Inside the World's Largest InsurTech Community

James BenhamOn this episode of the InsurTech Geek Podcast, we're talking about the world's largest InsurTech community with Tom Robinson from InsurTech Insights. The InsurTech Geek Podcast is all about technology that's transforming and disrupting the insurance world. We'll be interviewing guests and doing deep dives into specific tech we see changing the industry. We're taking you on a journey through insurance tech, so enjoy the ride and geek out. This episode of the InsurTech Geek podcast is sponsored by Smart Compliance, Certificate of Insurance Management and Tracking. Explore this efficient approach to compliance at smartcompliance.co.

And we are back with another great episode. With me today, my illustrious co host, the most interesting man in insurance from San Antonio, Texas, weighing in at no, we're not gonna do that. I'm just kidding. Rob Galbraith. Rob, how you doing? Doing well, James. Doing well. How you doing? Welcome back to Texas. It's kind of I'm glad to be back to Texas. I I did record the last episode from from across the Pacific Ocean. I was over in Hawaii with my my daughter. The great visit out there.

I'm adjusting back to Central Standard Time, which is always the rough adjustment. When you go east, you always you always end up jet lagged. And I'm definitely definitely coming coming out of that, but enjoyed enjoyed our visit. Got to got to hear a a band I'd love for everybody to check out called Surfaces, s u r f a c e s. It's like surf music, beach vibes. They're from Texas, but they were playing out there in Hawaii and we went and heard them. They're amazing. And their lead singer, Forrest Frank, plays some really great music on his own label, too.

And as that was super cool and I got to scuba dive for the first time, Rob.

Rob GalbraithIt's amazing.

James BenhamLike it was. It was amazing. I would say it was a whole new world, but that'd be an Aladdin reference. It was, you know, I I really need a a Little Mermaid reference. And I I can tell you, I I was part of its world. There there you go. That's the Little Mermaid reference. Pretty pretty incredible. Can't wait to go again. And I can't wait I can't believe I waited till the ripe age of 44 to go scuba diving for the first time because that is totally my vibe being under there.

That was neat. With us today, he's from another land as well, but not a land down under. That's the other the other the other accent. He he's from the land up top. The British Isles, the king's territory,

Tom Robinsonmister Tom Robinson. Tom, how are you doing? Very well. Very well. Speaking from a I was gonna say sunny, but just as we sadly clicked record, it's now gone overcast. So London is very much living up to its expectations here.

James BenhamLondon's doing what London does.

Tom RobinsonIndeed. Yeah. It keeps teasing us, you know, it seems to be nice. You know? Spring is on its way, and then it just, you know, changes like the wind. But I'm gonna play the the classic British role and just, you know, regardless of the the weather complaint, you know, it's either too hot, too cold. It's never, you know, just in the middle. No, it's treating me very well.

James BenhamBrits have that stick down, don't they? Yeah. Yeah. I

Tom Robinsonjust think it's part of the education system here. You know, it's a common thing, you know, just to constantly complain about the weather, you know, don't know where they can trim, you know, I don't know from your upbringing or what, but it's just, yeah, it's, and it's always my go to topic whenever I jump on the phone with someone, you know, my colleagues sort of, you know, when I'm back to back as we all are these days, you know, they sort of hear the same sort of spiel.

But but yeah, it's just it's part of the DNA, what can I say?

James BenhamTom, that is a very British thing to do. Yeah. Yeah. You know, you know, what was funny about what was funny about Hawaii is that it rained and was sunny at the same time, like all day. I was that always trips me up because no one there uses like a you know, no one no one there no one there uses an umbrella. Like, we I don't know. They they're like, oh, it's it's raining. It'll it'll be sunny in a second. They'll rain in another second. So it's a it's a funny deal.

The Brits just complain. Yeah. It's okay. It's okay. We'll we'll we'll we'll lie. We're, of course, we're excited that you get to come to the great, United States Of America Mhmm. On a regular basis for all these great conferences. And I actually I asked you to come on, Tom, because, you know, the insurance community is bigger than just people that work at at the carriers and the TPAs and the brokers and even at the technology vendors. You know, a big part of where the insurance community communities is at conferences.

