Simon Glairy stands at the intersection of traditional risk assessment and the cutting-edge world of Insurtech, bringing a wealth of experience in how digital transformation reshapes the landscape of commercial insurance. Throughout his career, he has analyzed the shifting dynamics of risk management, focusing on how technology can streamline the complexities of the market for small to medium-sized enterprises. This interview explores the evolving nature of the industry, specifically examining the transition of speed from a luxury to a mandatory baseline, the psychological shift toward “on-demand” expectations in the professional sphere, and the critical importance of maintaining underwriting discipline and governance in an era of rapid automation. We dive deep into the breakdown of the traditional “golden triangle” of service and why the human element remains the ultimate arbiter for complex risks.
In a market where rapid decision-making has transitioned from a competitive edge to a baseline requirement, how do you see this shift redefining the fundamental expectations placed on underwriters today?
The reality we are facing is that speed has moved from being a differentiator to what I call “table stakes.” In the current climate, particularly for those placing business across property owners, retail, or food and hospitality sectors, the very first question asked isn’t about the depth of the relationship or even the specifics of the coverage—it is simply how quickly a decision can be rendered. If you are not able to provide an answer almost immediately, you aren’t just slow; you are effectively invisible to the broker. Brokers and clients today do not have the patience to wait around for legacy processes to churn through a file over several days. They will actively hunt around the market because they are under immense time constraints, and those who have not recognized this permanent structural shift are already falling behind their more agile competitors.
The “on-demand effect” suggests that professional behaviors are increasingly shaped by our personal lives; how does this consumer mindset specifically impact the way insurance products are now shopped and sold?
We have to remember that every professional walking into an office or logging into a workstation is also a consumer who tracks same-day deliveries on their phone and manages their entire investment portfolio through a mobile app. When you spend your morning ordering a taxi with a single tap, you don’t magically lose that mindset the moment you put on your professional outfit for the day. There is a growing sense of frustration where people look at the insurance process and ask, “Why can’t I get this immediately? What is the actual problem here?” This culture of on-demand service has created a permanent expectation for instant gratification that the insurance industry can no longer ignore. If legacy players continue to hide behind manual, sluggish workflows, they will inevitably fall to the wayside as new participants emerge who can fulfill these modern, consumer-driven expectations.
From a broker’s perspective, time spent on a case is a direct financial investment; how does a slow underwriting response jeopardize their profitability and their standing with a prospect?
Brokers are in a position where they begin spending money the very moment they start taking information from a prospect. Their time is their primary capital, and every hour spent chasing an underwriter for a quote is a direct hit to their bottom line. This is why speed has become the primary metric for whether an insurer or MGA even gets the chance to compete for a piece of business. If you can put an option on the table for a client faster than anyone else, you are effectively in the lead before the competition has even opened the email. If you have nothing showing on the broker’s screen while a competitor has already delivered a quote, you simply cannot compete, regardless of how good your relationship might be.
The industry has long believed in a “golden triangle” where one must choose between speed, price, and quality, but you suggest this trade-off is disappearing; how must companies adapt to this new “all-of-the-above” reality?
In the SME space, the traditional idea that you can realistically optimize only two of these three factors—speed, price, and quality—is rapidly breaking down under the weight of client expectations. Today’s clients and brokers increasingly expect an MGA to be fast, high-quality, and competitively priced all at once. If you fail to deliver on any single one of those three pillars, the market is efficient enough that people will simply place the business elsewhere without a second thought. It is no longer enough to be the cheapest if you are slow, or the fastest if your coverage is subpar. To survive in this environment, an organization must build its entire architecture around the goal of satisfying all three demands simultaneously, treating them as a single, unified requirement for entry into the market.
Automation is often cited as the solution to the need for speed, but what are the specific dangers of “ungoverned automation” when it comes to long-term profitability and risk management?
There are massive pitfalls waiting for any firm that is hell-bent on speed at the total expense of quality governance. If you push through automation without a strict framework for how those decisions are made and monitored, you are almost guaranteed to see a significant deterioration in your profitability over time. The key is to design a model where automation handles the predictable, straightforward risks, but the system is smart enough to flag the “quirky” or complex risks for a human. This architectural approach routes edge cases to experienced underwriters who actually want to use their judgment on non-standard risks rather than wasting their talent on data entry. True power in underwriting comes from combining that rapid-fire automated response for the majority of cases with the deep, nuanced expertise of a human for the cases that truly require it.
What is your forecast for the future of SME underwriting?
The future of SME underwriting will be defined by a total convergence of high-speed data processing and surgical human intervention. We will see the “golden triangle” move from a theoretical challenge to a digital standard, where the players who thrive are those who can offer instant quotes while maintaining a razor-sharp focus on risk quality. I expect that the divide between “fast” MGAs and “legacy” insurers will widen, with the latter being forced to either overhaul their entire tech stack or retreat from the SME market entirely as brokers flock to platforms that respect their time and investment. Ultimately, the winners will be those who view speed not as a goal in itself, but as the essential delivery mechanism for a high-quality, disciplined underwriting product that meets the on-demand needs of the modern professional.
