
– Francis Dion, CEO and Founder, Xpertdoc
– Lisa Woodley, Vice President – Experience Design, NTT DATA
– Jennifer Wilson, Solutions Marketing Manager – Insurance & Healthcare Global Solutions, Interactive IntelligenceAs organizations become increasingly digital, every one has the challenge of adapting ever more rapidly to those changes in order to maintain a competitive edge, or to at least avoid falling further behind. Discuss with these who have learned through experience and with their partners and customers the lessons, issues, opportunities and challenges of communicating with a wide variety other parties while being prudent in risk management and regulatory rules and guidelines.
“Internet of Things – How it May Impact the Communications Mix”
– Moderator: Doug Grant, Partner, Insurance-Canada.ca
– Catherine Kargas, Vice President, MARCON
– Greg Purdy, Managing Partner, Pathway Partners, Ltd.; getClarity, Inc.
– Bryan Bedford, Strategic Projects Manager & Privacy Officer, Peel MutualThe Internet of Things has become a darling of media hype. But it is also real, and it seems to be growing more quickly than even some of the enthusiasts anticipated. From early versions of telematics used for UBI and home and business alarm systems connected to a manned control centre, the concept now has [arguably] three main deployment areas – mobility, property and wearables.
This session will summarize briefly some of the IoT trends and directions. It panel will focus primarily on the issues, challenges, opportunities for those in insurance with respect to customer engagement and communications.
“The Influence of Technology on Insurance: Looking Farther Ahead”
– Moderator: Monique Hesseling, Partner, Strategy Meets Action
– Mike Fitzgerald, Senior Analyst – Insurance, Celent
– Jamie Bisker, Industry Analyst & Thought LeaderLook to the future: brand-new and upcoming technological advances are poised to alter the shape of insurance in all kinds of ways. Technology may revolutionize how we deal with customers and market to prospects. Who will insure automated vehicles and driverless cars which are less prone to accidents than the automobiles of today? Micro-insurance is suddenly a practical approach; will it grow or simply reshape the market?
Insurance practitioners must try to anticipate not only what technologies will reshape the world around us and how, but how to deploy and execute internally in order to energize employees and delight customers.
Find out which technologies our panel members believe will have the biggest influence on your business through the second half of this decade and beyond.
Speaker Bios

Carmelo Ayala, Director, IGATE
Carmelo Ayala is the Director of Customer and User Experience at IGATE Global Solutions Ltd. In this role, he is responsible for experience strategy, organizational growth, new client acquisition, and client relationship management.
Mr. Ayala has spent the past 20 years working to educate Fortune 500 companies on the benefits of understanding customer experience and user experience, and has helped many of those companies develop and implement CX and UX strategies. Prior to joining IGATE, Carmelo advised companies like General Electric, Halliburton, Rotary International, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Allstate and State Farm on Brand and Digital strategies, helping to develop in-house departments to support such initiatives. Mr. Ayala holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Computer Science from Fordham University.

Phil Baker, President, Creechurch Underwriters
Phil Baker is the president of Creechurch Underwriters, a leading specialty insurance underwriting firm focusing on emerging technology firms and knowledge based businesses. Phil oversees the day-to-day operations of Creechurch including underwriting, strategic initiatives and business development.
Phil joined Creechurch in 1997 as its first underwriter and rejoined in 2010 following several years as a senior executive at another multinational insurer leading its financial and professional services division. Phil has underwritten most types of specialty insurance including errors & omissions, directors’ and officers’ liability, cyber insurance and kidnap and ransom insurance.
Phil has twenty years’ experience underwriting specialty and commercial insurance. He is a member of the Professional Liability Underwriters Society (PLUS) and he participates in industry seminars and conferences throughout Canada. Phil holds an honours BA from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Creechurch Underwriters was founded in 1996 and is one of the leading underwriting management companies in Canada, offering specialized insurance to a wide spectrum of business sectors. Part of a large global insurance and reinsurance organization with 60 offices on four continents Creechurch underwrites exclusively on behalf of large A rated multinational insurers. Creechurch products include MediaTech Liability, Cyber & Privacy Insurance, Management Liability, Life Sciences Liability, Professional Liability, Employment Practices Liability, CGL and Umbrella Liability, Fidelity and Property Insurance.

Rich Barbarino, Director – Sales Engineering, OneShield
Richard Barbarino has 20 years of experience in the property and casualty market working with both insurance companies as well as software vendors.
Rich joined OneShield Insurance Software in 2007 and has held several key positions including solution consulting, product management and sales.
Currently, Rich is responsible for OneShield’s global sales engineering division.

Roland Bloesch, Director – Financial Services, hybris software, an SAP company
Bio forthcoming.

Bryan Bedford, Strategic Projects Manager & Privacy Officer, Peel Mutual
Bryan has co-hosted web seminars, led numerous educational sessions for the broker distribution channel and presented at leading insurance conferences such as IASA & ACORD/LOMA. He has contributed to published articles on Underwriting Automation and Real-Time Adoption in key trade journals.
Bryan is involved and committed to key industry initiatives in the insurance technology arena and has a strong understanding of current trends. Most recently he has been driving adoption and increased usage of real-time technology tools in insurance distribution workflows. Prior to starting his career in insurance, Bryan co-founded an Internet/New Media company and worked with a non-profit group in New York City.
In addition to his BSc, Bryan graduated with honours from both the Fellow Certified Insurance Professional [FCIP] program and the Canadian Risk Management [CRM] certification. He was also awarded the Centenary Excellence Award as the top FCIP student across Canada in 2008-2009.

