Connections 2021 | Guidewire Connections | 1 November 2021 | ARIA Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, 3730 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89158, United States

Everything You Need to Know

How do I register for Connections?
• For all Customer, Industry Analyst, Financial Analyst, Press, and Prospective Customer attendees, please click here.
• For all Sponsoring or Non-Sponsoring Partner attendees, please click here.

Who can attend Connections?
Guidewire Connections is open to Guidewire customers, potential customers, insurance industry professionals, sponsors, contracted PartnerConnect partners, and invited guests.

Can I bring a guest?
Attendees are permitted to register 1 guest for a fee of $150.00. Guests must be at least 21 years old for liability purposes to attend Connections and any related evening functions. Registered guests are permitted to attend the Customer Appreciation Event. Each guest pass holder must be accompanied by a paying Guidewire Connections 2021 registration holder. The guest pass does not include access to sessions, breakfasts, lunches, or any other activities that are reserved for attendees with full event passes.

What's the recommended conference attire?

We recommend business casual. You might want to bring a jacket in case of cool temperatures in session rooms or outdoors in the evening.

Do I need to register for Connections on the website before accessing the mobile app?
Yes! Please register for Connections before downloading the mobile app. Only registered attendees are permitted to access. The Connections 2021 mobile app will be available in July.

What are the registration guidelines for non-sponsoring PartnerConnect Partners? PartnerConnect partners that opt not to sponsor may purchase the following:
• Business Associates, Access, Select, and Advantage members may purchase up to two conference invitations.
• Global Premier and Premier members may purchase up to four conference invitations.
• All partners are entitled to a 20% discount off the current registration price.

About the Innovation Awards:

‣Innovation Awards Overview

In its fifteenth year, the Innovation Awards highlight innovative projects, both original and well established, that have played a role in helping insurers meet their business and IT initiatives and are driving real benefits at their companies. The awards aim to honor customers that are making a significant impact on their business with Guidewire products.

Recognitions and Submissions
We are excited by the opportunity to recognize our customers’ hard work again this year. Innovation Award winners for 2021 will be recognized in an awards ceremony on the main stage during Connections 2021 and in a press release after the winners are announced.

We will not have specific award categories this year as we don’t want to limit your entries in any way. The suggestions below are intended to help get you started. Business Success Innovation (Overall business initiative that is bringing benefits across the company)

Examples:
• Core system replacement that is part of a larger corporate initiative (via Guidewire Cloud, a public cloud, or on-premises)
• Metrics or benefits that are involved with the way the business is running (Customer is leveraging Guidewire Cloud and/or InsuranceNow and can now drive additional benefits due to time freed up for higher-value tasks)

Customer Experience Innovation (Benefitting policyholders; agents/brokers; internal)

Examples:
• Digital engagement – drive more meaningful customer interactions through a seamless, omni-channel digital experience
• Reduced time to market – service
• Differentiated products – Create differentiated product offerings to provide choice as well as tailored solutions for specific customer segments
• Agent empowerment – Automate agent interactions to improve their responsiveness to customers

Change Management Innovation (Innovation best practices in change management)

Examples:
• Value alignment
• Benefit realization
• Quick or under-budget implementation that is bringing significant IT and/or business benefits

Data, Analytics, and AI Innovation (Enabling a smarter insurance operation, reducing expenses, and profitable growth)

Examples:
• Better, data-driven decisions – Organize and manage data to support better decisions by insurance workers and agents
• Improved productivity of actuaries, underwriters, claims adjusters, and agents
• Lower loss adjustment expenses by reducing re-adjudication and enabling more accurate claims triage
• Improved rating sophistication and granularity

Process Innovation (Resulting in quality/efficiency gains)

Examples:
• Reduced time to market - product
• Collaboration
• Streamlined claims handling – Reduce costs, improve claim outcomes, and increase satisfaction with streamlined claims handling
• Increased productivity – Provide insurance knowledge workers with the insight and tools they need to be more productive

The awards are also open to Guidewire PartnerConnect Consulting and Solution partners who submit jointly with a customer.

‣ Innovation Awards Guidelines

Eligibility
Guidewire Innovation Awards are open to customers who are in production with one or more Guidewire products. Customers should be able to communicate the benefits they are receiving from their innovation. The awards are open to those customers who have deployed Guidewire in a self-managed mode, in Guidewire Cloud, or in a PartnerConnect member’s cloud.

A representative from the insurance company submitted must be able to attend Connections to participate in the main stage awards ceremony.

