Beyond the Desk with Mark Thomas

About Beyond the Desk with Mark Thomas

The Insurance Leadership Podcast! Hosted by Mark Thomas (and various guest hosts), one of the UK's leading senior appointments search executives, this podcast brings you exclusive interviews with the most influential names and brightest minds leading insurance globally. Each week, Mark dives deep into the career journeys, pivotal moments, success stories and resilience that have shaped the careers of these global insurance leaders. You will gain insights, inspiration, and insider perspectives from the leaders who are redefining the industry's future right now! 🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJL5z9-RSWJj3BKCKa-MQ6g 💻 Connect with us on LinkedIn for more insights and thought leadership www.linkedin.com/company/beyondthedeskpodcast Join the conversation, follow us and explore the fascinating world of insurance careers like never before! Website: https://beyond-the-desk.captivate.fm

Publisher

Mark Thomas

Category

business · business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

17 Jan 2025

Latest episode

27 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

40 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   27 Oct 2026

   AI Won’t Replace The Underwriter with Crispin Marsland-Roberts

   In this episode of Beyond the Desk, Mark Thomas is joined by Crispin Marsland-Roberts, Chief Operating Officer at Hive Underwriters, the London Market MGA specialising in aviation, marine and political violence and terrorism risks. They talk about one of the most unconventional routes into insurance leadership, what it takes to build and scale a specialist MGA, and how smaller businesses can use data and AI to move faster than the market’s biggest players. Crispin’s career has taken him from a gilts desk and Manchester University, through importing fresh produce for Marks & Spencer and helping build the Tenderstem broccoli brand, to running the finances of a content agency and supporting small businesses as an independent operator. That work led him to DA Strategy, where he fell into delegated authority, helped get new MGAs off the ground and first met Hive founder Bruce Common. He later joined Hive full-time as COO. His approach throughout has been simple: don’t chase the money or the title, chase the opportunity. The conversation then turns to a question at the heart of today’s MGA boom: what separates the MGAs that thrive from the ones that struggle? Crispin explains why a clear point of difference, a strong data story and a charismatic leader matter far more than a fully staffed C-suite on day one. He also shares how Hive is putting data and AI to work, from its Sentinel flight-tracking database to automated slip comparison. The aim isn’t to replace underwriting judgement but to put the right information in front of underwriters so they can make better, faster decisions. They discuss: Crispin’s early ambitions to play sport and join the army, and how dyslexia shaped the way he learns, writes and communicates Starting out on a gilts desk, and why it showed him what he didn’t want to do Running the Marks & Spencer desk at a fresh produce importer by his mid-twenties Stepping into operations and finance roles “because there was an absence of it” Bringing budgets and process to a content agency full of filmmakers with big ideas Going self-employed to give small business owners the skills they don’t have Falling into insurance through Charles Rowley and DA Strategy Why he often asks: “If we invented insurance today, what would it look like?” Streamlining delegated authority, and why a coverholder you’ve worked with for 15 years shouldn’t face 300 questions at every renewal Helping Bruce Carman launch Hive, and why a startup MGA doesn’t need a full C-suite on day one The move from consultant to COO, and how the role has evolved as Hive has doubled in size What surprised him about the London Market: slow-moving data, bordereaux and approval timelines A candid conversation about career pivots, operational leadership, MGAs, data and AI, and building a culture that scales.

2. 

