This week’s moves include a leadership restructure at The Hartford, a broker hire from Big Tech for the data center boom, and finance and product appointments at two insurtechs.
The Hartford is combining its data and AI function with its technology organization, giving operations to its claims chief and naming a new chief risk officer. The changes take effect on November 2.
Chief information officer Shekar Pannala (pictured, left) will lead the combined technology, data and AI organization. Chief claims officer Stephen Deane (pictured, center) will also take responsibility for operations. James Yanosy (pictured, right), chief financial officer for business insurance, employee benefits, claims and centralized services, becomes chief risk officer, reporting directly to chairman and CEO Christopher Swift.
Current chief risk officer Prateek Chhabra and chief data, AI and operations officer Jeffery Hawkins will leave at the end of the year.
“We are simplifying execution, sharpening accountability, and increasing our ability to respond to a rapidly changing business environment,” Swift said.
President Mo Tooker said combining operations with claims would improve the customer experience. He said placing data and AI under the CIO would help embed analytics and new technology in how The Hartford serves customers and distribution partners.
Combining claims and operations under one leader could make service more consistent for agents and their clients, from policy servicing to claims. Bringing AI under the technology organization may speed up tools aimed at agents.
Marsh has appointed Michael Crowley to the new role of senior enterprise risk advisor for digital infrastructure, based in San Francisco. He spent 10 years at Meta as a risk manager, leading its insurance programs, including an owner-controlled insurance program for its data centers that covered more than $200 billion in construction values. He previously worked in data center construction sourcing at Facebook and Amazon Web Services.
Data center construction is creating some of the largest builder’s risk and wrap-up placements in the market. Hiring from the buyer side gives Marsh first-hand knowledge of how hyperscalers manage those programs.
CRC Group has hired Allison Reagan as senior vice president and property broker at CRC Specialty. She has more than 12 years of brokerage experience and joins from another wholesaler, where she was senior vice president.
Property is softening across most of the market. Retail agents placing difficult commercial property accounts gain another experienced wholesale contact.
MGT, an AI-focused commercial P&C insurer, has appointed Joe Magdovitz as its first head of finance, reporting to co-founder and co-CEO Michael Topol. He was previously chief financial officer of Vouch Insurance, where he led the sale of its underwriting business to Hiscox and oversaw more than threefold growth in written premium.
A dedicated finance leader with capital markets experience suggests MGT is preparing for further fundraising or expansion into new markets and distribution channels.
Core systems provider OneShield has appointed Terry Brown to the new role of chief insurance officer, to help shape its AI capabilities for P&C insurers and MGAs. Brown has worked in an independent agency, spent 17 years at Cincinnati Equitable Insurance Company, and later served as president of a core systems vendor.
As carriers and MGAs adopt AI in underwriting, claims and billing, vendors with insurance operators in leadership may build tools that work better in daily use, including for the agents who rely on them.