Guidewire PartnerConnect Consulting and Solution partners may submit an entry but must do so jointly with a customer, and they must secure customer approval of the entry prior to its submission (partners can submit multiple entries but will need to focus on one customer per entry). Customer contact information is required for all submissions made by PartnerConnect partners. Historically, submissions made by partners who have worked closely with their customers on the content have been most successful. Partners that do not include a customer in their submission (or do not focus the submission on the customer’s innovation/benefits) will not be considered.

Evaluation Criteria
Entries will be evaluated on the following criteria:
• Does the submission outline a clear change from “what was” (before the innovation) to “what is” (after the innovation)?
• What was the specific cause for change? Why did you do what you did?
• What is the magnitude of the impact of the innovation on the insurer’s business and the industry?
• Is your “business success through innovation” story compelling?
• Are your benefits being communicated clearly and succinctly? Please quantify them or provide specific examples where possible.
•
Additional Resources
These tips are helpful hints and do not guarantee an award win. Make sure your submission tells the story of your project success. Tips for a good story include:
• Be entertaining (Provide numbers, a video, etc.).
• Show passion/emotion.
• Include the people/characters that played a key role.
• Be specific (Pick one or two things to focus the submission on and go deep).
• Clearly demonstrate how the innovation has helped you meet your business and IT goals.
• Provide relevant supporting materials when possible (ROI metrics, screenshots, video, etc.).
• Give yourself plenty of time to allow both business and technical groups involved with the project to review the submission.

‣ Hero Awards: Nominate A Hero Today!

Is there an individual who goes above and beyond to make your Guidewire project a success? An individual that:
• Steps up when there are challenges
• Leads change and transformation in your organization
• Overcomes adversity
• Fosters an environment of collaboration and teamwork
• Ensures project success

This is your chance to make it known! Recognize your peer for dedication to your Guidewire project by submitting a nomination today. Hero's will have the opportunity to be recognized on the main stage at Connections 2021 in November.

Please note: Award nominees must be from insurance companies that are Guidewire customers.

2021 Speakers

FEATURING KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Susan Desmond-hellmann, M.D.
Board Member, Pfizer

Dan Pink
New York Times best-selling author

Mick Ebeling
Founder and CEO, Not Impossible Labs

Andy Taylor
President and CEO, Gore Mutual

Marty Young
Co-Founder and CEO, Buckle

Mike Rosenbaum
CEO, Guidewire

Laura Drabik
Chief Evangelist, Guidewire

Diego Devalle
Chief Product Development Officer, Guidewire

SPEAKERS:

Brad Hanson
Sr. Customer Account Manager, Guidewire

Rob Sloan
Product Marketing Principal, Guidewire Cloud, Guidewire

Santosh Dalal
IT Director, Great American Insurance Group

William Hanby
Chief Information Officer
Rockford Mutual Insurance Company

Kennen Burkhardt
Customer Account Manager
Guidewire

Srini Vasudevan
Principal Solution Consultant
Guidewire

Lev Vaysman
Client Engagement Director - Data and Analytics
Guidewire
BOSPKR-147.png
Bruce Engle
Principal Product Manager
Guidewire

James McCully
Principal, Strategic Development Programs
Guidewire

Ben Guyer
Director, Product Management, InsuranceNow
Guidewire
BOSPKR-51.png
Zachary Gustafson
General Manager, Claims & InsuranceNow
Guidewire

Jack Reichner
Delivery Standardization Director, Cloud Delivery Strategy
Guidewire
BOSPKR-159.png
Madhuri Nandella
Sr. Product Manager
Guidewire

C.J. Marquette
Principal Solution Consultant
Guidewire
BOSPKR-131.png
Cheri Carruth
Sr. Solution Consultant
Guidewire
BOSPKR-155.png
Sherri Handke
Sr. Solution Consultant
Guidewire

Diego Devalle
Chief Product Development Officer
Guidewire

Laura Drabik
Chief Evangelist
Guidewire

Mike Rosenbaum
Chief Executive Officer
Guidewire

Mark Sayewich
Director, Global Technical and Security Enablement
Guidewire
BOSPKR-153.png
James Dolph
Chief Information Security Officer

Alick Shi
Principal Product Manager
Guidewire
BOSPKR-58.png
Eric Teng
InsuranceSuite Cloud API - Senior Product Manager
Guidewire
BOSPKR-121.png
Chunyi Li
InsuranceSuite Platform Product Manager
Guidewire
BOSPKR-152.png
Ewelina Prockow
Manager, Product Management
Guidewire

James McCully
Principal, Strategic Development Programs
Guidewire
Eugene Lee
Senior Vice President and General Manager, InsuranceSuite
Guidewire
BOSPKR-95.png
Ashutosh (Ash) Koparkar
Success Executive
Guidewire

