Spotlighting Insurance Nerd Day 2026

What’s one thing about the insurance industry that people would find most surprising?

Greg Salwen: Many would find it surprising that the people who work in the insurance industry desperately want to improve it and genuinely share the same frustration as the public with how the system works. The industry gets a bad reputation due to huge misconceptions!

Caroline Marinez: Most people picture insurance as paperwork and claims. What surprises many is how much of it is actually about relationships. The agent is the person who helps someone get access to care and benefits they didn't know they had, or couldn't get on their own. I've watched agents keep the same clients for decades, not because of a policy, but because they genuinely cared and became their health advocate. On the other side of the table sits the health plan which is not so different.  Leadership at health plans are often driven by the exact same thing. They understand there is a deep frustration with a broken system and have a real desire to fix it and widen access to better care. Throughout my career I've had the privilege of sitting on both sides of the table and come to realize that almost everyone in this industry is chasing the same thing - getting people the care they need, when they need it, without the system getting in the way.

What do you love most about working in Insurance and Insurtech?

Carolyne Kama: I love how willing everyone is to support one another in the insurance industry. Every insurance client I've worked with has been quick to share best practices and offer guidance. At the end of the day, there's this shared sentiment that we're all working toward building better lives. I truly believe this.

Greg: I love having the chance to modernize and help improve an industry that desperately needs a facelift!

Caroline: Purpose. Helping people is what pulled me in and it's what's kept me here. Over twenty years I've sat on just about every side of the table from agent, carrier, provider, distribution and that's given me a rare view of what's actually working and what's still broken. Insurtech excites me because it takes what used to be a slow, manual, frustrating process and makes it efficient, so more of the energy goes toward people instead of paperwork. But what I love most isn't the technology or even the deals. It's the relationships and the people I've built trust with throughout my career, the clients, partners and colleagues, are reason this has never felt like just a job.

What excites you most about the year ahead in Insurance?

Caroline: How technology will continue to make a difference. I'm seeing it firsthand here at Kizen; health plans and FMO's are finally putting this against the unglamorous manual workflows that take up too much time. Contracting that used to take weeks, commissions that get paid late, or wrong, and then take three people and a spreadsheet to untangle. No one outside this industry thinks about any of that but if you're an agent, it's the difference between spending your day selling or spending your daychasing. What excites me is watching unnecessary work disappear, not because the technology is impressive, but because of what it gives back. It gives agents more time to focus on serving their clients. It enables FMOs to recruit and contract agents faster, and it allows carriers to concentrate on delivering great products and paying agents accurately and on time.

Greg: I'm most excited to help carriers implement artificial intelligence into their operations, and see how fast the frontier models evolve.

Carolyne: I'm excited to see how AI will accelerate growth and innovation in the insurance industry. We're at a point where it's still challenging to fully understand and unlock the business value of a technology that's evolving so quickly. It’ll be exciting to see how organizations adapt and the opportunities that emerge along the way.

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