Witold Beilinski, Enterprise Solutions Architect, The Co-operators
Witold is an Information Systems professional with 20 years of experience who demonstrates extensive technical abilities and knowledge of business. As an Enterprise Architecture leader, he is a team player committed to the achievement of company goals, best practices and high quality standards.
In previous roles, Witold was a Senior Solution Architect at Shoppers Drug Mart and a Senior Manager, Projects at AstraZeneca Canada.
Witold earned an M.Eng., Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Toronto and an M.A.Sc., Biomedical Engineering from Warsaw University of Technology and is registered P.Eng. with PEO.

Neil Betteridge, Vice President – Strategy, Guidewire
As Guidewire’s Vice President Strategy, Neil Betteridge plays a key role in shaping Guidewire’s strategic direction. Neil is also responsible for Guidewire’s PartnerConnect Solution partner program. Previously, Neil held the role of Guidewire’s Director of Product Marketing where he was instrumental in the marketing strategy, positioning, and direction of Guidewire’s product suite for P&C insurers. Neil has over 25 years of business technology experience with the last two decdes years focused on solutions in the insurance industry. Prior to Guidewire, Neil was with Skywire Software (now Oracle), as Vice President of Product Management. Neil has also served in development, product management, strategy and marketing leadership roles with several other technology provider and user organizations. In addition to his professional experience, Neil holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science from McGill University.

Jamie Bisker, Industry Analyst & Thought Leader
Jamie Bisker is an insurance industry analyst specializing in property & casualty (P&C) insurance. He brings over 29 years of experience across insurance lines of business having held positions as an IT specialist, research director, consultant and global thought leader.
Before his current analyst role, Jamie worked most recently for IBM Research as the Research Relationship Manager for Insurance where he was responsible for providing a two way conduit between advanced technology research, scientists and the realities of the global insurance industry. He also worked for IBM’s Institute for Business Value as the Global Insurance Industry Leader developing thought leadership, and as the Global Non-Life Segment Manager for the Sales & Distribution division.
Mr. Bisker garnered additional experience in the insurance and financial services industries as a senior analyst and research director during his five year tenure at TowerGroup, a research and advisory company serving the financial services industry. Prior to TowerGroup, he worked for 14 years across the life, P&C, and workers compensation lines of business at Nationwide Insurance. Jamie held IT and advanced technology positions in life actuarial, life operations, P&C as well as workers compensation insurance area within Nationwide.
Jamie is a futurist as well as a subject matter expert in insurance, artificial intelligence/cognitive computing and the application of advanced technology to drive innovation in financial services. He is an accomplished global speaker on advanced technology, the insurance industry and other topics at public and industry forums, and writes for insurance periodicals and online media.

Traci Boland, First Vice President, IBAO
Insurance was never meant to be Traci’s career. She attended school to become a police officer and ended up being a competitive figure skating coach. Traci has coached teams at the Canadian National Championships and also has coached International competitors for Team Finland and Team USA.
After returning to Ontario in 2001, Traci decided to start working for her father at his insurance brokerage. In looking to find that spark again with what she wanted to do for a living, Traci found that spark with Insurance when she joined the IBAO Young Brokers Council in 2004. She hasn’t stopped learning and being involved since then.
Traci received her CAIB (Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker) designation as well as Future Leaders Certification and Unrestricted license from our governing body. She began the process of purchasing the business from her father in 2012 and has a great partnership with her father’s former partner’s son. It is truly a family-run business.
Traci holds the position of 1st Vice-President of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario.

Connie Bonello, Associate Partner, IBM Canada
As a seasoned management consultant, Connie Bonello brings several years of global executive level experience. She is currently an Associate Partner at IBM and provides analytics solutions and services to enable innovation, business insight and financial performance to financial service organizations.
Ms. Bonello has deep experience in strategy, governance, business case development, information management, business analytics as well as risk management and regulatory compliance. She has provided consulting services to a number of financial service organizations across Europe, the Americas and Asia
Ms. Bonello is a sought-after speaker on the topic of big data and analytics. Select speaking engagements include: 2014 Financial Executive International Annual Conference, University of Toronto, Rotman School of Business Big Data Expert Series, Evanta CFO Executive Summit and the Toronto Research Management Symposium. She has also been invited to speak at the 2015 American Institute of CPAs Financial Planning and Analysis Conference.
Ms. Bonello holds an Honours BA in Economics and a MBA. She is an avid road cyclist and world traveler.

Mark Breading, Partner and Chief Research Officer, Strategy Meets Action
Mark Breading, a Partner and Chief Research Officer at SMA, is a recognized expert in advanced technologies and their implications for the insurance industry. His specialty areas include the customer experience and analytics. He has exceptional knowledge and experience in many dimensions of the customer/producer experience, including omni-channel, customer communications, mobile technologies, CRM, digital content management, and contact centers. He has broad experience and insights in data and analytics, including business intelligence, advanced analytics, and big data.
Mark has more than 30 years of insurance and information technology experience in a variety of leadership roles. Mark is well known for his perspectives on innovative uses of technology in insurance and the future of the insurance industry. Mark leads the research program at SMA, and has exceptional knowledge and experience in all aspects of advanced technologies and solutions that provide value across the insurance enterprise – including analytics, customer communications, enterprise content management, telematics, and mobile technologies.
He has held both technical and business roles in sales, consulting, marketing, and business strategy, including roles as IBM’s Global Insurance Strategist, Global Insurance Marketing Leader, and Director of Global Executive Conferences for insurance and banking. In these roles, he has advised C-level executives around the world.
Mark is a graduate of Bucknell University with a BSBA in Accounting and a graduate of IBM’s Systems Research Institute with a major in Software Systems. He also holds an MBA in International Business from Liberty University.