And I always like to talk about what conference organizers are seeing and hearing and what they're organizing, what topics are popular. Because if you really think about where the insurance industry congregates, you think about a list of conferences. And then you think about technology events and certainly your organization, InsurTech Insights comes up. You and I met on the road at a conference, at a different organization's conference, but you and I met there. And I was just thinking about the role that these conferences play because people tend to work from home a lot now and they have work from anywhere arrangements and mobile arrangements, kind of the community living room for this industry is our conferences.

And you're a big part of that. So welcome to the industry. Glad you're part of it. Glad you're in your new role over there at InsurTech Insights. Tell everybody first about you because you've really you know, your last five years, you've you've done you've done the bout you've done the rounds in in London. But but let's go back before that. Like, where were you born and raised? I think it was Birmingham, but where were you born and raised? And what'd you wanna be when you were a kid?

Born and raised in Birmingham,

Tom Robinsonas you mentioned, James. For anyone that doesn't know where Birmingham is in The UK, that is it's a straight bang in the middle of the country, probably most famous for peaky blinders, you know, Killian Murphy and the accent, of course. But as you can probably tell, I was blessed. You don't have it. I was blessed without having the accent. Just before hopping on the call with Rob and James was saying, funny enough, I've got a identical twin brother who does have the accent. Still trying to piece together where where that comes from.

But nope. So born and raised in a place just outside of Birmingham called Solly Hole, probably most famous for I don't know if you guys have heard of Jaguar Land Rover. It's the original plant was was based out of Sully Hoa. So that's probably Really? Yep. So it's quite cool. You see the the cars with like all the the camo on them sort of driving out the factory and obviously they're testing them on the road. So, you know, get to see what the new Land Rovers and, Range Rovers look like, which is pretty cool.

So, yep, born and raised there. Then stayed within the The Midlands, to a college called Loughborough University. It's It's not that famous, probably sort of worldwide, but it's within The UK. It's, you know, known to be the the sports university because sports was a big part of my life, for for quite a while.

James BenhamA lot of Olympians go there and and stuff like that. So that was Well, we, we, we got to talk about that. So what sport? What, what were you part of? So I did triathlon.

Tom RobinsonSo that swim, bike and then run actually was born out in America and sort of, I'd say twenty twelve, I think I was maybe sort of like, how old was I? 14 then, you know, triathlon just exploded because there's the Brownlee brothers from The UK and it sort of, yeah, was just sort of really bought into that and the legacy of the Olympics in in 2012. And yeah, just participated throughout college and fortunately got to a reasonably high level sort of like nationally.

James BenhamThen, yeah, it was it was great fun. Did you ever but did you ever do an Ironman?

Tom RobinsonNo. I didn't do an Ironman. It's it's still on the it's still on the list. But in mine was actually in Texas last week doing the the Ironman there, and he said that it's extremely hot, but he said it's a wicked event sort of in your neck of the woods. So I need to make sure I get over that.

James BenhamYeah. It's it's springtime, so it's it's a it's triathlon time around here. And there it's hard. I mean, that's a that's an intense the the most I've ever done. Never went to an actual triathlon competition, just did a lot of training for it and ended up doing a whole bunch of sprint sprint tri training because I I thought that was I I just get bored really easily with one thing. I love cycling and I love swimming and I love running. I love all three. Like, I don't have a least favorite.

I think they're all fun. And, you know, I end up doing a ton of practice and never did a competition. Still on my list. I've I've got a long bucket list. Scuba diving was on it. That's checked off as of last weekend. So might as well start start working on something else. So you went to left row and then, you you know, what what what was the entry into into the, the insurance sector? Because you you actually worked for for a little bit as a for the Institute of Economic Affairs.

