Get Plugged In

In this episode of Get Plugged In: AI Insights, Dale Hall speaks with Caesar Balona, Senior Manager of Catastrophe and Climate Modelling at Old Mutual Insure, about his new report on integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into actuarial workflows. The conversation explores practical applications, ethical considerations, and how actuaries can adopt generative AI tools thoughtfully and effectively. Read the report:  https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2025/operationalizing-genai-actuaries/ Send us your feedback at AI-Insights@soa.org

Hello Listeners!   Join us for the inaugural episode of our new Get Plugged In podcast series, AI Insights, which explores the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Actuarial Science.

Greetings Listeners!  We have another great episode of the Get Plugged In Podcast for you this morning.  Hear Host Arthur da Silva and Guest Hanna Wu, talk about Hanna's journey starting up Amplify Life Insurance Company.

Greetings Listeners!  We have another great episode of the Get Plugged In Podcast for you this morning.  Hear Host Arthur da Silva and Guest Sherry Chan, FSA, EA, MAAA, Chief Strategy Officer for Atidot and Society of Actuaries Board Member, talk about Sherry's InsurTech and Actuarial career journey.

Get Plugged In and listen to our new Insurtech episode featuring Guest Jason Alleyne, Managing Director at Asia-Pacific Besurance Corporation.  Hosts Arthur da Silva and Blake Hill engage in a captivating conversation with Jason, who talks about his career and life journey which includes a unique and refreshing perspective on a number of various topics.

Listen to Hosts Blake Hill and Arthur da Silva talk with Guest Laura Bennett, Actuary, and Principal at Gosling's Leap Consulting, about Laura's very interesting InsurTech journey which began by co-founding a completely digital pet insurance company. InsurTech landing page:  https://www.soa.org/programs/insurtech/

Listen to Gaurav Upadhya, Board Director, Amex Bank of Canada share his history and insights with hosts Blake Hill, FSA, FCIA, Executive Leader and Actuary at Dacadoo and Arthur da Silva, VP Actuarial at Slope Software. 

Hear Guest Ahmed Sherif Abdelgalil, Chief Product Officer and Chief Actuary at Kaf Insurance talk with Host Blake Hill, Executive Leader and Actuary at Dacadoo about his very unique actuarial and InsurTech journey.

Listen to Ben Blakeslee, AVP & Actuary at Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. share his insights with host, Blake Hill, FSA, FCIA, Executive Leader and Actuary at Dacadoo.

Hear Aneesha Deshpande talk about her unique InsurTech journey with host Blake Hill.

Hear Jim Cristallo, Chief Insurance Officer at Meanwhile Inc. (a Bitcoin life insurer), talk about his InsurTech journey with host Blake Hill.

Hear Farooq Sheikh, Global Head of Insurance for Unqork, talk about his InsurTech journey with host Blake Hill.

Blake Hill turns the microphone around and interviews Dale Hall, Managing Director of Research at the Society of Actuaries Research Institute, on the growth of the Insurtech initiative within the SOA.

Listen to Blake Hill interview Ken Leibow, CEO at InsurTech Express.  Ken talks about his background and gives good advice on those wishing to join the InsurTech industry.

Listen to Scott Harrison, Lawyer & Consultant and Co-Founder of the American InsurTech Council share his views on key regulatory issues facing InsurTechs today with host, Dale Hall, Managing Director of the SOA Research Institute.

Blake Hill, Executive Leader and Actuary at Dacadoo, leads the conversation with Mike Bishop, Principal and Managing Director at Milliman IntelliScript regarding Mike Bishop's professional background story.

Leon Punambolan shares his InsurTech journey and the drivers behind why Samos Insure makes sense by responding to the questions from Blake Hill, FSA host of the Podcast.

Listen to Josee Deroy, FSA, MAAA, Founder and CEO of Savvy Services, share her insights on InsurTech with host, Blake Hill, FSA, FCIA, Executive Leader and Actuary at Dacadoo.

Listen to Yann Barbarroux of Otonomi share his insights on InsurTech with host, David Schraub, FSA, MAAA, CERA, SOA Research Institute Senior Practice Research Actuary. Download the SOA Research Institute Decentralized Finance for Actuaries report referenced by David Schraub.

Listen to Manisha Dias of SCOR Life & Health, U.S. share her insights on InsurTech with host, David Schraub, FSA, MAAA, CERA, SOA Research Institute Senior Practice Research Actuary

Listen to Eric Buatois of BGV share his insights on InsurTech with host, David Schraub, FSA, MAAA, CERA, SOA Research Institute Senior Practice Research Actuary.

Listen to Kevin Pledge of Acceptiv share his insights into InsurTech with host, Blake Hill, FSA, FCIA. 

Jeremy Bill, Chief Insurance Officer, of Bestow discusses how Bestow is innovating to make insurance buying easier with host, Blake Hill, FSA, FCIA. 

Lori Weyuker, ASA, Independent Consulting Actuary discusses InsurTech Start Up Funding with host, David Schraub, FSA, MAAA, CERA, SOA Research Institute Senior Practice Research Actuary. Listen to learn about sources of start up funding for InsurTechs.