   20 Oct 2026

   The Making of a Technology Leader in Insurance with Jonathan Fletcher

   In this episode of Beyond the Desk, host Mark Thomas is joined by Jonathan Fletcher, currently an Operating Advisor for mid-market private equity firm Abri, and former Group CTO of both CFC and Hiscox. Jonathan takes us right back to the beginning – from tinkering with a Commodore 64 as a kid, to a split degree in computer science and music, through early jobs at Saatchi & Saatchi and the London Stock Exchange, and on to seven years scaling Hiscox's technology function. He then shares what it was really like joining CFC as employee number 200, scaling its tech and data capability to nearly 200 people, and living through one of the biggest private equity valuations the insurance sector has seen. Now working as an advisor across a portfolio of PE-backed businesses, Jonathan reflects on what value creation really means for technology, why resilience is the number one executive skill, and what it takes to make the leap from hands-on technologist to commercially-minded leader. In This Episode You'll Learn Jonathan's unconventional route into tech – splitting his degree between computer science and music, and early jobs at Saatchi & Saatchi, a VC firm, and the London Stock Exchange The seven years he spent at Hiscox, rising from architect to Group CTO What it was like joining CFC as employee number 200, and the culture shock of moving from a FTSE 100 business to a founder-led, entrepreneurial scale-up How CFC's tech and data team grew from 18 people to nearly 200, building in-house capability from scratch What it's really like working inside a private-equity backed business, including being part of one of the biggest ever PE valuations for an insurer How his role evolved from hands-on engineering to a more product- and business-facing leadership position What his current advisory work with Abri and non-exec role at AA Ireland involves Where AI and automation are already reshaping specialty insurance, and why identifying 'who a company really is' remains one of the hardest unsolved problems His advice for technologists who want to move into senior leadership roles If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to Beyond the Desk, leave a review and share it with someone in your network. Connect with Mark Thomas and Jonathan Fletcher on LinkedIn to continue the conversation.

3. 

   13 Oct 2026

   Why Data Is Insurance’s Real Competitive Advantage with Usha Badrinath

   In this episode of Beyond the Desk, Mark Thomas is joined by Usha Badrinath, Group Chief Data Officer at Mosaic Insurance, to explore her unconventional career journey, the rapidly changing role of technology in insurance, and what AI could mean for the industry over the coming years. Usha’s career has taken her from computer science and coding in India, through an MBA and technology consulting, to catastrophe modelling, data products, insurtech and ultimately insurance leadership. Along the way, she has repeatedly followed opportunities rather than a fixed career plan — describing her approach as more about trying things, learning from them and deciding what to do next. The conversation then turns to one of the biggest questions facing insurance today: how should the industry actually use AI? Usha shares her experience building Mosaic’s data foundations and explains why she believes the real opportunity isn't simply putting AI on top of existing processes. Instead, insurers need to think about how data, technology and workflows can be redesigned together to solve problems from end to end. They discuss: Usha’s unexpected journey from aspiring liver transplant surgeon to technology and insurance leader Why her career has been shaped more by experimentation than a fixed plan Moving from coding into business, consulting and leadership The lessons she learned from working across technology and insurance How the “floating casinos” problem highlighted the importance of data in catastrophe modelling Why insurance companies can struggle to build technology that scales across different clients and workflows Usha’s decision to move from consulting into an insurance company and join Mosaic Building a data foundation designed to support AI from the outset Why Usha believes insurers should focus on the 20% that AI cannot solve How AI can help capture and make use of institutional knowledge that currently sits inside people's heads Why AI should augment human judgement rather than simply be viewed as a tool for reducing headcount The importance of reskilling as technology continues to evolve How AI could help insurers identify patterns, correlations and emerging risks Why future technology leaders need to understand business outcomes, not just technology Usha’s approach to leadership and building teams through difficult periods of change Why she thinks people should push themselves outside their comfort zone early in their careers Her advice to aspiring Chief Data Officers and AI leaders Why careers don't need to follow a traditional upward trajectory And why Usha believes the constant evolution of insurance is one of the industry's greatest attractions A wide-ranging conversation about technology, data, AI, leadership, careers and the future of insurance.

Who has been a guest on Beyond the Desk with Mark Thomas

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Chris Pearce
• David Clamp
• Daren Rudd
• Paul Butler
• Krishnan Ethirajan

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

1,960

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 59 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

79

Social presence

0

YouTube

68

Engagement

32

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Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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