Commercial banking

Gail McGiffin is the Managing Director and Global Insurance Advisory Lead at EPAM, where she helps insurers deliver large-scale transformation programs focused on growth, efficiency and digital innovation. With over 35 years of experience in insurance leadership, she specializes in underwriting modernization, data-driven platforms and operational efficiencies.

Before joining EPAM, Ms. McGiffin was the Chief Information and Operations Officer and board member at Vantage Group Holdings Ltd., where she led technology and operations. She previously served as Global Insurance Underwriting Lead and Partner/Principal at EY, Chief Information Officer and a member of the board of directors at ProSight Specialty Insurance and Managing Partner at Accenture, where she established and led the Global Underwriting Practice. Ms. McGiffin began her career at Chubb, holding leadership roles in underwriting and product innovation.

Justin Grooms is the president of Bolt, a checkout technology company.

Brian Moore leads the North American operations for Sollers Consulting, he has more than 20 years of experience in insurance technology leading professional services teams. 

Lennart Imorde is the Head of Process Automation at Sollers Consulting specializing in implementing core insurance systems and driving automation in insurance processes through Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Business Process Management (BPM), and AI-driven solutions.

Shaye-Ann Hopkins is a behavioral researcher at Duke University, where she works with design tools and interventions that enhance wellbeing. Her work focuses on designing and testing behaviorally informed solutions that support healthier financial behaviors and more resilient communities.

Kahini Shah is a behavioral researcher at Duke University. Her work primarily focuses on leveraging insights from human behavior to design products and systems that promote financial wellbeing. She has worked on projects across the globe to help people build wealth, increase their savings, and reduce their debt.

An administrative law judge began hearings on an interim emergency homeowners insurance rate increase by State Farm General, the insurer's California unit. Attorneys for State Farm say the company's finances require the increase, to keep insurance available in the state. Opponents say only risk is a valid reason, not protecting the insurer's finances.

Keynova Group shared its Q1 2025 edition of the Mobile Insurance Scorecard. Progressive and Geico tied for first overall in mobile user experience.

Michelle Bonat is the chief AI officer at AI Squared, with a history of leadership roles in AI and technology, including AI CTO at JPMorgan Chase and head of AI Innovation at Chase. She led global engineering and product initiatives at Oracle across 30 countries and founded a fintech startup. A patent holder and hands-on data scientist always experimenting with the next new innovation, Michelle also drove product leadership at three companies that were acquired including Ariba (acquired by SAP).

As climate change fuels natural disasters around the world, employers are left looking for solutions to protect their workers.

Jamie Warner of Plymouth Rock Assurance focuses on the use of data and technology in the insurance space, and the STEM job opportunities available for today's graduates.

Chris Wolpert learned the power of publishing in getting across his benefits-advising message, earn street cred, and court prospective clients.

Employers that consider their benefit programs before disaster strikes can make them more accessible to employees when events actually occur.

Rathi Murthy is the Chief Technology Officer at Varo Bank, the first nationally chartered all-digital consumer bank in the United States. In this role, she leads the company's end-to-end technology strategy, overseeing the design and development of secure, scalable, and AI-powered digital banking platforms. Her leadership is instrumental in advancing Varo's mission to build inclusive, accessible, and real-time financial solutions for millions of consumers.

A seasoned technology executive, Rathi brings over 25 years of experience leading innovation and digital transformation at some of the world's most recognized technology and financial services companies. Prior to joining Varo, she served as Chief Technology Officer and President of Expedia Product & Technology at Expedia Group, where she modernized the company's global travel infrastructure, integrating AI-driven personalization, modular architecture, and advanced cloud capabilities across its family of brands.

Earlier, she held executive leadership roles at Verizon Media and Gap Inc., where she led enterprise cloud migrations, e-commerce platform evolution, and large-scale product delivery initiatives across global markets.

Rathi also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Enterprise Growth at American Express, where she was responsible for the technology strategy and operations of the Serve platform and a suite of prepaid products including Bluebird. 

Rathi's early career includes engineering leadership roles at eBay, Yahoo!, Sun Microsystems, and WebMD, where she consistently delivered improvements in platform stability, operational agility, and customer experience.

In addition to her executive work, Murthy is a board member at PagerDuty, Inc., a leader in digital operations management, and serves as an External Expert Advisor to the University of San Francisco's Board of Trustees Committee on Information Technology Strategy. She is also a regular speaker at industry events and leadership forums, offering thought leadership on topics such as fintech innovation, integrating AI, platform transformation, and executive technology leadership.

Follow Rathi Murthy on LinkedIn and X. 

The energy demands of AI mean that its benefits can be negated by climate damage, troubling executives surveyed by KPMG.

A new webinar from the Travelers Institute examined the intersection between mental and physical health and looked at the evolving labor market.

Guy Baker, CFP, Ph.D., is the founder of Wealth Teams Alliance in Irvine, California.

He is a member of the Forbes 250 Top Financial Security Professionals list and is author of  "Maximize the RedZone," a guide for business owners, as well as "The Great Wealth Erosion," "Manage Markets, Not Stocks" and "Investment Alchemy." He received the 2019 John Newton Russell Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in insurance.

Insurers resort to subrogation when they suspect that a third party is ultimately responsible for the losses. Rather than deal with the recovery risk, insurers have been selling claims on to alternative investment managers.