Beyond the Desk with Mark Thomas
Beyond the Desk with Mark Thomas
Podcast Description
THE Insurance Careers Podcast!
Hosted by Mark Thomas, one of the UK's leading senior appointments recruiters in the technology, operations, change & transformation space, this podcast brings you exclusive interviews with the most influential names and brightest minds in insurance.
Each week, Mark dives deep into the career journeys, pivotal moments, and stories of success and resilience that have shaped the careers of these global insurance technology leaders.
You will gain insights, inspiration, and insider perspectives from the leaders who are redefining the industry's future right now!
🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJL5z9-RSWJj3BKCKa-MQ6g
💻 Connect with us on Linkedin for more insights and thought leadership www.linkedin.com/company/beyondthedeskpodcast
Join the conversation, follow us and explore the fascinating world of insurance careers like never before!
Website: https://beyond-the-desk.captivate.fm
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
This podcast covers themes of career progression, technology in insurance, and industry transformation through guest narratives. For instance, episodes like Andrew Passfield discussing his journey from trainee underwriter to CEO focus on the convergence of technology and insurance, while guests like Sandra Lewin talk about diversity and the impact of personal branding. Key areas of exploration include the evolving role of AI, strategic partnerships in insurance, and innovative methods of industry engagement.
THE Insurance Careers Podcast!
Hosted by Mark Thomas, one of the UK’s leading senior appointments recruiters in the technology, operations, change & transformation space, this podcast brings you exclusive interviews with the most influential names and brightest minds in insurance.
Each week, Mark dives deep into the career journeys, pivotal moments, and stories of success and resilience that have shaped the careers of these global insurance technology leaders.
You will gain insights, inspiration, and insider perspectives from the leaders who are redefining the industry’s future right now!
🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJL5z9-RSWJj3BKCKa-MQ6g
💻 Connect with us on Linkedin for more insights and thought leadership www.linkedin.com/company/beyondthedeskpodcast
Join the conversation, follow us and explore the fascinating world of insurance careers like never before!
Website: https://beyond-the-desk.captivate.fm
In this episode of Beyond the Desk, Mark Thomasis joined by Chris Pearce, Chief Data Officer at esure.
Chris shares his fascinating journey from a childhood love of video games to leading one of the UK’s most advanced data and AI transformations in the insurance industry.
We explore Chris’s academic path from mathematics to a PhD in epidemiology, his early career spanning banking, automotive, and aggregators, and his progression into insurance leadership. Along the way, Chris gives a brutally honest view on the evolution of the CDO role, the hype and reality of AI in production, and how esure has embedded over a dozen generative AI use cases into the frontline of its business.
Key topics discussed:
- Why video games sparked Chris’s interest in problem-solving and led to a career in data
- What a PhD in epidemiology taught him about resilience, research, and learning how little you know
- His early career in banking, Mercedes-Benz, and MoneySuperMarket and how each built his leadership toolkit
- Entering insurance with Hastings Direct and building data science teams across pricing, fraud, and claims
- Becoming CDO at esure and building an enterprise-wide data and AI capability
- The differences between 1st-gen and 2nd-gen Chief Data Officer roles
- What most people misunderstand about driving value from data science
- How to thrive as a leader without losing your technical edge
- What 16 GenAI use cases in production actually looks like in practice
- Where the CDO role is heading, and why agentic AI is next
This is a brilliant insight into the mindset and career history of a modern, new CDO and what’s next for data leaders in the insurance sector.
Connect with us:
- Mark Thomas on LinkedIn: Connect Here
- Follow Beyond the Desk on LinkedIn: Follow Here
- Watch Full-Length Video Episodes on YouTube Here
- Chris on LinkedIn: Connect Here
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with colleagues who might find it valuable!
New episodes drop every Tuesday. Stay tuned for more conversations with leaders shaping the future of insurance and InsureTech. Thanks for tuning in – see you next time on Beyond the Desk! 🎧
Sponsor:
This episode is brought to you by Invecta Search, the brand new leadership search product from Invecta Group, which leads the insurance industry in building best-in-class technology and transformation leadership teams.
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