What was that about? Yeah. So

Tom Robinsonsort of adjacent to my sporting accolades in at Loughborough, studied politics with economics. And I know you've spoken to people when you in your other podcasts saying, you know, did you aspire to, you know, work within the insurance world? And very much I wasn't I wasn't the case. I I wanted to be a politician, weirdly enough that I thought, you know, I did politics and economics. It's a little bit of a joke here in The UK that, you know, all future politicians wanna study that. So I studied that.

Then Institute of Economic Affairs was a, is what we call a think tank. I know think tanks are pretty big Stateside. They're less big here. Fortunately, the IEA is, you know, one of the most influential ones within The UK sphere. So yeah, got an internship, got a job out of that. I know it's quite common Stateside as well. So it became an intern, then a temporary member of staff and then a full time member of staff. That's where the event side of things really came from.

You know, part of the way that they sort of operate is they do these very small scale, like, I mean, I'm talking sort of like ten, fifteen people events, you know, trying to spread the ideas and, you know, discuss and bring panelists. Of course, it wasn't this sort of well thought out thing at all. It was just, you know, there's some chairs, there's some people on a stage and that's really where the event side of things come from.

James BenhamYeah. And then you jumped into events and for the last two years you've been doing insurance events. So what what's been your observation of the industry so far? Well,

Tom Robinsonwith with just just the the initial the initial insights into what you've seen in insurance in your in your first couple of years. Yeah, I think it's I mean, firstly, I think the insurance wrongly gets labeled as like, or typically been labeled as, I don't wanna say a dull or a boring industry, but it's sort of quite stuck in its ways. And I think that sort of fortunately, you know, life is all about timing. When I jumped into the industry, it sort of was going at a little bit of a million miles an hour, you know, I feel like the, you know, the likes of Hippo and Lemonade entering the market and, know, I think that was sort of summarized by the, you know, the influx of technology into the industry made it just like super exciting.

So I think that from an outside of things, I think that, oh, like it's insurance, you know, it is what it is sort of thing, know, it always existed, will always exist. So yeah, I think that's sort of where it came from, you know, it's the, that it's actually really exciting time to work within the sphere of insurance because of the influx of technology. So let's talk about InsurTech Insights. What does this organization do and what do you do for it? Yeah, absolutely. So InsurTech Insights, well, we're a platform for for insurance executives, you know, broad range from from entry level all the way up to to group CEOs.

What we do is we produce three conferences a year. We had our London conference, I think it was about just over a month ago now. And I know that Rob was there, so perhaps he could have a chat and sort of explain, you know, how he thought the the vibe was there. Then we have our Euro US show that sort of I'm in charge of on the the content side of things, and that's happening June at the Javid Center in New York City. And then to to bookmark the, the end of the year, we have, Hong Kong.

That's the the first two weeks of December. I think the details are still being fleshed out on on that one. But, know, a truly global reach to, you know, match the global reach of the insurance industry for sure. But yeah, 6,000 people we had in London expecting the same in New York. It's, you know, it's a really exciting time to be ITI, you know, we're going from strength to strength,

James Benhamgrowing in size and of course, you know, importance, I think on the conference calendar as well. Rob, you got to attend. Tell us about the conference and tell us why do you think this has become such a popular event. What what what what's the magnet? Yeah. So I I've been fortunate enough to attend both Intritech Insights,

Rob GalbraithEurope, and, Americas, multiple times. I've not made it to Hong Kong yet. The timing is just not worked out. So I've received this kind of invitation and hope to make it there, but heard fantastic things about that event as well. Yeah, and I would agree with Tom, you know, there's a ton of events out there, of course, but I think coming out of COVID, people probably started looking at travel budgets a little bit more and trying to figure out where the bang for the buck was and I think people were maybe a little bit more selective in terms of some of the events.