Sean Cassidy, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Benchmark IME
Sean has been active in the insurance claims handling space in various capacities since 1997 and was one of the pioneers of Canada’s first online claims management system launched in 1999. Sean has expertise in claims, claims process improvement, vendor programs, claims IT systems, and document management. He enjoys working with insurance companies to tie all of these components together with their various systems and processes in order to arrive at the ideal combination customized to an insurer’s own unique needs. Sean joined Benchmark IME in December of 2013 and is putting his experience, coupled with Benchmark’s advanced technological capabilities, to work to improve the AB claim workflow for insurers in Canada.

Graham Chalk, Manager – Enterprise Mobility Management, TELUS
Graham leads the TELUS team that is responsible for Enterprise Mobility Management Platforms as well as other services and tools that help organizations simplify their mobility lifecycle management. In his 10 years with TELUS, Graham has focused exclusively on business mobility and delivered solutions in M2M, Mobile Computing, Wireless Broadband and Global Roaming. Active in the Canadian wireless marketplace for more than 20 years, Graham has also worked with other leading Canadian brands such as Microcel and BlackBerry. Graham has a Master’s of Business Administration from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Arts Honors from Carleton.

Mike Clifton, Vice President, Cognizant
Mike is leading the emerging business group within Cognizant’s Insurance Practice to bring innovative solutions to market. He is known as a senior leader and strategist with broad expertise in assessing operations and business challenges, developing strategies, and delivering results.
Mike brings extensive experience in driving innovation and change for business transformation. He has a diverse background in the insurance, financial services and technology industries (software and services) focused on delivering global initiatives that align corporate targets. His specialties include IT modernization of infrastructure and legacy applications and strategy. He has worked closely with large scale and geographically distributed workforces to enable change. Prior to Cognizant, Mike held C-level positions at the Federal Bank of Boston, Hanover Insurance Group, as well as several startups.

Christian Corso, National Leader, IBM Interactive Experience (IBMiX)
Christian is the national leader for IBM Interactive Experience (IBMiX) and a Partner for IBM Global Services in Canada. He has been working in the Contact Centre space since the early 90’s and he has been specializing in the Transformation of Contact Centre with an emphasis on Financial Services sector for the past 10 years.
During his consulting career, Christian has provided services to clients in numerous industries, including telecommunications, banking, insurance, capital markets, media and entertainment, and retail. Christian is a recognized thought leader in the contact center and multi-channel customer relationship management area. Christian strategic thinking and experience is leveraging numerous projects where technology was used as a catalyst for business transformation, and agent of change. For the past eight years Christian has worked to define strategic plans for some of the largest banks and insurance companies in this industry. Ultimately, his contribution to his clients successes have been based on achieving the right balance between cost reduction, supporting the generation of new revenues, and improving overall customer experience through comprehensive transformations.
Christian is also deeply involved in his community, as a competitive soccer coach in Unionville, where he lives with his wife Cécile, and his three daughters Mélissa, Emilie and Danielle.

Blair Currie, Vice President – Business Development, IMS
Blair Currie brings a wealth of global marketing knowledge and experience to IMS. A digitally advanced global marketer known for his innovation and creativity, Blair’s twenty five years of experience in both client side and advertising agency roles has lead him to work with Fujitsu, McCann Erickson, Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB, TBWA and Aegis Media. He is highly knowledgeable about IMS UBI Intelligence and leads a team of creative professionals in the development of marketing initiatives to make IMS the world leader in connected car technology.
Blair holds an MBA in marketing and international business from the Rotman School of Business as well as a bachelor of science, from the university of Toronto. He has devised marketing initiatives for Coca-Cola, Mars, Nestle, P&G and Pepsi across the globe, from bases in Canada, the United States, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam and the UAE (Dubai).

Francis Dion, CEO and Founder, Xpertdoc
Francis Dion is the CEO and founder of Xpertdoc Technologies. He is a leading voice in the domain of business process improvement and document automation.
Entrepreneur, author, worldwide consultant, and advisor to leading companies, Mr. Dion has been helping clients for over 20 years to reach and exceed their business goals through the application of industry best practices.

Pat Durepos has been in the insurance industry for over 40 years as a broker since 1971, and President of Keal Technology since 2004. Pat is the Chairman of Alliance Assurance Inc., a brokerage that employs 53 people with annual revenues of $34,000,000 in Grand Falls, New Brunswick. Keal Technology is the second largest provider to the Canadian independent broker channel as measured by the number of brokerage management software users. Keal employs 80 people with clients in every Canadian province, develops four products and maintains numerous alliances to fulfill its client needs. As a Canadian broker, Past President of the NB Broker Association and IBAC (Insurance Broker Association of Canada), Pat is intimately aware of the sophisticated nuances of the Canadian insurance industry and effectively leads the Keal Technology team in exclusively supporting the Canadian independent broker distribution channel.
Pat has been the recipient of numerous awards, including Atlantic Canada Brokers’ Man of the Year in 1987, Broker of the Year in 1992 awarded by Atlantic Canada Brokers as well Business of the Year presented by the New Brunswick Economic Council in 1998. In 1999, he was the recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for New Brunswick. In 2006, Durepos was honoured as the recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Atlantic Provinces with a national leadership citation.
Pat’s other businesses include Broadway Place Ltd., Advantage Financing Inc., and GRD Air Inc.

