This month the team at Artificial ran all over London for a myriad of industry events that showcased the best talent in insurance (and pasta).

PwC InsurTech Scale Programme

Kicking off the events was the PwC InsurTech Scale programme, an action-packed day full of various talks and seminars. Ollie Fox, part of the Business Development team at Artificial, said: ‘It was great to hear [Raise and Scale Programme manager] Prashill Shah’s talk on seed investments and Series A funding, particularly as much of the cohort is developing at a time when Series A is becoming more relevant’.

Midway through the day, Ollie and the team dialled in to the Artificial offices for Part One of our Lunch & Learn session, ‘An Introduction to AI’, where one of our Data Scientists Henri Maurer educated the team on the theories and practicalities behind AI and Machine Learning.

We try and hold presentations like this regularly as they’re a great way to involve the whole Artificial team - remote workers who may miss out on the regular goings on in the office can tune in or even hold their own talk.

After the Lunch & Learn, the team headed back to the PwC masterclasses where Larry Sharpiro (founder and ex-CEO of Surly) spoke of his experience with the PwC scale up programme last year and the positive impact it had on his business before its recent sale.

Another interesting seminar, by PwC’s Tax Director Tilly Harries, used ABBA to explain employment law (yes, you read that right).

MarketMinds Cooking Night

Later that week, MarketMinds hosted a couple of the Artificial team for a cooking night at the Underground Cookery School in Old Street.

The evening, organised by Sebastian and his quickly-growing team at MarketMinds, involved making a two-course meal of spaghetti Bolognese and a chocolate dessert. Although insurance and cooking are not usually related, it was great for the two teams to get to know each other better and to network with more of the insurance ecosystem.

Here’s Artificial’s Head of Data Alexis Renaudin trying his hand as a pastry chef:

Marsh & McLennan Rising Professionals event

Another big event attended by the team was Marsh & McLennan’s Rising Professionals. Once again the day was full of interesting talks, seminars and networking.

One of the main speakers was Trevor Maynard, head of innovation at Lloyd’s. His talk centred around why we need to innovate in the insurance sector and the demands of a new generation of consumers. The big theme was ‘change’ and how younger customers expect a seamless experience. 

The team also learned how the economy is fuelled by technology and that, in order to adapt, the industry needs those who have a blend of both new and traditional skills. This includes integration of the Internet of Things, described by Maynard as the ‘fourth industrial revolution’.

A talk that was particularly interesting for the Artificial team was on the theme of InsurTech and its relevance in the modern insurance industry, led by Sebastian de Zulueta from MarketMinds.

Also speaking on the panel was Mark Dowds from Trōv, who touched on how millennials have become the dominant generation in the workplace and how InsurTech is a sector that is using the skills of this younger group to innovate and do insurance differently.

PwC Scale Executive Evening

Later in the month, co-founder of Artificial David King spoke at a special PwC Scale Executive Evening where representatives from the insurance industry had the chance to showcase their companies.

King spoke mainly about Artificial’s offering to the insurance industry and how we are improving the lives of brokers, underwriters and MGAs with our suite of digital solutions.

It was great to network with such renowned talent from the industry and hear from the other seven speakers who are all reinventing in the industry in their own way - it is surely rare to hear from so many insurance innovators all in one room! 

Aspall Tennis Classic

Rounding out the busy schedule was a slightly less serious outing to the Hurlingham Tennis Club for the Aspall Classic. The team watched Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis stun Canada’s Felix Auger Aliassime 6-4 6-3 in the blazing sunshine.

Overall the month was fascinating and varied, and our team learned a lot - particularly the need for innovation and adapting to the next generation of consumers. Talks on the importance of the millennial generation and their demand for a new, frictionless experience only serves to highlight the work that the Artificial are doing and proves that our work will be part of the industry moving forward.