Five Big Moments that Moved the Needle at Earnix Excelerate 2024

We’re already looking forward to this year’s Earnix E^xcelerate conference – and hope you’ll make plans to join us in London this September.

As we plan to make this year’s conference the best yet, we thought we’d look back at five key moments from Earnix E^xcelerate 2024, both as a way to share of top highlights and help you see what might be in store for you this year.

If you prefer, you can still access and view all of our session presentations from last year’s conference as on-demand video replays. With insights into insurance trends, technology perspectives, case studies, partner-best practices, and more, this information can help any insurer transform their business.  

The following are five highlights from Earnix E^xcelerate 2024.

1. “Innovation Compass,” Robin Gilthorpe, CEO, Earnix

“The performance of the insurance industry as a whole has not yet reached its full potential,” said Robin Gilthorpe in his presentation, “Innovation Compass.” “Insurance plays a vital role in protecting investments and fostering growth, yet individuals and economies remain underserved, partly due to the industry’s technological lag.”

Today’s insurers face growing demands for real-time agility, operational efficiency, and rigorous compliance – needs that outdated legacy systems were never designed to meet.

Yet the gap between what’s needed and what’s possible is closing. With the right tools, insurers can rapidly move from idea to execution, launching scalable, market-ready solutions that are fully aligned with regulatory and strategic goals.

That’s where a comprehensive, real-time platform becomes critical. By harnessing advanced, proven technologies, insurers can gain real-time precision in pricing, underwriting, and risk selection. This isn't just about keeping up – it’s about leading with confidence, cutting time-to-value, and realizing sustainable growth. It’s a new category of capability – and it’s what Earnix delivers.

Learn more about Gilthorpe’s vision for a modern, tech-driven insurance industry in the full session replay.

2. “The Biggest Opportunity,” Peter Blanc, ACII, Head of M&A, Howden Group Holding

“$300-$400 billion worth of natural catastrophes go uninsured every year, a protection gap of nearly 70% since only 30% of these events are insured,” said Peter Blanc, ACII, Head of M&A at Howden Group Holding in his presentation, “The Biggest Opportunity”. “This really is the biggest opportunity for us as an insurance industry if we successfully bridge that gap.

Blanc shared bold, real-world initiatives where Howden is already making that shift. From the world’s first volcano catastrophe bond – covering 29 volcanoes – to a microinsurance program for 800 Rwandan farmers in partnership with the One Acre Fund, Howden is targeting areas where traditional insurance rarely reaches.

He also called for urgent adaptation to today’s climate realities, where once-in-a-century storms now strike every decade. Howden’s Humanity Insured initiative, for instance, raises funds to bring protection to the most vulnerable communities worldwide. The message was clear: insurers, brokers, and underwriters have the tools and responsibility to close the gap.

Watch the full session to see how Blanc and Howden are turning global risk into opportunity.

3. “Harnessing Innovation,” Definity

In Canada’s mature, highly competitive, and tightly regulated insurance market, innovation isn’t easy – but it’s essential. That’s why Definity has made bold moves to integrate cutting-edge technology and strategic partnerships into the core of its operations.

In their session, “Harnessing Innovation,” senior leaders from Definity – Tatjana Lalkovic, SVP & Chief Technology Officer, and Paul MacDonald, EVP, Personal Insurance & Digital Channels – shared how the company is driving measurable business impact through a strategic blend of technology innovation and strong ecosystem partnerships.

This innovation is embedded in Definity’s culture and central to its success as a digital leader in Canada’s P&C insurance space.

The discussion also highlighted how Definity pairs emerging technologies with cross-functional collaboration to accelerate results. By embracing new ideas and aligning teams around a shared vision, the company has been able to deliver customer-centric solutions faster and more effectively.

Ultimately, the session underscored how thinking beyond traditional approaches – and investing in both technology and people – can help insurers not only keep pace with change, but lead it.

Interested in watching this insightful partner panel? You can access and view the presentation here.

4. “Unlocking Earnix Innovation,” Be’eri Mart, Chief Product Officer, Earnix

“What more can the Earnix platform do?”

 This was the question that Be’eri Mart considered before accepting the role of chief product officer at Earnix, and one that served as the basis of his presentation, “Unlocking Earnix Innovation.”

In this session, Mart shared a behind-the-scenes look at the latest and upcoming innovations driving the Earnix platform forward. His presentation focused on how the platform has evolved to meet the increasingly complex needs of financial services organizations, offering users more value and greater capability.

Mart outlined six key areas of product advancement, including deeper analytics with Earnix Labs, AI-powered enhancements through Earnix Co-Pilot, and greater platform flexibility. He also highlighted broader support for different user roles – everyone from data scientists to sales teams – along with expanded decision types and new products built to serve additional lines of business.

For those looking to stay ahead of the curve, the session served as a clear reminder of how Earnix continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in pricing, analytics, and product innovation.

See how Mart breaks down what’s next for Earnix in the complete on-demand session.

5. “The Role of AI in Insurance,” Aaron Wright, Director of Strategy, Earnix

“When insurers get hype and reality confused when it comes to AI, it threatens to slow innovation, it confuses the prioritization your company does, and it makes day-to-day jobs even harder,” said Aaron Wright, Director of Strategy at Earnix in his presentation, “The Role of AI in Insurance: Separating Hype from Reality.”

The use of AI in the insurance industry has been a hot topic in recent years, with many companies eager to incorporate AI into their business operations. However, there is often a disconnect between the hype surrounding AI and the reality of what it can deliver.  

In the session, Wright presented important insights by defining AI’s role in insurance, providing practical use cases, and presenting recommendations for successful AI implementations while avoiding many common pitfalls.

For example, effective AI implementation should start with manageable, small-scale projects. This strategy allows organizations to test new AI applications and uses in a controlled, focused manner – consider a single line of business or a specific geographic region – before expanding further.

Such a phased approach helps insurers achieve quick wins, learn from their approach, build internal confidence, and gather important insights into the overall process – all of which is important to scale AI initiatives successfully. By prioritizing projects that offer substantial value yet may be easier to execute, companies can build a solid foundation and success in early AI implementation.

AI will certainly be a main topic at this Earnix E^xcelerate, especially as we’re now moving into agentic AI and other innovations that will drive new transformations.

Watch the full presentation for practical, hype-guide on implementing AI that works.

Join us for Earnix E^xcelerate 2025

While these highlights make last year’s Earnix E^xcelerate a standout event, this year promises to raise the bar even higher. Registration is now open, so mark your calendar and join us in London, September 10-11.