Gregory Eskins, Senior Vice President – Cyber Practice Leader, Marsh
Based in Marsh’s Toronto office, Greg’s current responsibilities include advising clients on risk issues related to cyber and privacy, developing client specific product solutions, and negotiating with insurers on terms & conditions.
Greg is also charged with assisting Marsh offices/colleagues across all industry segments in relation to their cyber related efforts and needs. In addition to that role, Greg is also responsible for managing the accounts of international clients including Chartered Banks, Life Insurance Companies, and Technology organizations.
Since joining Marsh in 2006, he has been part of the Financial Institutions & Professional Services Industry Practice, and now leads Marsh’s Cyber Risk Practice. Greg has extensive experience in Directors and Officers Liability, Professional Liability, Financial Institutions Bonds, Technology E&O, and Cyber/Privacy Liability placements.

Mike Fitzgerald, Senior Analyst – Insurance, Celent
Mike Fitzgerald is a senior analyst with Celent’s Insurance practice and is based in Cary, North Carolina. He has specific expertise in property/casualty automation, operations management and insurance product development. Mike’s research focuses on billing, business process and operations, social media use in insurance, and distribution management.
Mike brings extensive industry experience to the analyst role. Prior to joining Celent, he was vice president of enterprise underwriting solutions at Zurich North America, where he led the evaluation of technology alternatives to support a new underwriting product development process. He held a number of positions at Royal & Sun Alliance, including a field operations regional executive role. His technology implementation experience includes the installation and maintenance of billing, automobile policy administration, and workers compensation automation. In the 1990s, Mike led an initiative which delivered one of the first global online technical underwriting and claims learning platforms in the industry.
Mr. Fitzgerald has a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Davidson College and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

David Gallagher, Vice President – Marketing, Quindell
David Gallagher is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Quindell. He has diverse experience in the energy, technology and insurance businesses where he has led B2C and B2B marketing efforts. Current efforts are focused on the launch of Quindell telematics solutions across North America.
David has presented at numerous events, including the Insurance Accounting and Systems Association.

Sherif Gemayel, President, Sharp Insurance
A native Calgarian, Sherif Gemayal is the founder and president of Sharp Insurance, the fastest growing insurance brokerage in Alberta. Since Sharp’s inception in 2009, it has grown from a two-person business to a brokerage that employs forty highly-trained individuals, and is also ranked among Canada’s top ten insurance brokerages. Sherif strongly believes in using the latest technology platforms to stay competitive in the insurance industry which has led to the creation of his software company, Sharp Mobile Technology Limited. The development of the iMobileBroker app and the BrokerScape portal has witnessed significant results in reducing calls, increasing sales, and promoting customer loyalty. Sherif continues to work on developing new software that seeks to improve and transform the insurance brokerage industry in Canada.

Lara Ghaddar, Director – Sales & Business Development, IMS
Lara Ghaddar is an experienced global business development and technology leader, having held various positions and international roles with GE-Water, BlackBerry, Geotab.
At IMS, Lara has spearheaded our Wireless Carrier Partnerships as well as our Canadian business development and growth. Lara holds a Masters of Entrepreneurship & Innovation and a Bachelor in Software Engineering from McMaster University.

Joe Golobic, Principal, Park Lane Resources
Joe is a principal and founder of Park Lane Resources, an IT consulting firm specializing in Insurance and Reinsurance. Prior to Park Lane Resources, Joe spent over 25 years with Munich Reinsurance where for the last 15 years was deeply involved in Munich’s Global Projects. Joe led the team who developed Munich’s first Global Web base application that was used in 6 continents and over 50 offices around the world. At the conclusion of that project, Joe was given the responsibility to build and implement an enterprise level Reinsurance system for Underwriting, Claims, Billing, Accounting and regulatory reporting for each country where the system was used. That system was implemented for over 20 offices in 5 continents.
Joe started his IT career with IBM on the technical side as a Customer Engineer but after a few years shifted his focus to the software side. His Primary Insurance experience has been with Canadian General Insurance (now part of Aviva), Temple Insurance. Joe has been actively involved in a number of standards organizations (CSIO, ACORD).

Doug Grant, Partner, Insurance-Canada.ca
A keen analyst of computer and networking evolution for more than 30 years, Doug is cognizant of the changes that are occurring in the Internet insurance world and their impact on the industry.
He 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.
Doug is a founding partner in Insurance-Canada.ca, a leading Canadian insurance resource centre for consumers and insurance professionals alike. As a frequent industry speaker, columnist and consultant, he brings a unique perspective to his sessions and discussions.
Paul Hancock, Vice President and Toronto Branch Manager, Crawford Canada
Bio forthcoming.

Phil Henville, Vice President – Product Development, Quindell
Phil Henville is the Senior Vice President of Solutions for Quindell. He has over 20 years experience within the insurance industry. For the past 2 years he has led Quindell’s Solution Development efforts, as Quindell has developed a leadership role in the Canadian insurance telematics market. Prior to that successfully directed over 30 agent connectivity, agent portal, statistical reporting and data management implementations.
Phil recently spoke at the Telematics Update conference in Chicago and has presented at past Insurance-Canada.ca events.