Tracy Gerber
CIO / VP of IT
Heartland Farm Mutual

Dan Lewis
Head of IT for Digital
Admiral Insurance
BOSPKR-64.png
Kevin Foley
Head of Technology, Digital
Admiral Insurance
BOSPKR-118.png
Vijay Raghavan
Head of Cloud Business, Hexaware Europe
Hexaware Technologies

Roger Arnemann
General Manager, Guidewire Analytics
Guidewire
Chris Folkman
Vice President, Product Management
Guidewire

Conny Wu
Senior Product Manager, Claims
Guidewire

Zachary Gustafson
General Manager, Claims & InsuranceNow
Guidewire

Anirban Kundu
Product Management Manager
Guidewire

Ivan Moskaliov
Strategic Advisory Consultant
Guidewire
BOSPKR-33.png
Marlo Simon
Senior Consultant, Strategic Advisory
Guidewire
BOSPKR-108.png
Angela Liang
Associate Consultant, Strategic Advisory
Guidewire

Shiva Balasubramaniyan
Chief Innovation Officer for Insurance
Capgemini
BOSPKR-21.png
Jenny Sankovsky
Product Strategy and Innovation Director
American Family Insurance
BOSPKR-123.png
Ryan McMahon
Vice President of Insurance and Government Affairs
Cambridge Mobile Telematics
BOSPKR-129.png
Luke Harris
VP, Strategic Integration
USAA

Ben Guyer
Director, Product Management, InsuranceNow
Guidewire
BOSPKR-101.png
Phil Iaccarino
Director, Product Marketing
Guidewire

Avinash Jha
Senior Product Manager
Guidewire
BOSPKR-97.png
Chris Vavra
Sr. Director, Product Management, Platform
Guidewire

Julie Kennedy
Senior Product Manager
Guidewire
BOSPKR-25.png
Larry Selig
Senior Director of Product Management
Guidewire
Scott Medberry
Principal Product Manager
Guidewire

Curtis McCosh
Global Practice Leader, Cloud Platform
Guidewire

Graham Bartholomew
Director of Pricing Solutions
Guidewire

Shekar Madishetty
Product Manager
Guidewire

Stephanie Oakes
Business Analyst
Vermont Mutual Insurance Group
BOSPKR-29.png
Carmen Schoolcraft
Senior Technical Lead
Vermont Mutual Insurance Group

Chris Folkman
Vice President, Product Management
Guidewire

Jack Reichner - Speakers
Delivery Standardization Director, Cloud Delivery Strategy
Guidewire

Anant Manu
Practice Director, Cloud Delivery Enablement
Guidewire
BOSPKR-13.png
Zachary Griesbach
Principal, Strategic Development Programs
Guidewire
BOSPKR-43.png
Ant Swindells
Vice President, Cloud Delivery Strategy
Guidewire
BOSPKR-46.png
Renato Quintao
Practice Director, Solution Standardization – Cloud Strategy
Guidewire

Nicole Gibbard
Global Business Architect Practice Manager
Guidewire
BOSPKR-161.png
Gary Letscher
Business Architect
The Hartford
BOSPKR-168.png
Kurt Markus
Manager - Project Management Office
Mountain West Farm Bureau and 360 Insurance Company

Andrea Anderson
Global Head of User Experience
Guidewire
BOSPKR-60.png
Tirath Desai
Director at PwC Cloud and Digital Practice
PwC
BOSPKR-61.png
Riccardo Palombella
Director of Guidewire Competence Center
Fincons Group
BOSPKR-84.png
Shubham Bhatnagar
Product Consultant
Cognizant Technology Solutions
BOSPKR-122.png
Nitin Pathak
Senior Manager
EY

Dave Beaudoin
Product Management Operations Manager
Guidewire
BOSPKR-116.png
Jay Coulson
Customer Success - Cloud Solutions
Guidewire
BOSPKR-126.png
Scott Hatland
VP, Cloud Production Operations
Guidewire
BOSPKR-134.png
Gal Josefsberg
Vice President, Product Management ‒ Cloud Platform
Guidewire
BOSPKR-145.png
Alexis Palius
VP, BizTech Enterprise Apps
Guidewire

Stephen Clark
Sr. Director of Product Management, Cyber
Guidewire

Zachary Griesbach
Principal, Strategic Development Programs
Guidewire

Karen Furtado
Partner, Carrier Transformation
Strategy Meets Action

Kevin Ostrander
Chief Sales Officer
One Inc
BOSPKR-90.png
Matthew Cubellis
Senior Treasury Manager
Amica Mutual Insurance Company