And so to me, Intritech Insights has definitely been above the bar in terms of just the volume of of people going, the the, you know, top line speakers that you guys are able to recruit and you've been doing this now for for several years and the networking is really second to none. So, you know, being able to meet so many different people from the traditional kind of, you know, brokers and carriers to the startups to service providers, know, you name it. It's really there. So to me, it kind of hits all the spots of, you know, the sessions themselves, usually very robust expo hall where there's tons of vendors to kind of meet and get to know, tons of networking opportunities.

And then oftentimes, there are kind of events going alongside the conference. Often there's an InsurTech week, so there's kind of side events that are happening oftentimes in the evenings during the event. I had one actually, book event prior to the conference. The Europe event is held at the Intercontinental Hotel that's right by the OT Arena. For those of you that have never been, the OT Arena is a venue where they have a lot of concerts and whatnot, but then they have a lot of shopping and restaurants right by it and the Intercontinental is just a very, you know, five minute walk away.

It's right by the tube and there's buses and taxis there. It's actually a very convenient location kind of in, you know, the East Center Of London. And so, yeah, to me it has everything that you would want to have just in terms of a venue, great location, adjacent events, then the conference itself is well done. And I can tell you from somebody that's participated a speaker, Intritech Insights does a fantastic job. So if you're thinking about or you get approached to speak at the event, there's a speakers lounge, they're highly organized, they help you set up the prep calls.

There's usually somebody from Intritech inside as panels I've moderated that's on the call. That's very rare compared to other conferences. Just everything is really very, very well run. We track down people,

James Benhamtrack down people, make sure they get to the right stage But Rob plenty of time. Let's talk about the most important thing. How was the food at the conference?

Rob GalbraithThe it's funny you asked. So, the food is really good. Now what I would say is, and and Tom, I don't know if, you know, you were there in in London. I was looking for something more maybe the fish and chips or More British? Shoving us More British. Yeah. It was actually very, you know, much more robust than that. But I think for me, I was like walking around kind of, what is this? What is this? Oh, this looks, you know, intriguing and exotic, whatever. So it's definitely a plethora of food choices there, but I think I was looking for something more mild.

And maybe that has to do with the jet lag you're kind of talking about, James. You know, just getting over there. So Yeah. Anyway, that would be my advice, which you probably should should safely ignore, which was, you know, make make make more bland food choices.

James BenhamSee, Tom, I like it spicy and exotic and, you know, I'm I'm the I'm the opposite. I I get give me give me the weird stuff. You know what I go to London for Indian food. That's why I go to London for just to let just just so you know. Tom and Rob, thank you so much for that summary of the of the event. It's really good insight into the into the event itself. Can you give us a glimpse? Just let us know kind of what the most anticipated sessions.

Certainly, we see a lot of AI discussions at a lot of the conferences, but there's a lot of other stuff to talk about. So tell me what some of the most anticipated sessions or the themes for the upcoming events, particularly the one that's coming up in New York.

Tom RobinsonYeah, absolutely. I was gonna, of course, you know, I think that it'd be a mistake not to talk about AI, but at the same time, wanna sort of bore people because I know that it's everything and every conference to be covering it. But I think that like, obviously AI is an important topic. And I think that particularly for this conference, and this is sort of what we sort of get, you know, sort of speaking to people on the phone that last year was very much a case of look, you can, you know, deploy AI to boost efficiency through, you know, documentaries, you know, documentization summary, etcetera, etcetera.

And I think that sort of this year we've gone through a little bit of a shift and it's like what people are after now is like practical, I call them like tidbits, you know, like practical nuggets of information that leaders can go back to their teams and really implement. So we were quite fortunate for our Europe show. We had the of the head of AI from Zurich and also Allianz as well, you know, sort of discussing how they're internally using AI and sort of how that will play out to the future as well, you know, moving forward.

And I think that, you know, this is, will be the same theme within The US show. So we've got the SVP and head of strategic capabilities from New York Life, Alex Cook speaking, you know, what New York Life doing on the distribution front, deploying AI. And then we've also got, you know, on the underwriting side of things, you know, how does AI use or become a tool for like the underwriter to make it more efficient. But I think sort of steering away from the innovation and sort of AI front.

