Behind the Desk...

Welcome to another episode of the Behind the Desk podcast. In this episode, I’m joined by Linda Cooke, group CIO (Chief Information Officer) at leading specialty (re)insurance company, Chaucer.   Linda has been working in technology for over 25 years and joined Chaucer a year ago in a newly created CIO role. A year into the role, and with over two decades of experience behind her, L...

Welcome to Episode 25, Season 3 of the Behind the Desk Podcast! Join me as I chat with Paul Brotzel, who has recently left his role as CIO at Aon in the UK.  Paul has a huge amount of technology leadership experience, having led technology functions for over 20 years. He's spent the last nine years working for Aon in CIO positions across various areas of their business. Prior to that, he spen...

This was the final episode of the previous season of Behind the Desk and officially holds the record for the most listens across the podcast so far - so I thought there was no better time than now to re-release it for those who haven't listened yet! Jen is currently leading a huge TOM redesign and RSA and was a brilliant guest. She is a Women in Technology advocate, STEM ambassador and qualified c...

Welcome to Episode 23, Season 3 of the Behind the Desk Podcast! Join me as I chat with Louise Marling, previous Chief Operating Officer at Hiscox. Louise has recently left Hiscox as the COO of their UK retail business and is about to take some time out before she embarks on her next position.  Louise has had a variety of experiences throughout her career from starting as an insurance clerk af...

Welcome to Episode 22, Season 3 of the Behind the Desk Podcast! Join me as I chat with Karen McDonagh Reynolds, Chief Transformation Officer at Velonetic. She is leading arguably the most groundbreaking and pivotal transformation initiatives in the insurance sector - delivering Blueprint II at Velonetic, previously known as the Lloyds Joint Venture.  In this episode, we speak about her career...

Welcome to Episode 21, Season 3 of the Behind the Desk Podcast! Join me as I chat with Graeme Howard, who has recently left his role as CTIO at Covéa Insurance in the UK, to work on some short-term engagements as a non-exec. In this episode, we really find out why Graeme isn't your typical insurance CIO with a typical background. Talking us through his thoughts and history he shares some inva...

Welcome to Episode 20, Season 3 of the Behind the Desk Podcast! Join me as I chat with Chris Wyard, Chief Data Officer at Beazley.  Chris joined Beazley nearly 18 months ago in a key leadership role leading their data strategy as the business embarks on a major multi-year modernisation agenda. Chris has previously spent 12 years working for Allianz where he joined as a grad and evolved into b...

Welcome to the third season, and Episode 19 of the Behind the Desk Podcast! Join me as I chat with Mike Samra, the Chief Technology Officer at the AA.  In this episode, we delve into valuable insights from a seasoned leader who recently transitioned from a decade-long career in the London market insurance to a new venture with the AA, where he's been for the past nine months.  Mike bring...

In episode 12 of season three of Behind the Desk, I am joined by Jen Dallas who is the Capability Transformation Director at RSA.   Jen is a Women in Tech advocate, STEM ambassador and qualified coach. In this episode, she talks about her views on how we start turning the dial on diversity and inclusion, how the insurance industry compares to the travel industry, the idea of open insuran...

In episode 10 of season three of Behind the Desk I am joined by Pravina Ladva, who is the Group Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Swiss Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies.  Pravina is one of the most respected technology leaders in the insurance space, and I have been trying to get her on the podcast for a while now. So, undoubtably I enjoyed every second of our chat.&...

In episode 9 of season three of Behind the Desk I am joined by Nisha Manaktala, who is the CTO at Hiscox, one of the biggest brands in Insurance. I've known her for several years now, and her 20-year career journey into leadership is massively impressive, including being named a CIO Top 100.  It was great to chat to her and understand more about her early career, her passion for technology, w...

In the fourth episode of season three of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas , I am joined by Somita Yogi, Chief Data Officer. She has recently left her role at Animal Friends and has an impressive career history, holding key leadership roles at the Post Office , Tui and SunGard . Somita is a dynamic leader in the Insurtech space and has some brilliant insight and anecdotes on how you can evolve from...