Renato Quintao
Practice Director, Solution Standardization – Cloud Strategy
Guidewire
BOSPKR-110.png
Rick Jones
Practice Director, Integration Strategy
Guidewire

Tracy Edwards
Round-the-world yachtswoman and subject of the film Maiden

Chris Vavra
Sr. Director, Product Management, Platform
Guidewire
BOSPKR-134.png
Gal Josefsberg
Vice President, Product Management ‒ Cloud Platform
Guidewire
BOSPKR-154.png
Nick Floeck
Director, Product Management
Guidewire
BOSPKR-157.png
Rob Sloan
Product Marketing Principal, Guidewire Cloud
Guidewire

Ben Guyer
Director, Product Management, InsuranceNow
Guidewire
BOSPKR-130.png
Myron Meier
Senior Software Architect
Guidewire
BOSPKR-142.png
Ramaswamy Subramanian
Senior Software Engineer, Tech Lead
Guidewire

Darin Reffitt
Group Director, Product Marketing Excellence
Guidewire
BOSPKR-70.png
Vittorio Giusti
CEO General Insurance and Country COO
Aviva Italy
BOSPKR-98.png
Bryant Vernon
Chief Claims Officer
Aviva Canada
BOSPKR-99.png
Jason During
AVP - Principal Architect
Aviva Canada

Andrea Anderson
Global Head of User Experience
Guidewire
BOSPKR-73.png
Jason Hill
Principal Product Manager
Guidewire

Bahareh (Bahar) Mozaffarinejad
UX Designer
Guidewire
BOSPKR-107.png
Eliad Goldwasser
UX Manager
Guidewire

Ryan Park Grant
Product Management Principal
Guidewire
BOSPKR-52.png
Mandy Ding
UX Designer
Guidewire
BOSPKR-80.png
Leslie Waugh
UX Manger
Guidewire

Andrea Anderson
Global Head of User Experience
Guidewire
BOSPKR-73.png
Jason Hill
Principal Product Manager
Guidewire

Bob Frady
VP - HazardHub
HazardHub, a Guidewire Company
BOSPKR-141.png
John Siegman
Senior Manager, Operations
Guidewire

Mark Bolger
Software Architect
Guidewire
BOSPKR-97.png
Chris Vavra
Sr. Director, Product Management, Platform
Guidewire
BOSPKR-110.png
Rick Jones
Practice Director, Integration Strategy
Guidewire

Annemarie Bruch
Senior Director, Transformation Strategy
Guidewire

Laurie Pierman
Vice President of Claim Operations
Amerisure insurance Co.
BOSPKR-37.png
Chris Lowe
Vice President for Application Systems
Amerisure Insurance

Karlyn Carnahan
Head, Property Casualty for North America
Celent

Siddharth Jain
Principal Product Manager
Guidewire
BOSPKR-19.png
Julie Kennedy
Senior Product Manager
Guidewire

Joseline Lajara
Director of Data and Analytics Product Management
Guidewire

BOSPKR-71.png
Angela Wolterstorff
Customer Success Director
Guidewire
BOSPKR-95.png
Ashutosh (Ash) Koparkar
Success Executive
Guidewire
BOSPKR-58.png
Eric Teng
InsuranceSuite Cloud API - Senior Product Manager
Guidewire
BOSPKR-164.png
Seema Bakshi
Staff Engineer
USAA
BOSPKR-165.png
Abe Capetillo
AVP, Application Development
USAA

Ant Swindells
Vice President, Cloud Delivery Strategy
Guidewire
BOSPKR-45.png
Mark Clark
Practice Director, AMER Delivery Services
Guidewire
BOSPKR-44.png
Dan Wang
Vice President, Cloud Program Delivery
Guidewire
BOSPKR-53.png
Ted Krzyk
Practice Director
Guidewire

Clarence Brown
Business Process Administrator
NJM Insurance
BOSPKR-137.png
Jozsef Szoke
AVP, Information Technology
NJM Insurance
BOSPKR-160.png
Jim Carlucci
Executive Vice President - Insurance
ValueMomentum

Jon Valenti
Principal
Deloitte Digital

Matt Pearson
Principal Product Manager
Guidewire

Jeff Hiegert
Industry Product Manager - Insurance
Hyland
BOSPKR-88.png
Steve Comer
AVP - Financial Services and Insurance Sales
Hyland

Larry Selig
Senior Director of Product Management
Guidewire
BOSPKR-59.png
Nicole Mongillo
Senior Product Marketing Manager
Guidewire

Mark Bolger
Software Architect
Guidewire
BOSPKR-125.png
Simon Reading
Director of Product Management
Guidewire