Monique Hesseling, Partner, Strategy Meets Action
Monique Hesseling, a Partner at SMA, is focused on developing effective roadmaps and helping companies expand their business opportunities. Recognized internationally for her knowledge and expertise, she is assisting SMA customers across the insurance ecosystem with strategies and implementations – helping them to support business growth and operational efficiencies by applying technology and analytics. Drawing on her international experience, Monique brings actionable ideas for innovation and opportunity, guiding insurers and solution providers on their transformation and innovation journeys.
With more than twenty-five years of experience in the insurance industry, Monique has held senior leadership positions in marketing, product development, sales, operations, R&D, and Business Intelligence for companies such as the ACE Group, Zurich Insurance Group, ACORD, and Mutual of Omaha. She has worked with insurers in the USA, Europe, and around the globe.
Throughout her career, Monique has helped companies profitably grow their businesses based on data insights and analytics. She has worked on numerous BI initiatives, data warehousing, customer insights efforts, market segmentation, and product development projects. Her success in assisting in global development and expansion planning is widely recognized. She draws on her global experience when applying her expertise in different markets.
Monique is a Dutch citizen and a permanent resident of the USA. She holds a BBA from Nyenrode University in the Netherlands, studied Organizational Psychology at the University of Leiden, and holds a Masters in Applied Science in Environmental Policy and Management from the University of Denver.
Monique is an active volunteer and participant in industry efforts around the world, and she is a frequent speaker at insurance events worldwide.

Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, Vice President and Distinguished Analyst, Gartner
Kimberly Harris-Ferrante is a Vice President and Distinguished Analyst in Gartner Research, where she is responsible for monitoring the business and technology trends within the global property and casualty and life insurance industries. She has specialized in insurance technology within Gartner for over 17 years, working with global insurers on business transformation, IT innovation, and emerging technologies. She specializes in business strategies and technologies to support digitalization, distribution optimization, customer experience management, next-generation Web delivery, claims transformation and analytics/big data. She is an active participant in Gartner’s BI/analytics and sourcing research, as well as managing the worldwide insurance agenda for Gartner.

Stan Ivankovic, Sales Consultant, Environics Analytics
Stan Ivankovic is a Sales Consultant in the finance, insurance, travel and telecommunications practice at Environics Analytics. Stan helps clients improve the development, execution and measurement of their direct marketing strategies, works closely with marketers in the Finance and Insurance sector to deepen their customer insights using the most up to date and widest array of data sources available, and leverages industry leading researchers and analysts to provide unique solutions to business problems.

Catherine Kargas, Vice President, MARCON
Catherine Kargas, MBA, is a business strategist with over 20 years of experience providing consulting advice to executives in the insurance, transportation (with an emphasis on alternative propulsion technologies) and energy sectors. She is the Vice President of the management consulting firm, MARCON, and the Vice Chair of Electric Mobility Canada.
Catherine has worked with numerous players in the P&C space, including insurance carriers and brokers. She is a member of the Insurance 2023 group and an Insurance-Canada.ca collaborator.
Philippe Lafreniere, SVP – Insurance Solutions, Exigen Insurance Solutions
Philippe Lafreniere has been in the insurance and insurance technology field for 18 years. Philippe started his career in insurance sales and underwriting for a national insurer, followed by positions in systems and product development. As a software executive, Philippe has held leadership positions in Product Management, Product Marketing and Sales for various leading software vendors. During his technology career he has worked with both large and small insurers globally to assist them in deploying modern technology solutions and undergoing legacy transformation.
Philippe is a graduate of the Insurance Institute of Canada with the designation of C.I.P. He is an accomplished speaker, having presented at multiple insurance industry conferences. Philippe has also contributed to several print articles on underwriting, legacy-modernization and policy administration in several trade journals.

Pascal Lavoie, Chief Information Officer, Industrial Alliance Auto and Home Insurance
Pascal Lavoie joined Industrial Alliance Auto and Home Insurance (IAAH) team in 2007 and now serves as a Chief Information Officer. In addition to be a member of the team leading IAAH’s largest-ever technology project, the replacement of the insurance system, Mr. Lavoie is in charge of projects related to technological orientation and selection of technological solutions. Mr. Lavoie has 14 years of work experience in technology. Previously, Pascal worked for companies such as Nurun and was trusted with consultation mandates at Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) and Canadian National (CN). He completed two Bachelor degrees: one in Computer Science at the University of Sherbrooke, and another one in French literature at the University Laval.

Andrea Masterton, Marketing Director, Silanis Technology
Andrea is the Corporate Marketing Director for e-SignLive by Silanis. In this role, she oversees industry marketing strategy, market awareness and demand generation within key industry segments, specifically insurance and financial services. Andrea’s 15+ years’ experience in the electronic signature market includes producing hundreds educational webcasts and seminars, authoring dozens of white papers as well as active participation in industry electronic signature and process improvement workgroups such as ACORD and the Life Brokerage Technology Council (LBTC) and the Life Insurance Direct Marketing Association (LIDMA).

Jad McGregor, President, ABEX – Affiliated Brokers Exchange Inc.
Jad McGregor, President of ABEX Affiliated Brokers Exchange, has been one of the insurance industry’s leading speakers and avid contributors in the area of cyber risk management and niche product offering for standard and misunderstood risks.
Jad is a founding member of C3RM – Canadian Centre for Cyber Risk Management, a not-for-profit association comprised of businesses, educational institutions, industry associations, and other stakeholders dedicated to improving cyber risk awareness and developing better cyber risk management technologies, programs and practices.
Prior to joining ABEX in 2006, Jad’s experience includes several years with a national insurance company and working in the London market at Lloyd’s.
Mr. McGregor holds his HBSc from University of Guelph, as well as Chartered Insurance Professional and Certified Risk Manager designations.
ABEX Affiliated Brokers Exchange is an insurance wholesaler (MGA) providing niche products and insurance solutions to brokers across Canada. ABEX provides brokers with capacity and specialty facilities to create out of the box solutions for standard and misunderstood risks.

