Speakers
 | Stephen ApplebaumSenior AnalystAite GroupStephen Applebaum is a senior analyst at Aite Group, covering property & casualty insurance. He focuses on the business, regulatory, and technology issues transforming the industry globally, as well as the challenges and opportunities they present to the P&C ecosystem. Innovative approaches and technology within the P&C insurance industry’s supply chain are of special interest.
Mr. Applebaum brings to Aite Group more than 20 years of experience in property & casualty insurance. His extensive career in P&C technology management spans several of the industry’s leading service providers in the United States and Canada, including CCC Information Services, ADP Claims Services Group (now Audatex, a Solera company) and ClaimForce Inc. Stephen has appeared frequently as a speaker and panelist at the industry’s major conferences, and published articles in Insurance & Technology and Claims.
Prior to joining Aite Group, Mr. Applebaum was the principal of Insurance Claim Solutions, a strategic consultancy practice serving claims information technology and service providers to the North American property & casualty insurance industry. Before forming Insurance Claim Solutions, he was president of ClaimForce Inc., a Web-based P&C claims management solution provider.
Stephen studied at University of Toronto and Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada with proficiencies in Accounting, Finance, Law, Economics, and Auditing. More recently, he completed the Harvard Business School Executive Education’s Leading Change and Organizational Renewal. Stephen is conversant in French.
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 | Michael BabikianPresident and CEOTransamerica Brokerage Michael M. Babikian is executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Transamerica Brokerage, a marketing unit for Transamerica Life Insurance Company and its affiliates. He is responsible for all marketing functions for Transamerica Brokerage. He is also the chief product officer and oversees all life insurance product design, development and management for the Transamerica Life & Protection division.
Babikian joined Transamerica in 2003 as an advanced marketing consultant. In this role, he developed customized solutions for a variety of insurance and investment needs. He was later named vice president of strategic marketing services, a group that included advanced marketing, premium financing and field education. Babikian served as senior vice president of marketing before being promoted to chief marketing officer.
Prior to joining Transamerica, Babikian was general counsel to Infinite Source Technologies, Inc., where he advised on all legal and tax matters. Previously, as an attorney for the tax law firm of Baker, Olson, LeCroy & Danielian, he advised clients on tax and business matters, including entity creation, mergers and acquisitions and exit strategies. He also worked as a tax specialist in KPMG’s Multi-Family Office—where he consulted with ultra-high-net-worth clients and their tax and legal counsels on complex financial, tax and estate planning issues—and in the legal department of the California Franchise Tax Board and the Internal Revenue Service.
Babikian is chairman of the board of directors and a professor at Glendale University College of Law. He has served as a member of the board of trustees for the Glendale Bar Association and as the chairman of the board of directors for the Glendale Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service. He was the committee chair for the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the Armenian Bar Association and was a member of the American Bar Association’s Tax Committee for Exempt Organizations. Babikian is also chairman of the board of directors of the Children’s Music Fund, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide musical instruments and music therapy to children, adolescents and young adults with chronic and life-altering illnesses. Babikian is a board member of the Chief Marketing Officer Council.
After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of California at Irvine, Babikian went on to receive a law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. He subsequently earned a master of laws in taxation at the University of San Diego and a master of business administration from the University of Southern California. In addition, Babikian is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, having graduated from the program for leadership development.
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 | Murli BuluswarChief Science OfficerChartisMurli Buluswar is the Chief Science Officer for Chartis. In this capacity, he is building and leading The Science Team, whose mission is to help Chartis achieve a competitive advantage by infusing consistent science driven innovation. This newly created team aspires to contribute value by asking questions, partnering with the business functions to implement insights based on world class analytical techniques, and by pursuing research that aims to improve Chartis' businesses and ultimately make the world a safer place.
Prior to joining Chartis, Murli was Vice President, Insight and Innovation (I&I) and Head of Customer Experience at Farmers Insurance, a subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services. I&I influenced decision-making across all functions based on data driven insights. In his customer experience role, Murli was responsible for shaping the enterprise vision on where and how much to invest to improve customer experience.
Murli's other previous experiences include analytical roles in Answer Financial (one of the largest P&C insurance agencies), Progressive, The Monitor Group, and Capital One.
Murli speaks at conferences focused on innovation and analytics driven strategy. He is also actively involved with Los Angeles based Harmony Project, whose mission is to help inner city children achieve purpose through free music instruction.
Murli holds a B.A. in Economics from Bluffton University, an MS in Economics & Statistics from Auburn University, and an MBA from The University of Chicago.
Chartis is a world leading property-casualty and general insurance organization serving more than 70 million clients around the world. With a 90-year history, one of the industry's most extensive ranges of products and services, deep claims expertise and excellent financial strength, Chartis enables its commercial and personal insurance clients alike to manage virtually any risk with confidence. For additional information, please visit the website at www.chartisinsurance.com. |
 | Ellen FecteauCIOLiberty International Underwriters |
 | Michael FergangVP, CIOGrange InsuranceMichael Fergang, Vice President, Chief Information Officer, joined Grange Insurance with the responsibility of developing and managing their growing IT department. Since his hiring in 2000, his team has been recognized for their excellence in the field by industry leaders, receiving the highest scores for customer satisfaction from independent insurance agents for seven consecutive years.
Fergang brings more than two decades of IT experience to his position. Before joining Grange, he was Chief Information Officer/Vice President, information services and technology for Swiss Re Life & Health/Midland Life Insurance Company, where he helped increase company growth and reduce operating costs. In addition, Fergang has also worked with numerous financial companies (Franklin Templeton, Shearson Lehman Bros.) to build their information technology departments to serve as a critical resource for creating and managing business processes more effectively.