Anant Manu
Practice Director, Cloud Delivery Enablement
Guidewire
BOSPKR-49.png
Alick Shi
Principal Product Manager
Guidewire

Corey Barker
Managing Director
Accenture

Glynda Gill
Senior Vice President for Architecture, DevOps, and Engineering Practices
Aviva Canada
BOSPKR-34.png
Elaine Basque
Vice President for Technology
Aviva Canada

Robert Krusoe
Senior Strategic Advisor
Guidewire
Alex Ryckebusch
Manager, Strategic Advisory AMER
Guidewire
BOSPKR-105.png
Madison Hammond
Manager, Strategic Advisory
Guidewire

Ruth Fisk
VP Insurance Marketing
Smart Communications
BOSPKR-168.png
Kurt Markus
Manager - Project Management Office
Mountain West Farm Bureau and 360 Insurance Company

Tia Hopkins
Vice President for Cyber Risk Advisory and Solution Architecture
eSentire
BOSPKR-31.png
Dustin Hillard
Chief Technical Officer
eSentire

Mike Laconico
Director, Cloud Transition Practice
Guidewire
BOSPKR-9.png
Blair Pyle
Enterprise Architect
Guidewire
BOSPKR-106.png
Don Williams
Practice Director, Cloud Transition
Guidewire

Neil Wacek
Software Architect
Union Mutual
BOSPKR-89.png
Johnna Bond
Agency Services Coordinator
Union Mutual Insurance Company
BOSPKR-55.png
Mike Wanzong
Senior Solution Consultant
Guidewire

Ryan Park Grant
Product Management Principal
Guidewire
Scott FitzGerald
Senior Director, Analytics Product Management
Guidewire

Susannah Biskupski
Claim Operations Supervisor
Frankenmuth Insurance
BOSPKR-150.png
Zachary Martin
Vice President
Frankenmuth Insurance

Joseph Olmedo
Global Practice Lead, Claims
Guidewire
BOSPKR-146.png
Tony Triola
AVP, Claims Automation & Partner Strategy
Verisk Analytics
BOSPKR-149.png
Michael Naoom
Director, Business Development
Entegral

Jerin Puthuparampil
Services Alliances Manager
Guidewire
BOSPKR-143.png
Heidi Enzenroth
Claim Operations Manager
Church Mutual Insurance Company
BOSPKR-144.png
Aravind Nandakumar
Director
Cognizant
BOSPKR-162.png
Penny Fons
Director - Claim Operations
Church Mutual Insurance Company

Anant Manu
Practice Director, Cloud Delivery Enablement
Guidewire
BOSPKR-20.png
Jack Reichner
Delivery Standardization Director, Cloud Delivery Strategy
Guidewire

Eugene Lee
Senior Vice President and General Manager, InsuranceSuite, Guidewire

Rahul Awasthy
Vice President, Product Marketing, Guidewire

Roger Arnemann
General Manager, Guidewire Analytics, Guidewire

Daniel Pink
New York Times best-selling author

Brian Desmond
Chief Marketing Officer, Guidewire

2021 Sponsors

DIAMOND SPONSORS:
• EY
• Pwc

PLATINUM SPONSORS:
• Capgemini
• Cognizant
• Deloitte
• One Inc
• Smart Communications

GOLD SPONSORS:
• Accenture
• Blackcomb Consultants
• GFT
• Hexaware
• Hyland
• Shift Technology
• Stratus Technology Services
• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
• Tech Mahindra - Tenzing Limited
• Value Momentum
• Zenstar
• Zipwhip

SILVER SPONSORS:
• ACI Worldwide
• Aspire Systems Inc.
• Betterview
• Castle Bay Companies
• Centric Consulting
• Commerce Bank
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car
• Exavalu
• FRISS
• Hi Marley
• HTC Global Services
• Imburse Payments
• Insurance Technology Services (ITS)
• Larsen and Toubro Infotech (LTI)
• NXT Level Technologies
• Ontellus & INTERTEL, an Ontellus Company
• Polonious Systems
• Prelude Software
• SambaSafety
• SBI Technology
• ServicePower
• uPerform by ANCILE Solutions
• Verisk
• Vertafore
• VPay
• Whatfix, Inc.

BRONZE SPONSORS:
• ABI Document Support Services
• Cape Analytics
• ClaimTECH
• Cloverleaf Analytics
• CogniSure, Inc.
• CoventBridge
• GhostDraft
• handdii
• Hearsay Systems
• Infosys
• InsurePay
• Loveland Innovations
• Medallia
• n2uitive Corporation
• Nintex AssureSign
• Smart IMS
• Veracity ID