And I think the the thing that I find really interesting and and again, one of the the USPs not to not to try and sell the the conference a little bit too much is that it's not just an information technology conference, you know, and I think what the thing that sort of makes the event special is that we cover, I'd say adjacent topics. So like my favorite example that I always use is we've got a sleep neurosurgeon, doing a main stage session on the power of sleep.

And, you know, some people might go to you and be like, okay, right, you know, that's not distinctly linked to insurance, you know, how is this gonna, you know, help me? But I think that, and you guys will both know this, you know, seasoned, on the conference circuit, but it's those sort of tangible nuggets, as I mentioned earlier, doesn't have to be just to do with insurance. And it's, you know, again, something that a leader can turn up to the conference on the Wednesday, come back, you know, all guns blazing on the Monday morning that they can really like implement within their team.

And I think just sort of bleeding onto that is like on the, I guess less intangible, but you know, slightly different is on the leadership side of things. Personally, I find this a fascinating topic, having, you know, basically spending my day on the phones with, you know, exec leadership teams and it like talent is like the number one challenge facing the industry. When my my parents generation retire in a couple of years time, it's I think it's not just the technical skills and the thing that I find most interesting is it's actually like the tangible leadership skills that go with it.

And we just don't have the pipeline basically to sort of fill back up. So I think that's a really interesting topic, you know, staring away from the sort of the innovation front that, you know, we're looking to cover. Excellent, Rob.

Rob GalbraithYeah, I would just echo that Tom. And, you know, one of the nice things is that you have different stages often. You have different sessions going on concurrently, right? So there's usually plethora of choices in there. And to your point, I think it is a broader menu right of of of sessions of choices, right? I mean, I always feel like it's so many of these conferences really are mostly about the the expert on the networking and I would say lack a little bit on the content side, but I would definitely say that you guys are, you know, there's always great content going on and to your point about talent, actually I moderated a panel last year in Insurtech Insights Europe on talent and then we had a similar panel again this year and that's probably the number one topic that I get questions about.

And for me, it's always a bit of a challenge to answer. I'm not an HR professional, I'm not a recruiter. So I love moderating those types of sessions and really getting into it. We dive into the audience questions and questions kind of come up through you know, the app or we even had some old fashioned kind of pass the microphone around hand raising. And so to your point, there's so many that are kind of, I guess, adjacent to technology innovation, but are very meaningful, topics and questions that really round out probably what people are, concerned about, what they're struggling with, where they're looking to go.

And I know talent, discussions

Tom Robinsontend to be at the top of the list. And just to just to jump in there, I think you've you've hit the nail on the head there, Rob. It's, the the the way I describe the the conference on the phone and, you know, those that haven't attended our events, previously is it's, yes, it's a conference, but I'd describe it more of like a festival, you know, it's very busy, there's a lot of coming and going, know, it's less like a this session is this long and then everyone leaves sort of thing.

It's very much like people are sort of coming and going and we've got coffee lounges, we've got ice cream, waffle makers, like a games room. I think that sometimes the fun element is missing and then we really sort of make sure that we inject that into sort of the DNA of our conference as well. Cool. Hey, let's talk about startups for a second. Insurtech Insights is a platform for startups. Help me understand

James Benhamexactly what the heck that means. How are you supporting startups and what are you seeing in the Insurtech startup space? Yeah, absolutely. So regarding sort of, I'd say the

Tom Robinsonassisting of the InsurTech, I think it's very much like the providing that like environment, you know, many of these organizations are remote first, which of course has its merits, you know, here at ITI we're slightly different. We're actually five days a week in the office, but, know, I think that often these sort of, what's the word, like these insurtechs, very digital first can sometimes not like the culture, but it's it's very different to like an established incumbent. So often we find that, you know, those remote first companies actually use our conferences as a as a meeting point and as a way of, like, building their culture.

