Graham Harvey, Group CEO at Cardinal
The insurance industry is undergoing a fundamental shift, driven by evolving regulations, heightened client expectations, and the relentless pace of technology innovation.
At Cardinal, our mission is to help intermediaries, brokers, agents, and their teams navigate these pressures with efficiency, relevance, and confidence. In today’s environment, brokers face growing regulatory burdens that demand more compliance, tighter processes, and robust reporting. But these demands come with increasing costs, creating a critical need for smarter systems, not just more systems. The key lies in enabling compliance and administrative functions to happen seamlessly, without adding to the intermediary’s workload.
Streamlining through smart integration – One of our biggest strategic investments has been in automation and intelligent platform design. We believe technology should remove admin, not add more of it. Whether through AI, robotics, or other automation tools, the goal must be to eliminate friction between brokers and insurers, reduce double capture, and drive real efficiency.
But technology can only move as fast as regulation allows. That’s why we’ve built an insurer-focused division inside Cardinal. We work closely with insurers to understand their evolving needs and ensure their products are delivered to brokers in the most seamless and compliant manner possible. This collaborative approach also helps keep us and our intermediary clients up to date on regulatory changes as they happen.
Building together, not in isolation – Four years ago, we recognised that too many platform changes were being requested in isolation, some helpful, others less so. To cut through the noise, we launched the Super User Forum, a collaborative initiative bringing together 30+ power users from across the insurance industry, including brokers, corporate insurers, and niche specialists. Each year, we retreat for a few days of focused problem-solving and strategic alignment.
The outcome? A live list of 57 priority development items co-created by our users. These aren’t “nice-to-haves” dreamed up in a boardroom; they’re pain points, opportunities, and ideas that genuinely move the needle for real businesses. We meet every two weeks to update progress, validate new ideas, and ensure that both insurer and broker perspectives are aligned. This model has transformed our roadmap and ensured we build what the market actually needs.
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Practical tools that deliver – Among our most successful implementations to date is the integration of Codeplex Binder. It bridges the broker-insurer claims experience by eliminating double capture and enabling seamless processing on the insurer’s system and in the broker’s office. We’ve seen enormous uptake and positive feedback on the efficiency gains.
We’ve also built out our Self-Service capabilities for end clients, using WhatsApp and web forms to allow policyholders to interact with their broker’s office effortlessly. In a world moving away from email and toward instant messaging, this is a game changer, especially in personal lines and SME markets.
And most recently, we acquired a surveying and valuations business to integrate site risk assessments directly into our platform. This helps brokers evolve into true risk consultants, managing client exposure, offering proactive advice, and charging appropriately for their expertise.
Adoption is the real challenge – Here’s the hard truth: building smart technology is only half the battle. Driving adoption, especially when it requires changing long-standing behaviours, is often the bigger challenge. The most brilliant tool can fall flat if brokers default to old habits like emailing blank PDF claim forms.
That’s why we put a sharp focus on execution. We handhold. We educate. We align with insurers and their systems. We do the difficult work of change management. Because without adoption, even the most beautiful solution is just shelfware.
AI: Buzzword or breakthrough? – There’s no escaping the buzz around AI, but I believe we’re still in the “show me the money” phase. At Cardinal, we use AI to assist our developers internally and explore comparative insights on renewals and document analysis, but it’s not yet a magic wand.
Where we see more immediate impact is in robotic process automation, the quiet workhorse of digital transformation. Extracting data from PDFs, populating quote systems, or digitising invoices, these aren’t flashy, but they save time and eliminate duplication. That’s transformation brokers feel daily.
We’re working closely with fintech partners like Ronald Gall’s Fintech Micro to expand these solutions. And as AI matures, we’ll integrate more, but always with a pragmatic eye. Real-world results over hype.
A Practical path to progress – The future of insurance technology will be defined not by the speed of innovation, but by its relevance and execution. At Cardinal, our commitment is to practical, user-led progress, built in collaboration with brokers and insurers alike.
Digital transformation isn’t about replacing the industry; it’s about refining it. It’s about helping brokers become indispensable risk advisors, not overwhelmed administrators. It’s about empowering people with tools that serve them, not sideline them.
We’re excited for what’s next, and we’re building it with the industry, not just for it.