Ki’s Allan: ‘We’re not a startup — we’re a mature insurance business doing things differently’

As the global subscription market digitises, the roles of market leaders and followers are becoming much more clearly demarcated, according to Mark Allan, chief executive of Ki.

Allan was speaking on the latest episode of The Voice of Insurance podcast, produced in association with AdvantageGo.

There are businesses designed to be leaders, he emphasised, with large investments in class-specific expertise and specialist distribution relationships, who are looking to align followers and consortium partners behind them.

There is also a parallel class of follow-only underwriters. Allan suggested, looking to support and amplify those same leaders.

It’s a modern twist on the oldest symbiotic relationship in the subscription market.

Ki is an example of a wholly digital business that is looking to become the ultimate following market, and this expansive conversation with its CEO sketches out much of what the future of London underwriting is going to look like.

Ki has been a first-mover in the world of algorithmic underwriting and has built a billion-dollar business that has matured, become independent, and is now offering to share its expertise as a tech partner for underwriters and brokers alike.

“Ki started out within Brit, but we always had our own syndicate, team and brand,” said Allan. “Now we’re a standalone Fairfax company, operating as a sister to Brit.”

That independence sits alongside focuses on underwriting discipline and operational rigour, he observed. “We’re not a startup,” said Allan. “We’re a mature insurance business doing things differently.”

He added: “This isn’t a tech startup trying to do insurance. It’s an insurance company using technology in a smarter way.”

Ki’s core concept has remained the same, he explained: a fully digital, algorithmic, follow-only underwriting platform that provides immediate, committed capacity. 

“It’s not just about speed. It’s about certainty, consistency and efficiency,” he said.

A major step in Ki’s evolution came with the launch of its partner capacity model. This enables other capital providers to use Ki’s algorithms and technology stack to offer follow capacity. 

“The idea is to give brokers more capacity through the same process,” Allan explained. “From the broker’s point of view, nothing changes. But they get more lines and better efficiency.”

The brokers themselves have embraced the concept. “There was scepticism when we launched about whether brokers at Lloyd’s would use technology,” said Allan. 

“That myth has been busted. We’ve got loyal users. We’ve got brokers asking for Ki to be on the quote. We’ve even had clients request us by name.”

The approach is helping make digital underwriting real in the London market. 

“You can log in to KiInsurance.com and access capacity right away,” Allan said. “We’ve built it to work across the market — big brokers, small brokers, anyone using the standard placement platforms.”

Technology is also enabling a deeper partnership model, according to Allan. Ki’s collaboration with Howden, a London market broker, has allowed the broker to generate both tracker and open market lines using Ki’s tools. 

“They could have built their own system,” Allan noted. “But we’ve already got one in production handling over a billion dollars in premium — and it works.”

Crucially, Ki has no plans to lead risks. “We’re happy being a follower,” said Allan. “There’s huge value in being a disciplined, data-led follower who can support market leaders without trying to compete with them. That’s core to our model.”

That discipline is built into the algorithm. “It doesn’t chase premium; it does the same thing every time it sees the same data. There’s no recency bias, no emotion,” he said. “It behaves predictably and consistently, which is especially important in a shifting market.”

Artificial intelligence is already embedded into operations. “We’re using GenAI for data structuring, knowledge management and internal support. Our chatbot handles 90% of broker queries,” Allan said. “We’re also exploring use cases that make it even easier for brokers to work with us.”

But innovation has limits. “We’re not chasing shiny objects,” he said. “We haven’t entered new classes because we need training data. We’ll go where the data and expertise allow.”

As Ki matures, Allan sees broader possibilities for its technology, including delegated authority, treaty underwriting, and broker platforms. But the focus remains firmly on core efficiency. 

“There’s so much opportunity in the existing flow,” he said. “The challenge is to make the follow market as efficient and sustainable as possible, while supporting a vibrant lead market.”

Regulators, he stressed, have responded well to Ki’s approach. “We’ve got version control, full auditability, and a well-governed algorithmic process. If anything, we can demonstrate more control than many manual underwriting models.”

So has Ki been accretive to the market?

“Yes, I believe we have,” Allan said. “Brokers like having something new to talk about. Clients have heard of Ki and want to be part of the story. We’re bringing fresh capacity, faster — and that’s good for everyone.”