Sydney, Australia: 30 July 2025
Derek Hill, Chief Revenue Officer and Co Founder at INSTANDA, travelled from the UK to Australia to present at the Beyond the Buzzwords tech event held at Cockle Bay Wharf on Darling Harbour in Sydney.
The one-day event hosted by Insurance News and Insurtech Australia with INSTANDA as a Gold Event Partner, explored how digital tools are transforming the way brokers, underwriting agencies and insurers work – right now. From AI-driven compliance, and claims tools to smarter broker platforms and fraud detection solutions.
Beyond the Buzzwords also examined and assessed the technologies that have delivered results across the Australian insurance ecosystem.
Derek joined more than 200 insurance and insurtech leaders on Sydney Harbour to discuss practical tech innovations changing insurance today.
Suffering from a case of acute jet lag - Derek was first on stage to commence the day’s proceedings with a solid discussion around the key considerations when deciding between building propriety systems and integrating third party solutions.
He was joined by fellow presenters Mark De Hosson, Head of Digital Trading, Pacific – Marsh, and Nigel Fellows-Freeman, Founder and CEO – Kanopi in addressing the critical question to build or buy.
Derek led with advice that assembling or building the capabilities to strategically differentiate is of paramount importance.
“If you are going to go down a build route then you need to make sure that you understand what path you’re taking.
He firmly believes that we are at a critical point of decision making across insurance as to build or buy.
He stressed, “what is clear when thinking about markets, globally the world will not wait – you have to be smart as a business, smart enough to understand what capabilities you need to differentiate and meet the challenges including pace of change, rapidly growing customer expectations and digital advancements.”
“You need to be brave enough to stop the things that are not working and start the things that will get you there to the target.”
When asked about market trends and looking forward Derek responded, “navigating complexity is a critical factor and the ability to co-exist in a existing architecture is super important.”
He stated, “we’re at a key inflection point in the industry, and it’s critical to avoid indecision and not be left behind and be seen as a company that has ambition and want to move forward. Equally critical is - creating strategic differentiation to grow markets.”
Beyond the Buzzwords attendees also heard from several presenters on issues currently challenging the Australian insurance industry including claims acceleration and how practical tools and strategies that are improving claims turnaround and client communication, and how insurers are tackling fraud by responding to threats in digital and AI-generated insurance fraud.
The event concluded with a tech leaders panel where strategic insights from several technology leaders shared their thoughts on current priorities and five-year view.
Derek attended the exclusive post-event dinner where he rubbed shoulders with a room full of Chief Information and Chief Technology Officers from several major Australian insurers. Derek forged several new business relationships over dinner with further insightful discussion on practical insights on tech innovations.