In the seventh episode of season three of Behind the Desk I am joined by Kim Gray, who has recently left her role at NTT data as Head of Insurance and Head of Diversity & Inclusion to build her own company called Inclusive City, with a focus on Insurance & DE&I Advisory Consulting and Executive Coaching.  Kim has a 20 year plus career history in insurance banking management consul...

In the sixth episode of season three of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas , I am joined by Lisa Gibbard, who is the Chief Information Officer at Thomas Miller.  Lisa is arguably the most experienced tech leader I've had on the podcast so far. She started her career at NatWest bank and has since gone on to hold senior leadership roles with the likes of Aon Ltd, Aspen Insurance Group and MS Amli...

In the fifth episode of season three of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas , I am joined by Parul Kaul-Green, who is the new Chief Digital Strategy Officer at  Liberty Speciality Markets .   Parul has spent the last few years leading technology and digital strategy transformation efforts at AXA, and now has the exciting opportunity to join Liberty during their digital transformation....

In the fourth episode of season three of  Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas , I'm joined by Lloyd's of London Chief Information and Change Officer,  Rebecca Womersley . This episode is a re-release from season one of my podcast, and for good reason.   Rebecca has an impressive 20-year career history that started in telecoms and has evolved into leading tech and change at one of...

In my third episode of season 3 of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas , I am joined by Janthana Kaenprakhamroy, CEO and founder of Tapoly . While trying to insure a rental property, she spotted a golden opportunity to start her own business. Six years later, she's won countless awards and has a business now entering scale up mode. Janthana is a pioneer for going after what you love and aligning to y...

On the second episode of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas , I am joined by Bilge Mert, CTO (Chief Technology Officer) at Brit Insurance. She has only recently joined Brit, leading their technology team and has been tasked with the next phase of the firm's technology transformation.  Bilge is one of the most successful and highly regarded tech leaders in the insurance space right now. She...

Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas is back, and my first guest is Ciara Conway, Group Chief Architect at  Aviva . Ciara has an infectious personality, and I am thrilled to have her join me to kick off season two of the podcast.   We had a great conversation and covered a lot of ground including her journey into technology, which is an unusual one, the challenges she's faced around bei...

In my seventh episode of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I'm joined the director of technology at Wesleyan, Nick Meikle. Nick has an impressive career history, working in the insurance sector for nearly 30 years. Nick started in consulting, then moved into industry, working for some of the biggest insurance brands in the country. In this episode, we get into his views on how the sector is changi...

In my sixth episode of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I'm joined Chief Information Officer (CIO) at The AA, Ollie Holden. Ollie has been a technology leader for over 20 years and started his career over 15-year stints at Accenture, before several roles in insurance and most recently leading the major top to bottom technology transformation, the well-known household brand the AA. In this episode...

In my fifth episode of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I'm joined by INSHUR COO and Co-Founder, David Daiches. David and his co-founder Dan started INSHUR nearly six years ago to solve the problem of Uber drivers getting insurance quickly in New York. Since then, the company has expanded rapidly, going from 20 to over 150 employees in the last two years and now operating out the UK and Netherlan...

In my third episode of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I'm joined by RSA Chief Information Officer (CIO), David Germain. In this episode, David and I talk in detail about his career, from starting out as a developer to his move into leadership and being one of the only black men in his organisation. David gives some incredible insight into his career path and offers up some great advice for thos...

In my second episode of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I'm joined by former Digital Partners (Munich Re Group) Chief Information Officer, Joanne Safo. Joanne left her role (in July 2021) at Digital Partners, part of the MunichRe Group, where she spent the last two and a half years as their CIO. In this episode, we talk about the early years of her career in banking, the transition to insur...

In the first episode of Behind the Desk with Mark Thomas, I'm joined by Lloyd's of London Chief Information and Change Officer, Rebecca Bunyan. Rebecca has been at Lloyd's for just over a year and has a 20-year career history that started in telecoms and has evolved into leading tech and change at one of the most iconic and rapidly evolving organisations in the UK insurance sector. In this episode...