MEET OUR TEAM
Our superior talent in analytics, risk mitigation, loss control and underwriting creates innovative products and solutions to the insurance ecosystem.
Pat Blandford
Founder & CEO
Pat's passion is using data and analytics to drive innovation and client success. As the prior CEO of Tokio Marine Highland (TMH), he built the business from $170m to $450M in annual premium while dramatically improving underwriting profitability. Prior to his experience at TMH, he served as Managing Director at two private equity firms where he led the investment in more than 10 insurance and business services companies. He began his career at Goldman Sachs & Co. and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Nick Sedlak
Head of Underwriting
Nick has 20+ years of property insurance experience and comes from an insurance family, it’s in his DNA! His industry experience has been focused on driving new/renewal business while maintaining the highest standards for risk management. He has held underwriting leadership roles at AIG, Berkley One, Nationwide and ACE. He was responsible for building high performance teams across many key functions, including underwriting and product management. He has previously worked with a variety of Insurtechs as a strategic advisor.
Ursula Merten
Head of Operations
Ursula has 20+ years of industry experience, her knowledge expands across various business functions by serving in roles as an insurer, reinsurer, broker, TPA and consultant. She specializes in providing expertise in operational reengineering, process improvement, best practices, risk and controls, audit, and compliance. Passionate about the Insurtech world, she has worked with various Insurtechs as a subject matter expert. She understands the impact that data and technology driven solutions improve performance and meet customer needs.
Paul Brady
Head of Wildfire Insights and Mitigation
Paul knows wildfire. He spent 15+ years fighting wildfires within the USFS and private sector. Most of his firefighting years he was a Hotshot on multiple IHCs. During this time he fought Wildfires throughout the western United States. He spent time studying the science behind wildfires, then he transitioned to the insurance industry with AIG. He served as the loss control subject matter expert on wildfire evaluation and mitigation within the Private Client Group and Commercial lines. He implemented the Commercial Wildfire framework as the first wildfire expert in the AIG Programs Division and led the evaluation of wildfire models.
Jason Grodensky
Head of Distribution
Jason brings 20+ years of retail and wholesale distribution experience and relationships. He is a former marine, who owned his own agency, and served in various production and leadership positions throughout his career. Jason’s experience has been mainly focused on the HNW & hard-to-place sector. He actively attends and participates in many industry associations cultivating his marketplace knowledge. He understands the market needs and how to develop products and bring them to the market to be profitable.
Gary Raphael
Head of Risk Mitigation Strategy
Gary has more than three decades of hands-on risk mitigation experience, with a particular emphasis on helping high-net-worth families and property owners proactively assess and manage catastrophic risk. His extensive background includes expertise in vulnerability assessment, loss prevention, property valuation, and claims management. His previous insurance industry experience includes executive roles at AIG Private Client Group, Fireman’s Fund and Ace Private Risk Services. In these varied roles he led implementations of groundbreaking risk management programs that earned industry recognition and awards. Gary was previously a licensed property adjuster and insurance agent, and founded his own boutique risk advisory firm.
Brian Bastian
Head of Product
Brian is a product leader with expertise in B2B SaaS product development, product management, UI/UX design and product marketing. He is passionate about developing analytics, insights and products that help risk management professionals identify, quantify, and manage catastrophe risk. Brian worked as a Natural Catastrophe Advisor and Product Lead at Guy Carpenter and JLT Re. In this role he worked closely with carriers, helping educate their underwriters, claims managers and reinsurance buyers on catastrophe models and risk data usage and output. Prior to working in catastrophe analytics and advisory, Brian lead multiple product development initiatives for novel geospatial analytics solutions in the intelligence community as a Product Engineer for Vencore.
Bill Keogh
Strategic Advisor
Bill is a C-Suite and Board leader with extensive experience driving positive P&L impact and shareholder value for both domestic and global Insurance and InsurTech businesses. Bill has a unique grasp of insurance risk analysis, is a sought after thought leader and brings a vast global network of leaders and influencers across the entire insurance industry ecosystem. Bill was previously the Chairman and CEO of Advisen, Ltd., served as President of EQECAT and Global Group Executive Officer of Client Development at RMS.
Kiran Achen
Strategic Advisor
Kiran Achen has 23 years of IT experience primarily in the Insurance industry. He achieved success by leveraging technology, building high performing teams comprised of intellectually curious and self-driven critical thinkers, and fostering a culture that embraces new ideas, continuous learning and focused on positive outcomes. He currently serves as Chief Information & Digital Officer at Delta Dental of Missouri. He previously served as CIO at Tokio Marine Highland in Chicago, where he directed all IT functions and delivered technology solutions that enabled substantial financial growth. Prior to that, he served in several leadership positions during a decade-long tenure at CNA, where he led application development, enterprise architecture and digital strategy. He holds many awards and honors, including the 2021 Chicago CIO of the Year ORBIE Award and the CNA Chairman’s CARE Award.
Ashish Pujari
Data & AI Strategy
Data & AI consultant with 20+ years of IT experience, specializing in big data and machine learning, serves as a Principal ML/AI Architect, on cloud-based solutions for Fortune 500 companies, including roles at Amazon, Credera, and Pegasystems.
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