Hugh McTavish, President, Godfrey-Morrow Insurance and Financial Services
While some may argue the point, Hugh McTavish is an insurance broker. Before coming to this realization in 2002 when Godfrey Morrow was formed, Hugh spent much of his working life in the Corporate Insurance world at companies like Safeco, Dominion of Canada, Western Union, ING, and Manulife. At these companies Hugh held such positions as Marketing Representative, Marketing Manager, VP Marketing, RVP, VP Commercial, and Regional Director of Pensions.
Hugh has overseen the growth of Godfrey Morrow over the past 12 years from 0-$30 million in premium through acquisition and organic growth. Hugh holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business and a BA in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.

Kevin Meadows, Managing Director – Financial Services Operating Group, Accenture
Kevin Meadows is a Managing Director in Accenture’s Financial Services Operating Group and is currently responsible for the Financial Services Practice in Canada. He is also the Global Client Account Lead for two industry leading insurers. He previously held positions as the U.S. West Insurance Market Group Director, Distribution Transformation Lead for North America, as well as the Personal Lines Industry Director for Growth and Strategy.
Kevin has 24 years of Financial Services experience with Accenture. He has worked extensively with commercial lines and personal lines carriers, whole sale & retail brokers, specialty insurers, life insurers, banking institutions, and wealth management companies. He has helped clients transform their organizations across strategy, new target operating models, distribution channel management, customer experience, underwriting effectiveness, product management, claims and policy administration processing.

Gary Miller, Global Director, Business Development & Solution Engineering, Cyber Security, CGI
Gary Miller is a Global Director responsible for the business development and solution engineering aspects of CGI’s Global Cyber Security line of business. For 18 years, Gary has been assisting government and industry across the globe shape appropriate cyber security strategies to support their changing business.
Having held executive leadership positions in cyber security strategy, general management, product management, and marketing & communications, Gary brings a diverse perspective to the modern cyber security challenge. His unique balance of business and cyber security experience allows him to work with senior leaders to plot the most effective way forward in today’s complex environment.
Adam Mitchell, President, Mitchell and Whale Insurance Brokers
Bio forthcoming.
Bill Morris, Senior Partner, Navicom
Bill is a Senior Partner at Navicom and has executive responsibility for Navicom’s insurance and hospitality business. Navicom’s goal is to help its clients understand customer decision making, create differentiation and build competitive advantage.
Bill has been extensively involved in a variety of different market research and customer measurement initiatives within the Canadian Insurance Industry for over 20 years. He has been working closely with IBAO and Ontario brokers since 2001.
Most recently Bill has played a leadership role in the development and facilitation of the Beyond Best in Class Transformational Change Workshops and worked closely with IBAO to develop Understanding the 21st Century Consumer and Connecting in the 21st Century workshops.
Bill and Navicom remain committed to working diligently with key insurance industry stakeholders to develop new strategies and tactics to ensure the ongoing success of the broker distribution channel.

Mark Orosz, CSO & CIO, Oceanwide
Mark has over 20 years of hands-on experience in application systems design and development, strategic planning, information systems and network design, security auditing, prevention planning, and business solution development.
He has worked with networks and customers of all sizes, from SME’s to fortune 100 companies and successfully managed teams of technical staff while operating his own network and security consulting firm . He also has particular expertise in the Microsoft development environment, has Microsoft Certification and holds a CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) designation.
Mark manages all of Oceanwide Inc’s IT Operations and IT Security globally ensuring that Oceanwide continues to evolve as a world-class provider of on-demand software with a robust, reliable and secure infrastructure.
Jeff Pearce, Canadian Insurance Top Broker
Bio forthcoming.
Greg Purdy, Managing Partner, Pathway Partners, Ltd.; getClarity, Inc.
With more than 25 years of experience in the insurance technology marketplace, Greg brings a unique perspective on how to build a successful company. In 17 years as C.E.O. of Applied Systems Canada Greg oversaw the growth in the Canadian marketplace from 200 brokers to over 1200. In 1992 Greg added the responsibility for international development and successfully established the UK operations with The Agency Manager UK.
In 2008, Greg formed Pathway Partners Ltd. with Michelle Cole-Kennedy to advise brokers on a wide range of operational and strategic topics with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions.
In 2011 Greg played a key role in the launch of getClarity Inc, a business intelligence company that focuses on bringing sophisticated demographic and statistical analysis to businesses of all sizes. With over 1.7 million records of new data on a monthly basis getClarity identifies timely market opportunities and as a result maximizes the return on investment.
Greg is the founder of the Canadian Insurance Strategy Group, which can be found on LinkedIn.

Jeff Purdy, Senior Vice President – International Operations, Applied Systems
Jeff is responsible for Applied’s Canadian and UK operations. Purdy began his Applied career in the company’s Canada operations in 1989. In 1993, he was named president of Applied Systems Canada, assuming responsibility for Canada product development, sales, implementation and customer support. In 2002, Purdy relocated to Applied’s U.S. headquarters as vice president of Diamond Implementation and Account Services, departments within the carrier division then operated by the company. Since 2004 Purdy has been in charge of primary sales and in June of 2012, Purdy returned to the Canadian marketplace as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Applied Systems Canada.

Rick Rass, President, Commercial Insurance Analytics
Rick has been focused on the development of portfolio management, operational & tactical analytics and technology solutions to drive the ease of use, growth and profitability for Commercial insurance business, for brokers and insurers.
Rick has held senior roles with national responsibility at RSA, Aviva Canada, Aviva plc in the UK and Dominion/Travelers. He was also the business architect and chief strategist for the Travelers Business Insurance Portal, that won the 2014 Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Award for Insurers.
Rick is currently serving as president of Commercial Insurance Analytics.
Mathew Raymond, Principal, Director of Operations and Clinical Services, Benchmark IME
Mathew Raymond is a Principal and the Director of Operations and Clinical Services at Benchmark Independent Medical Examinations Inc. He is a Regulated Health Care Practitioner with over 15 years’ experience. He received his Masters of Clinical Science degree from Western University and also holds a Masters of Business Administration from Ivey Business School, Western University.
Mathew is a strategic and accomplished entrepreneur with the ability to combine clinical expertise with business operations and has a proven track record of creating, capturing, and renewing value.

