Why Insurance AI Is Finally Moving From Pilots to Production | mea | Ep. 404

The insurance industry has been experimenting with AI for years. So why is it only now starting to deliver at scale? Robin Merttens is joined by Max Richter, EMEA CEO and Global Growth Leader at mea, to explore what has changed and why this moment feels genuinely different. After years advising insurers on transformation at Accenture, Max made the move to building technology inside the workflows he once analysed. His view is clear: the industry does not need more AI strategy decks. It needs systems that actually execute work. The conversation covers the shift from automating individual tasks to automating entire workflows, why previous waves of automation fell short, and what it takes to move from AI theatre to production-grade outcomes at scale. Topics include: Why the industry is finally moving from AI experimentation to execution -What changed in the technology landscape to make this moment different -Why ingestion is only the starting point, not the end goal -How mea Operations orchestrates work across underwriting, claims and finance -Where AI agents are already delivering measurable impact in production -How incumbents and new entrants are approaching AI adoption differently -Why starting with a clear pain point is the healthiest way to scale AI -The difference between AI theatre and production-grade outcomes -Why collaboration with underwriters and operations teams is becoming essential -How mea went from bootstrapped to raising $50 million from a position of strength ------------- 👉 Listen on your preferred podcast platform: https://www.instech.co/knowledge-cent... 📌 Subscribe for more episodes:    / @instechofficial   🔍 Explore the InsTech podcast archive: https://www.instech.co/item-type/podc... ------------- If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Robin Merttens on LinkedIn -   / robinmerttens   Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning - https://www.instech.co/sign-up-to-the... Leave us a message! Want to leave a message for the InsTech team? Drop us a voicemail with questions for guests or hosts, ideas for next episodes or just general musings - https://www.speakpipe.com/widget/inli... --------------- 00:00 Welcome 01:18 Meet Max Richter, mea 01:30 Why Max left Accenture to build insurance AI 03:08 Raising $50m from a position of strength 04:54 Why this AI moment feels genuinely different 06:43 Why ingestion is the front door, not the whole house 09:58 What is mea Operations and what does it execute 11:33 Workbench vs automation: what mea is really building 13:11 Agentic AI: overhyped or underestimated 15:24 Where AI agents are delivering real value today 17:03 How incumbents and new entrants approach AI differently 20:38 London, US and beyond: mea's global expansion 22:40 What mea builds and what it buys 24:00 Why the best AI programs are built with the people doing the work 26:11 Vibe coding vs production discipline 27:28 Wrap up and outro