Fergang graduated from the University of Delaware with a bachelor's degree in operations management and has completed graduate courses in telecommunications through New York University. He also devotes time to worthy community causes, including Amythest, an agency that helps homeless drug dependent women. |
 | Chuck JohnstonResearch Director, InsuranceCelentChuck Johnston is a Research Director in Celent’s Insurance group and is based in greater Hartford. His research is focused on all aspects of group and individual life insurance technology and business strategies.
Mr. Johnston has more than 25 years of expertise in insurance and information technology. Prior to joining Celent, he held several roles at Oracle Insurance, including Vice President Global Insurance Strategy and Solutions. He previously served in senior management roles focusing on financial services go to market strategy and execution at Siebel and Callidus Software. Prior to this, he was Vice President and Director of Insurance Information Strategies at META Group. During his more than three years at META Group, he was responsible for managing the advisory firm’s insurance research agenda and vertical analysts, providing strategic insight into industry trends, technology offerings, and strategic consulting services to insurance and financial services companies. He has also held various information technology and business leadership positions at Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance.
He is a frequent presenter at industry conferences, including LOMA events, ACORD, IASA, and the International Insurance Society.
Mr. Johnston is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, where he earned a BA in Psychology.
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 | Rick RoySVP & CIOCUNA MutualRick Roy is the Chief Information Officer for CUNA Mutual Group; a $13 billion diversified financial services company, headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. He is also responsible for corporate shared services including security, real estate and facilities, and enterprise procurement.
Under Rick’s leadership, CUNA Mutual IT is consistently recognized as an innovative leader in the application of business technology in the IT and financial services industries. Rick has appeared in leading media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News, The Economist, InformationWeek, CIO, Insurance Networking News, and Insurance & Technology. In 2011, Society of Information Management (SIM) and the Wisconsin Business Journal recognized Rick as the Enterprise CIO of the Year.
Rick has 30 years of technology industry experience including 20 years in the IT vendor community working for software, services and outsourcing companies. Prior to joining CUNA Mutual, Rick was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Metavante (FIS) Corporation’s product development organization.
Rick is an adjunct professor at Marquette University in their Graduate School of Management and is a director for several CUNA Mutual subsidiaries including CUMIS Specialty Insurance, MEMBERS Life Insurance Company and CUNA Brokerage Services.
Rick holds a Master's Degree in business from Marquette University and a Bachelor's Degree in management information systems from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has completed executive programs at Harvard Law School and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of management.
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Editors & Moderators
 | Katherine BurgerEditorial DirectorInsurance & TechnologyKatherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to directing the editorial strategy of both brands, Kathy is charged with the creation and development of new products, editorial supplements, special publications and live and online events including BS&T's Executive Summit, I&T's Executive Summit, Webcasts, live custom events and executive roundtables. Kathy is a frequent speaker/moderator at financial services industry conferences, and also has presented at a number of technology company user group and sales force events, as well as numerous Webcasts sponsored by industry leaders. She is a graduate of Carleton College. |
 | Nathan GoliaAssociate EditorInsurance & TechnologyNathan Golia is associate editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in June 2010.
Nathan writes content for the print and online editions of Insurance & Technology, as well as its daily newsletter and blog.
A veteran of the trade press, Nathan last worked at DMNews in various capacities. Before that, he was an assistant editor at The Toy Book. A proud Western New Yorker, Nathan graduated from Buffalo State College in 2006 with a degree in English. |
 | Anthony O’DonnellExecutive EditorInsurance & TechnologyAnthony O’Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information technology in the property/casualty, life and health insurance industries, following the trends and issues faced by senior technology executives. In addition to reporting and editorial duties for I&T, O’Donnell also serves as a moderator and speaker at industry events and broadcasts. He began his editorial career in the healthcare industry where he reported and edited for medical publications with a variety of audiences, from the general public to physicians and researchers. He has also worked in the healthcare field as a media relations professional and Spanish/English interpreter/translator, and has taught English composition and conversation classes to native speakers of Spanish, both in the United States and in Latin America. O’Donnell lives in the Portland, Oregon area with his wife and two sons. |
Speakers and panelists at the Executive Summit consist of insurance technology leaders with insights and expertise in the areas of IT innovation and competitive differentiation. Speakers will be primarily senior-level insurance/financial services executives.
We welcome your suggestions for speakers at the Executive Summit. If you would like to suggest yourself or someone else as a potential speaker, please e-mail the following information to Kathy Burger, Editorial Director, Insurance & Technology,
kburger@techweb.com:
- Name/Title/Company
- Phone number/E-mail address
- Indicate which session is most appropriate for this speaker (please visit the program/agenda page of this site).
- Describe your expertise as it relates to this topic.
If you are a technology vendor (or represent a vendor), describe which of your insurance industry clients could speak about their success using your products.
Due to the large number of submissions, we cannot respond individually. We will contact you directly if we want to follow up on your proposal. Thank you.
@KathyBurgerKatherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to directing the editorial strategy of both brands, Kathy is charged with the creation and development of new products, editorial supplements, special publications and live and online events including BS&T's Executive Summit, I&T's Executive Summit, Webcasts, live custom events and executive roundtables. Kathy is a frequent speaker/moderator at financial services industry conferences, and also has presented at a number of technology company user group and sales force events, as well as numerous Webcasts sponsored by industry leaders. She is a graduate of Carleton College.
