{"id":10082,"date":"2025-07-03T10:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T10:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/?p=10082"},"modified":"2025-07-03T10:28:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T10:28:03","slug":"voi-podcast-with-mark-allan-ceo-of-ki-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/content\/voi-podcast-with-mark-allan-ceo-of-ki-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Ki&#8217;s Allan: \u2018We\u2019re not a startup \u2014 we\u2019re a mature insurance business doing things differently\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><iframe title=\"Ep259 Mark Allan Ki: A chance to stand out from the crowd\" allowtransparency=\"true\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" style=\"border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);height:150px;\" scrolling=\"no\" data-name=\"pb-iframe-player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.podbean.com\/player-v2\/?from=embed&amp;i=ja38j-18f04ae-pb&amp;share=1&amp;download=1&amp;fonts=Tahoma&amp;skin=3267a3&amp;font-color=auto&amp;rtl=0&amp;logo_link=episode_page&amp;btn-skin=1b1b1b&amp;size=150\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>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.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Allan was speaking on the latest episode of The Voice of Insurance podcast, produced in association with AdvantageGo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is also a parallel class of follow-only underwriters. Allan suggested, looking to support and amplify those same leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a modern twist on the oldest symbiotic relationship in the subscription market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cKi started out within Brit, but we always had our own syndicate, team and brand,\u201d said Allan. \u201cNow we\u2019re a standalone Fairfax company, operating as a sister to Brit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That independence sits alongside focuses on underwriting discipline and operational rigour, he observed. \u201cWe\u2019re not a startup,\u201d said Allan. \u201cWe\u2019re a mature insurance business doing things differently.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added: \u201cThis isn\u2019t a tech startup trying to do insurance. It\u2019s an insurance company using technology in a smarter way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ki&#8217;s core concept has remained the same, he explained: a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/products\/underwriting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fully digital, algorithmic, follow-only underwriting platform<\/a> that provides immediate, committed capacity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not just about speed. It\u2019s about certainty, consistency and efficiency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A major step in Ki\u2019s evolution came with the launch of its partner capacity model. This enables other capital providers to use Ki\u2019s algorithms and technology stack to offer follow capacity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe idea is to give brokers more capacity through the same process,\u201d Allan explained. \u201cFrom the broker\u2019s point of view, nothing changes. But they get more lines and better efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The brokers themselves have embraced the concept. \u201cThere was scepticism when we launched about whether brokers at Lloyd\u2019s would use technology,\u201d said Allan.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat myth has been busted. We\u2019ve got loyal users. We\u2019ve got brokers asking for Ki to be on the quote. We\u2019ve even had clients request us by name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The approach is helping make digital underwriting real in the London market.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou can log in to&nbsp;KiInsurance.com&nbsp;and access capacity right away,\u201d Allan said. \u201cWe\u2019ve built it to work across the market \u2014 big brokers, small brokers, anyone using the standard placement platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Technology is also enabling a deeper partnership model, according to Allan. Ki\u2019s collaboration with Howden, a London market broker, has allowed the broker to generate both tracker and open market lines using Ki\u2019s tools.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey could have built their own system,\u201d Allan noted. \u201cBut we\u2019ve already got one in production handling over a billion dollars in premium \u2014 and it works.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Crucially, Ki has no plans to lead risks. \u201cWe\u2019re happy being a follower,\u201d said Allan. \u201cThere\u2019s huge value in being a disciplined, data-led follower who can support market leaders without trying to compete with them. That\u2019s core to our model.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That discipline is built into the algorithm. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t chase premium; it does the same thing every time it sees the same data. There\u2019s no recency bias, no emotion,\u201d he said. \u201cIt behaves predictably and consistently, which is especially important in a shifting market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Artificial intelligence is already embedded into operations. \u201cWe\u2019re using GenAI for data structuring, knowledge management and internal support. Our chatbot handles 90% of broker queries,\u201d Allan said. \u201cWe\u2019re also exploring use cases that make it even easier for brokers to work with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But innovation has limits. \u201cWe\u2019re not chasing shiny objects,\u201d he said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t entered new classes because we need training data. We\u2019ll go where the data and expertise allow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s so much opportunity in the existing flow,\u201d he said. \u201cThe challenge is to make the follow market as efficient and sustainable as possible, while supporting a vibrant lead market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regulators, he stressed, have responded well to Ki\u2019s approach. \u201cWe\u2019ve got version control, full auditability, and a well-governed algorithmic process. If anything, we can demonstrate more control than many manual underwriting models.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So has Ki been accretive to the market?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes, I believe we have,\u201d Allan said. \u201cBrokers like having something new to talk about. Clients have heard of Ki and want to be part of the story. We\u2019re bringing fresh capacity, faster \u2014 and that\u2019s good for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,26],"tags":[14],"line-of-business":[28,20],"class_list":["post-10082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcasts","category-latest-insights","tag-underwriting-workbench","line-of-business-general-liability","line-of-business-property"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10082"},{"taxonomy":"line-of-business","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advantagego.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/line-of-business?post=10082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}