Lori Weyuker, ASA, Independent Consulting Actuary discusses actuarial involvement in InsurTech with host, David Schraub, FSA, MAAA, CERA, SOA Research Institute Senior Practice Research Actuary. Listen to learn about how independent actuaries can set their pricing and other aspects of working in InsurTech as an independent actuary.

Tyler Lange, Manager of Strategic Partnerships at Array discusses how Array is challenging incumbents with host, Blake Hill, FSA, FCIA. Listen to learn about Array's core value proposition and how Array leverages data to make better business decisions.

Heroko Yihe Zhao, FSA, CERA, MBA, Head of Strategic Partnerships, North America at Akur8 speaks with Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, about the changing role of the actuary and the need for actuaries to emphasize their value as judgement-based decision makers. Zhao stresses the importance of learning to communicate your ideas effectively in a business environment.

Actuaries Lori Weyuker, ASA, MAAA, and Victor Zhao, FSA, CERA, discuss their volunteer experiences as InsurTech advisors with the SOA InsurTech Office Hours Program. They share perspectives on how actuaries can provide guidance to start-ups.

Actuaries Jean-Marc Fix, FSA, MAAA, and Henry Chen, FSA, MAAA, FCIA, discuss the SOA InsurTech Office Hours Program, where they volunteered as InsurTech advisors. They share key learnings from their discussions with InsurTech start-ups.

Carol McCall, FSA, MAAA, MPH, Chief Health Analytics Officer at ClosedLoop.ai, speaks with Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare has become both possible and necessary. McCall emphasizes the importance of navigating your career with curiosity and genuine caring about your chosen area of focus. They also discuss the factors that contributed to ClosedLoop.ai recently being announced the winner of the AI Health Outcomes Challenge sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS).

Chengchen Li, FSA, MAAA, founder and CEO of Penguin Benefits, speaks with Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, about the value of embracing uncertainty and being open to new career experiences. Li shares how personal experience led her to create Penguin Benefits offerings to help parents and employers navigate the complexities of family leave benefits.

Dennis Li, FSA, CEO, and Co-Founder of Reeske speaks with actuary Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, about the inspiration to create an InsurTech focused on a positive, trusted customer experience. Li also shares sound career advice including the need to assess and amplify your strengths to make the greatest impact.  

Isaac Espinoza, FSA, FCAS, MAAA, head of Reinsurance at Root, speaks with Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, about the creation and evolution of Root Insurance in offering auto insurance products. They discuss the collaboration of actuaries and data scientists in working with mobile data and how they address data challenges. Espinoza offers his perspective on the necessary skill sets and opportunities for actuaries, from experienced professionals to those early in their career.

Veer Gidwaney, founder and CEO of Brella, speaks with host Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, about the inspiration for Brella's approach to offering supplemental health insurance. They also discuss how to work with actuaries as product designers who can deliver value for customers by solving specific problems. 

Plug and Play Tech Center's CEO Saeed Amidi and Desiree Wagner, Senior Partner Success Manager, discuss the origin of this start-up accelerator with Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA. They discuss collaborations between large insurance companies and start-ups, effects of the pandemic on their business model, and the benefits actuaries provide to InsurTech start-ups.  

Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, speaks with Evgeny Aleksandrov about InsurTech startup Pilotbird. They discuss how to analyze social data points to empower insurance teams to better score risk, engage with customers and in turn to detect claims fraud.

Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, speaks with Jason Andrew, CEO and co-founder of Limelight Health, which provides quotes, rating and underwriting solutions for employee benefits.  Andrew discusses how the company works with brokers and carriers to create a positive user experience for insurance quotes, ratings and enrollment.

Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, speaks with Ali Ahmadi, CEO and co-founder of TCARE, a predictive analytics-powered tool to prevent burnout from family caregiving efforts. Ahmadi shares his personal story which inspired him to create TCARE to help with long-term care, providing content for different cultural backgrounds and languages.

Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, speaks with Geoff Keast, co-CEO of Montoux, about linking actuarial models with data science models. They discuss ways to increase modernization of certain actuarial aspects within the life insurance sector.

Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, speaks with Andy Smith, FSA, MAAA co-founder and CEO of Slope Software, discusses applying his actuarial knowledge to develop easy-to-use software for modeling and valuation, and the importance of transparency with such software systems.

Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, speaks with Matthew Ko, Co-Founder and COO of DeepScribe, about blending telemedicine and dictation software. They discuss how physicians benefit from having access to deep learning software to connect with electronic health records.

Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, speaks with Paul Ford, co-founder and CEO of Traffk, about incorporating new technologies and data points in the underwriting ecosystem. Eaton is a consulting actuary with Milliman's Tampa office.

Robert Eaton, FSA, MAAA, speaks with Dr. S. Jay Olshansky, co-founder and chief science officer of Lapetus Solutions, about longevity, facial analytics and machine learning.  Eaton is a consulting actuary with Milliman's Tampa office.