So I think that is really, really special in terms of, like, promoting InsurTechs and, know, can really you know, in this digital world where talent is, you know, is scattered, it's, you know, hybrid is not going anywhere. I think that is really valuable to, you know, have a have a date, you know, in the diary every single year. You know, you come to Insurtech Insights to yes, network, yes, see the content, but also to, you know, build that relationship and, you know, Rob touched upon the sort of fringe events that happen.

But, you know, I think that is really, really important. But then I guess, you know, as a as a follow-up to that as well, I would say the the content very much does support InsurTech's as well. So the progress that we've made from from last year, we've actually introduced the the track system to our conferences. It's not new to the world of insurance conferences, but it's new to Team ITI and one of those tracks is literally called the investment track. And this was basically just to hit on the nerve, you know, when you've got people on the phone saying, look, I need these challenges answered.

So the topics on that sort of stage range from like how do you be in a high impact Insurtech, so all about finding, you know, the right niche, you know, the secrets to capital raising, obviously, given sort of H1 of last year and, you know, this drive to profitability that investors are are demanding.

James BenhamAnd then also how to, you know, stay on course and and, you know, basically make sure your your impact is is having your niche is having an impact. So, yeah, I'd say that's sort of how we're how we're supporting. Yeah. What are you seeing out of the startup scene though? Well, are you seeing are you seeing more companies contact you? Are you seeing less? Are you seeing companies entering the space? I mean, are what are seeing trend wise with I know you've only been at ITI for for under a year, but what what are you seeing out of those interactions?

Tom RobinsonI would say that as the as the brand is is growing as well, I feel like the the involvement is is growing as well. I I think the the demands of the market and you guys will probably be aware of this, you know, being dialed into the the VC investment banking side of things as well. I I think the demands are are different. You know, I feel like, as I said about it before, but, you know, with what's happening with with interest rates, there's no longer technology for technology's sake.

You know, investors want to see this path to profitability. And I think that everyone got a little bit excited, you know, following the pandemic. There was certainly this influx of of new players and this influx of of cash that allowed those those players to operate. And I think that the start of last year with the supply chain and, you know, all of these other sort of external factors shook the ship a little bit. And now it's very much like this drive to profitability as mentioned from the top there.

I'd say this is the biggest theme that that keeps coming back to when I speak to Insurtechs.

James BenhamYeah. And certainly, we've seen that coming from the the funding partners they have are are saying, hey. Look. You you guys have to have a path to actually making money and generating cash. You you can't just keep burning. So it's definitely a shift away from, growth at all costs in in some regards.

Rob GalbraithCertainly not with everybody, but with with with many. Rob? Yeah. Tom, we spent a lot of time talking about the events and and understandably so, but just kind of, you guys do more than that. You've got webinars, you've got podcasts, you've got other content. So maybe just for, audience members that may not be familiar with all the offerings of InsurTech Insights, you could share a little bit about what else is, available to people that might be interested. Yeah. Absolutely. So, we're very active on on LinkedIn where, you know, we're sort of becoming a a bit of a new site for,

Tom Robinsonmovements and sort of the the hustle and bustle of the InsurTech world. So we've got over I think the last time I checked just before hopping on this call, a 113,000 LinkedIn followers, which is is pretty awesome. So, you know, within that interweaved, of course, with the the conference information we've got sort of almost a bit like a a wire really of of news coming from the coming from the industry. Sort of in addition to that, we also run a a series of webinars and this typically is placed within the summer months when we've got the break between The US and of course the Hong Kong show.

And we in fact, my boss Emil, had a webinar all about distribution this week about embedded insurance. So that's, I'd say that's where we're we're relying. We sort of do lean on the on the conferences quite a lot, but, know, we're we're much more just conference company. We're, you know, a news and media organization as Well, Tom,

James Benhamif I can just say on a personal note, I've super enjoyed getting to know you, getting to be friends with you. This is a you're you're a part of the insurance community. You're you're the community living room. Right? And I think that's a you know, you you, you you make you make that living room happen, a place for us to get together, meet, network, do deals, get to know you know, learn stuff. It's, it's it's like the, the post university university conferences are, you know? It's it's and so I I I really appreciate the role that you play in this and certainly am, am looking forward.

