Over 900 adjusters, insurance leaders, and contractors attended the 2025 Verisk Elevate conference in beautiful Salt Lake City. This was a niche, solution-oriented event with strong keynotes, informative sessions, and ample networking opportunities. The key topics sessions focused on were:
- The growing talent gap
- Managing rising costs
- Extreme weather events
- Using intelligent automation to enhance claims processes
Some conferences have expos with booths, this one featured a Solutions Gallery where actual product demonstrations were presented. The event was well-organized, and it was easy to meander between the three floors of the Hyatt Regency for sessions, breaks and the solutions gallery.
One of the differentiators of this event is the access to both Verisk and industry leaders. It was a common sight to see the insurance leaders and principals from Verisk including CEO Lee Shavel or Verisk President of Claim Solutions Maroun Mourad sitting at breakfast or lunch with attendees.
The conference gave back to charities in two ways. There was a packing station for Clean The World supplies for attendees to assemble throughout the conference. Attendees were each given a water bottle with a scannable QR code. Every time an attendee refilled the water bottle and scanned the code, Fill It Forward would log the scan and unlock a charitable donation to global giving projects.
Shaping tomorrow
Aaron Brunko, president of Verisk Property Estimating Solutions, opened the conference with a talk to discuss how Verisk is Shaping Tomorrow Together via:
- Accelerated innovation,
- Persistent values
- Our Call to Action
Duncan Wardle, former head of innovation & creation at Disney, led a featured session on how to capture unlikely connections. He helped us understand how we can look at AI as happening for us and not to us.
Lee Shavel opened the second day and discussed challenges facing the insurance industry and the key values of caring, learning, and results. He also commented on how many of the recent advancements in their product were the result of listening to clients and how that collaboration has closed process gaps.
Strategic futurist and author Heather McGowan wowed the audience with her theme of clarity with purpose. She immediately connected with the audience with her lengthy history of unfortunate insurance claims. The focus of her talk was on the three components to be clear on purpose:
- Why — Your battle Cry
- Who — Team + Customers
- How — Culture + Leadership
This was my seventh year presenting at this event. My session was Thriving In Claims: Mastering Human Skills in the AI Era. While many of us worried abut FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) during COVID, many in the insurance industry are more worried about FOBO (Fear Of Becoming Obsolete). By honing human skills (adaptability intelligence, connectional intelligence, and emotional intelligence) AI cannot currently replicate, attendees learned how they could continue to thrive as AI encroaches.
The conference ended with a memorable networking event, two suites at the Utah Jazz versus the Golden State Warriors basketball game. The highlight of the game was getting to watch Stephen Curry warm up.
Watching the best shooter of all time hit shot after longer shot (ending with three in a row from the halfcourt logo) reminded me of the theme of the Verisk Elevate event. Stephen Curry, the best in the business, was still shaping his tomorrow.
