I’ve now just celebrated my one year anniversary in my role as CEO at Relay Platform and am excited to share an update with you. A lot has changed since May 2023 while much has stayed the same. Cyber threats are accelerating with a 20% increase year over year in data breaches between 2023 and 2022. I expect this trend to continue as many of those breaches were from cloud storage (which is growing 9% p.a.), often the result of misconfiguration of security. We are in a period where cyber insurance is under-purchased (only 20% of small businesses buy today) relative to increasing cyber risk in the world, drawing parallels to Employment Practices Liability Insurance in the early 2000’s.
Twelve months ago when I joined Relay Platform, I noted that “Relay Platform was founded on the simple premise that humans and technology can co-exist effectively in insurance, bringing much-needed tools to handle the science of the (often manual) work while facilitating the art of insurance brokerage.” We are delivering on our promise of a 21st century experience as a natural extension of the way you and your teams work to better serve your clients with an ever-evolving platform and growing panel of insurers.
First, we have welcomed several insurers onto the platform with several more in the pipeline. We are welcoming back insurers which departed in 2022, as well, reinforcing our promise to deliver an independent, fair solution to the market. These partnerships continue to grow and I’m excited about our evolving carrier offering as we reach a critical mass of placement volume on our platform.
Second, our capability-focused technology platform continues to transform the way brokers do business with multiple new product enhancements and releases over the last year. We welcomed Quotie McQuotebot (or, just Quotie™) to our family in January as a digital AI-based broking assistant which can orchestrate our platform to collect indications, quotes, and more. As all children do, Quotie is maturing quickly with a very bright future ahead.
We also have reoriented some of our core capabilities to help brokers better engage their clients in discussions about cyber insurance, starting with price indications and summarized coverage terms. Our Cyber-Strategy-in-a-Box approach rapidly accelerates cross/up-sell of cyber insurance to satisfy the mission noted above: in today’s world of digital risk, all insureds should consider (and, in general, buy) cyber insurance.
Personally and professionally, this last year has been monumental for my own development and growth. As with any startup, the road is never linear and smooth, and we all have the battle scars to prove it. Those experiences have taught me a lot about myself as a leader, a spouse, a parent, and a regular human being. I remember asking myself before I started if it’s possible to be my own person as CEO, and I truly believe that is achievable. As a leader, I can only be ‘me’ every day, bringing my best problem-solving, empathetic, thoughtful, customer-oriented self to the table. The advice from some of my mentors before I started, including Mike Rosenbaum of Guidewire, Greg Case at Aon and countless others, solidified my commitment to be myself every day; I can’t be someone else’s version of CEO, just my own.
Things haven’t always been easy over the last year either. We faced challenges in order to meet financial obligations and refine our focus as a company. While change is never easy, our company is stronger than ever and has accelerated our progress in turn. Consequently, we have not only broken all-time high platform usage in January 2024, but have doubled that all-time high usage level by April 2024. Startups dream of ‘explosive growth’ and this is actually what it looks like. That said, we aren’t resting on our laurels and push further with our focus on continuous improvement and driving to scale.
It’s always important to maintain perspective on what matters most, as well as to maintain our sense of humor. Relay launched a meme-based advertising campaign last year, letting us all laugh a little bit at ourselves and the industry we serve. As the expression goes, “Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive.” I’m looking forward to some more fun ways we can appreciate this complex and important industry while professionally delivering results to our customers.
I cannot express how thankful I am about this opportunity and will continue to grow my passion for insurance, technology, problem solving, team collegiality, and more. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter and of course for your ongoing commitment to Relay Platform.
Best,
Aaron Davidson, CEO