I I wish and and just for listeners out there, I would be at InsurTech Insights. I would be speaking at it, actually, except that's when I take my my, daughter, we do an annual school trip to Europe. So I'll be, I'll be on his side of the pond while he's on my side of the pond, during that event. And, it's a it's a unfortunately, I won't be able to be there. But fortunately for me, I'll be with, with my daughter and and having a great time.

And we're gonna be hanging out. So that's an unfortunate consequence of timing. But you might see me at another Insure Tech Insights event later this year, which I you know, we're having some I'm I'm just excited about everything that they do and about the size of the events now because it's a great community gathering place. I while I'm a technologist, I believe there's absolutely no replacement for face to face contact. There is just especially honestly, especially because of technology. And when I I'll tell you this, what I've seen in, post COVID the last, you know, COVID COVID hit, four year it's hard to believe it's been that long, four years and two months ago.

And it so what, what all the companies did, all the tech companies in particular went to fully automated digital marketing platforms. And so they invested heavily, in automated texting, automated emails, and automated phone calls. And so what has that done to your inbox, your voicemail, and your your text message inbox? It's blown everybody up. Every insurance executive, every IT manager at every insurance company, they get blown up electronically. And so what have they done as a consequence of that? Well, they've shut down. If you look at like email read rates, text message read rates, phone call answer rates, they've plummeted in the last two years because people have been inundated by automated marketing platforms.

And so I it's just a really great example of how sometimes technology will force people to go old school. And I think that's kind of what what the the lesson here is. If you really want to do deals, if you want to meet people, if you want to learn network, you're going to have to do it hand to hand combat, you know, in 2024, '25, '26. I mean, you're going to have to get out and meet people and talk to them. That happens at conferences. So I'm just excited about the future of conferences.

You know, there was a lot of discussion during COVID of whether the conferences would be permanently digital. Of course, the hilarious thing is the digital conference went away the second that face to face conferences were allowed to happen again. And, you know, you also you also don't don't underestimate, insurance, executives and insurance, professionals, appetite for a good party. And, and, and so I I'd always appreciate the role that they they play. So Tom, you're a good man and you've been a good friend. I really appreciate it.

Thanks for being on the show. Thank you very much for having me, guys. Yep. And Rob, as always, thanks for your insights into Insurtech Insights. And, you're a conference hound like me, so I appreciate, you being on and and chatting about your experience with these different conferences.

Rob GalbraithYeah. Happy to, James. And and, you mentioned our virtual conferences reminded me the content was was good. Right? It was probably 90% of the content, but the, the networking, the attendee, I know it was like I would get, you know, randomly plopped at a virtual table to network with anyway, very, very awkward. So, yeah, very glad to, return to the in person experience for cards. And the other thing too, I'll add quickly guys is to me it's very efficient, right? The fact that so many people that you could possibly wanna network with either folks that you already have a business relationship with or thinking about establishing a business relationship or somebody brand new you don't know, but, you know, you never know.

Right? Spontaneity, serendipity plays a role in this too. Right? It goes in. So to me, it's such an efficient use of your dollar if you're picking the right events. Of course, it gets expensive if you're going to every single event. But for some of these tentpole events, and I think in Sure Tech Insights, all three events fall into this. To me, it's it's actually a very efficient use of your dollars to attend because you can accomplish so much in such a little amount of time.

James BenhamExactly. Exactly. I agree with that completely. Well, guys, thanks for for being on. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in today to geek out with our interview with Tom Robinson from InsurTech Insights. See you on the next show. The InsurTech Geek podcast is all about technology that's transforming and disrupting the insurance world. I've been your host, James Benham. That's James Benham dot com with co host Rob Galbraith at endofinsurance.com. We're taking you on a journey through insurance tech. So enjoy the ride and geek out.