Steve Sigal, Vice President – Product Management, DMTI Spatial
Steven Sigal is Vice President, Product Management for DMTI Spatial where he is responsible for driving DMTI’s product strategy and execution to establish the strategic vision and lead the execution of new features and products. Steven leads the Product Management team’s mandate of gathering and prioritizing product and customer requirements, working with the Technology Group to define the product vision and to deliver products that enable our customers to harness the benefits of Location Economics.
Steven has over 15 years experiences working for a variety of software vendors serving the insurance market place helping insurance companies increase revenue, mitigate risk, increase operational efficiency and, reduce costs through Location Intelligence, Policy Administration, Rating, Underwriting, Product Development, Document Generation and Content Management.

Colin Smith, Senior Vice President of Operations, OPTA Information Intelligence
Colin has more than 18 years of experience in business planning, execution, operations and information technology in continuously progressive management positions. He is recognized for his creative, innovative and collaborative approach to business and brings a well-rounded perspective to the value of information in the insurance industry. Colin currently holds the position of Senior Vice President of Operations at Opta Information Intelligence, an SCM company dedicated to helping drive profitable growth for clients by creatively deriving and delivering business value through information and innovation.

David Smith, Vice President – Insurance Consulting, IGATE
David has over 30 years of international industry experience and is responsible for IGATE’s North American insurance consulting. David’s focus with many clients examines the re-alignment of business operations and IT operations. With industry pressures to reinvent the business operations due to social media, customer centricity, cost pressures, and outmoded systems, the guidance to move from current state to future state is critical. Transformational strategies and innovative solutions provided by IGATE consulting are a timely option for insurers given their current cost and operational dilemmas. His years of business domain and technology experience provide customers unique insights into their business and IT issues and the full gamut of business/IT solution options.

Serge Solski, Vice President – Business Development, Watsec Cyber Risk Management
Joining Watsec in 2012, Serge focuses his efforts on growing partnerships primarily within the insurance industry, both in Canada and the United States.
Serge also brings extensive experience in and building effective and engaging cyber risk awareness programs. While at Research in Motion, Serge architected their security awareness program designed to create a baseline of understanding in all employees and reduced the risk exposure of those who handled the highest valued assets. His efforts resulted in the foundation of a globally scalable, multi-layered communications and training program whose messages and solutions resonated with the many varied audiences at RIM.
Serge has been involved in the tech industry for 20 years, from start-ups to large corporations.

Tom Steckner, Client Technical Leader, IBM Canada
Tom Steckner is a Client Technical Leader at IBM Canada and Open Group-certified IT Architect, with over 30 years experience in IT. His clients are some of Canada’s largest insurance and wealth management companies, whom he helps define and clarify their business requirements and then designs IT solutions to address them. Since joining IBM in 2000, he had various roles in the WebSphere brand, before joining IBM Software Group’s client-facing architect team in 2003, and then the client technical leader team in 2005. Prior to joining IBM, Tom had various leadership technical and architecture roles, including partner at one IT services and product firm which was acquired.

Pawel Stefanski, Value Creation Executive, IBM Global Insurance Industry
Pawel A. Stefanski is an executive in charge of Value Creation on the IBM Global Insurance Industry team. In this worldwide cross-organizational role, he works with IBM teams and our Business Partners to develop and bring to market innovative solutions for major insurance companies. He is responsible for a portfolio of strategic IBM initiatives in the areas of core insurance transformation and risk management, and has additional expertise in several areas, including industry innovation, social business and insurance product distribution. Throughout his 20+ years of IBM career, he had a variety of business development, management, alliances, consulting and architect roles. His industry expertise is focused on insurance, with background in few other industries. Pawel has M.Sc. in Computer Science with Honors (from Warsaw University) and a number of professional certifications in project and alliance management. His Twitter handle is Pawel@IBM.
Zac Sutherland, Producer, Sutherland Insurance Brokers
Bio forthcoming.

Peter Symons, Regional Vice President – Central Canada, Mariner Innovations
Peter joined Mariner in February 2014, as Regional Vice President for Central Canada. Peter is responsible for leading the growth of Mariner services and solutions in Ontario, including Application Modernization, professional IT consulting, staff supplementation and outsourcing services. Peter has over 30 years experience in the Financial Services Sector.
Prior to joining Mariner, Peter was President of OARBIC Inc., a boutique consulting company focused on the P&C industry. Prior to that, Peter worked with Castek, Teleglobe/CGI, Paxus and Applied Systems – all software vendors – and was responsible for account management, the development of their products and, mostly, the delivery of very large implementation projects.
Mariner Innovations is Canada’s leading supplier of Application Modernization Services. In addition, Mariner provides professional IT consulting, staff supplementation and outsourcing services to the Financial Services Industry, Telecom, Healthcare, and Government organizations. Mariner provides organizations with the right skills, tools and methodologies to deliver successful transformation projects on time and on budget.
Mariner is headquartered in Saint John, NB, with regional offices in Regina, Toronto and Halifax.
Paul Taylor, Vice President – Sales, Brovada Technologies
Paul Taylor is Vice President of Sales at Brovada Technologies. Paul’s career focus has been on strengthening the independent broker and assisting in ensuring their distribution channel is effective and competitive. At Brovada, he works to develop connectivity networks of insurers and brokers, introducing or improving workflow and communication systems to minimize time required and maximize efficiency of data movement and integrations.

Patrick Vice, Partner, Insurance-Canada.ca
Patrick is a founding partner of Insurance-Canada.ca with more than 25 years of experience enabling technology and electronic commerce in the risk management and insurance communities.
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.
Prior to his current role, Patrick held positions of increasing scope and responsibility with insurance companies, consulting firms, and technology solution providers. He served as Director of Information Technology for the Frank Cowan Company Limited, Canada’s premier provider of public entity risk management and insurance services, where he carried management responsibility for all information technology development, infrastructure, and support.
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.

Kevin Warren, Director of Operations, IBRI
Kevin began his career path in the insurance industry in 1994 as a Fire Underwriter for State Farm Insurance. He moved quickly to the Sales Distribution side as an Agent, Sales Consultant and Field Executive responsible for expansion and success of brand new Agents across Canada. In 2010, Kevin joined Risk Management Services as Senior Vice President of Operations. It was there where he gained extensive operational experience that led to profitable, sustainable growth for the organization.
As Director of Operations for Independent Broker Resources Inc. (IBRI), Kevin is responsible for the development, implementation and monitoring of broker products and services strategies in the marketplace. Primary among these initiatives will be ensuring that IBRI is recognized as an industry leader in the creation of premier products addressing current, emerging and future Broker needs.
Kevin’s passion is collaborating with teams to deliver value, results and operational excellence. His longstanding experience in the broker channel along with his creativity and innovation makes Kevin a definite asset to the IBRI team.

Mitchell Wasserman, CEO, Oceanwide
Mitchell co-founded Oceanwide in 1996 and has led the company as CEO since its inception. At Oceanwide, Mitchell has focused on designing and promoting the company’s market leading insurance SaaS solutions. Mitchell has chaired the ACORD Ocean Marine standards committee since 2006 and has spoken at IUMI, AIMU and IASA events on important industry issues.
Prior to Oceanwide, Mitchell co-founded Bizware Computer Systems and led the company to become the leading provider of PC-based business management software for the Retail Petroleum and Convenience Store industries. Mitchell has also co-founded several other entrepreneurial ventures in technology, real estate and hydro-power, and he sits on the board of several companies. He has served as the President of the Montreal chapter of the Young Entrepreneur’s Organization and was named High-tech Entrepreneur of the year by Pro-Montreal in 2005.
Mitchell holds degrees in Software Engineering and Public Accountancy from McGill University and he is a Chartered Accountant.
Wendy Watson, President, ORBiT
Wendy has been in the insurance industry for more than 30 years, covering both the direct writer and brokerage sides of the business. Having garnered experience in underwriting, developing system user requirements and conducting systems testing with a direct writer, Wendy made a move to the brokerage side, where her abilities landed her as Vice President of Operations for a highly regarded full-service brokerage.
Wendy has represented brokers as a Beta broker for Applied Systems, then as an active member on the Canadian Interface Ad Hoc Committee of ASCNet for Applied Systems. Playing an active role in the Real Time Broker Expo hosted in Cambridge on September 16th, 2008 lit a fire to really drive real time in Canada. This passion to continue educating brokers on what is possible through the use of Real Time functions resulted in the birth of ORBiT.
As President of ORBiT, Wendy has facilitated a significant increase in collaboration amongst participants in the broker distribution channel. This collaboration is key to the ongoing development of Real Time best practice workflows, which in turn enable the education of brokers and other stakeholders. Turning what could be into what is!

Jennifer Wilson, Solutions Marketing Manager – Insurance & Healthcare Global Solutions, Interactive Intelligence
Jennifer is the Solutions Marketing Manager for Interactive Intelligence’s Insurance and Healthcare solutions. This concentration started with the acquisition of AcroSoft Corporation, a leading provider of insurance focused content management and workflow automation products, in May of 2009. Prior to AcroSoft’s acquisition, Jennifer had the opportunity to serve in a variety of roles in her 7 year stint with the company. Her broad insurance software experience includes quality assurance, client support, client implementations, and product training. Most recently, Jennifer has worked closely to help direct Interactive Intelligence’s product positioning for the insurance industry, ensuring that the solution suite satisfies the business needs and requirements of carriers and affiliated service providers. Jennifer holds a BA from the University of South Carolina, and currently works in the Columbia, SC Interactive Intelligence office.

Lisa Woodley, Vice President – Experience Design, NTT DATA
Lisa Woodley, Vice President of Experience Design at NTT DATA, has more than 15 years of experience successfully leading user experience strategy and design programs for clients across industries.
Lisa is an adjunct faculty member of Rutgers University’s Center for Innovation in Education, responsible for developing and conducting a User Experience Design class for Rutger Universitys’ MBS program.

Fazi Zand, SVP – Product Development, EIS Group
Fazi Zand is one of the early formulators of EIS Group’s insurance software solutions and is responsible for product strategy and development. Fazi’s executive roles at EIS Group also included marketing and business development leadership. With over 25 years in IT management, marketing, strategy, architecture, project and product management, Fazi can draw on experience on all aspects of the information technology value chain. In 2008 he helped guide EIS Group’s spin-off from Exigen Group, which he had joined in 2000 from Creditland, a financial services internet marketplace and B2B portal, where he was VP of Technology. Prior to Creditland, he was an IT executive with CSAA, one of the largest AAA membership clubs. Fazi has a MS in Technology Management from Pepperdine University.