Commercial and Personal Lines Seminar

Registration and Event Information Desk

The Registration and Event Information Desk is the main hub for conference information and badge pickup. NAMIC staff will be on hand to welcome you and answer any questions you have throughout the conference.

Optional Advanced Underwriting Workshop – MIP Endorsement Session

This workshop qualifies for those holding the Mutual Insurance Professional designation to earn the MIP-Underwriting certification endorsement, but it is open for all to attend. Advanced registration is required.

Risk is becoming more and more complex, requiring advanced underwriting skills to appropriately evaluate and develop a coverage solution that will be economical and comprehensive. This program will explore the tools available to underwriters to be more effective in writing profitable business. This will include recognizing what underwriters should consider, how to work with agents in obtaining the necessary information about the risk, and how to develop a consistent approach to the marketplace. Attendees will explore the impact of climate risk and large verdicts as well as how insurtechs can assist in the evaluation of risks and improve the underwriting process.
The cost of this workshop is $500 for NAMIC Members and $800 for Nonmembers.

Sponsor Showcase

NAMIC Welcome and Opening Session

Networking Break

Please join us to chat with fellow attendees, grab a bite to eat, and stretch your legs.

General Session

Networking Break

Please join us to chat with fellow attendees, grab a bite to eat, and stretch your legs.

Peer-to-Peer Roundtable Discussions

The best teachers are often those who are walking in your shoes. Join fellow commercial or personal lines professionals in roundtable discussions focused on emerging issues, professional development, and industry hot topics. The session will include interactive, engaging discussions that allow you to talk about what you and your peers are facing and learn from each other’s successes and challenges.

Welcome Reception

Attendee Breakfast

Registration and Event Information Desk

The Registration and Event Information Desk is the main hub for conference information and badge pickup. NAMIC staff will be on hand to welcome you and answer any questions you have throughout the conference.

Sponsor Showcase

A. Educational Session

B. Creating and Using AI Agents: The Next Frontier in Mutual Insurance Operations

This focused session explores the transformative potential of AI agents—autonomous systems capable of reasoning, planning, and executing complex insurance workflows with minimal human intervention. Unlike traditional AI tools that require constant human guidance, agentic AI represents a paradigm shift toward intelligent systems that can independently handle multi-step processes, make contextual decisions, and adapt to changing circumstances in real-time. Drawing from current pilot programs and early production deployments across insurers, we'll examine how AI agents are revolutionizing everything from claims investigation and policy underwriting to customer service and fraud detection. The session will provide a comprehensive framework for understanding when and how to deploy agentic AI solutions while maintaining the trust, transparency, and community values that define mutual insurance. We'll explore real-world implementations where AI agents are currently handling complex tasks.

Tim Baum
Senior Principal
Datos Insights

C. Educational Session

D. Engaged Negotiation

It’s not enough to want to resolve an issue, resolution takes action and the desire of all parties to reach an agreement. Engaging all parties can be difficult to almost impossible. In this presentation we will explore methods for getting all of the parties engaged in the negotiation process in order that a mutually beneficial outcome can be attained.

Elise M. Farnham
President
Illumine Consulting

Networking Break

Please join us to chat with fellow attendees, grab a bite to eat, and stretch your legs.

A. Educational Session

B. Educational Session

C. The Impact of EVs on Automotive Safety and Insurance

Electric vehicles are very different from their conventional counterparts when it comes to price, power, weight — even their appearance and where they’re garaged — and those differences are growing as the market matures. The latest EVs, for example, are some of the heaviest and most powerful vehicles ever available for purchase by consumers. This presentation will delve into how those differences are affecting safety and insurance outcomes, share key findings related to the unique risks posed by EVs, and pose critical questions that need to be answered as EVs age and proliferate.

Matt Moore
Chief Insurance Operations Officer
IIHS-HLDI

Kay Wakeman
Director of Insurance Outreach
IIHS-HLDI

D. Working as One: Helping Insurance Teams Thrive Across Remote, Office, and Hybrid Environments

As the insurance industry adapts to new ways of working, collaboration across in-office, remote, and hybrid teams has become essential to delivering exceptional client service. This session will provide practical tools and strategies to help insurance teams work better together, serve clients more effectively, and stay connected in a fast-paced environment.

Keather Snyder
President and Chief Operating Officer
The Omnia Group

Tonya DeVane
Vice President of Customer Success & Product Optimization
The Omnia Group

Networking Break

Please join us to chat with fellow attendees, grab a bite to eat, and stretch your legs.

A. Generative AI for Underwriting

Underwriting continues to evolve via technologies for automation and insight. Both personal and commercial lines carriers have been leveraging various AI technologies over the past decade-plus, now the transformation is accelerating with GenAI capabilities… and agentic AI is on the horizon as well. This session will discuss the current state of AI for underwriting, highlighting specific use cases of AI across the underwriting value chain. The future potential of GenAI and agentic AI will also be discussed, including predictions on the biggest areas of value. Special attention will be paid to the evolving role of the underwriter and the balance of technology and human expertise.

Mark Breading
Senior Partner
ReSource Pro

Gaston Messineo
Principal, Strategy and Execution
EY-Parthenon, Ernst & Young LLP

B. Nuclear Verdicts® Are Canceled: How to Deliver Justice for All with The Apex

Nuclear Verdicts® got you down? Not for long! Nuclear Verdicts® are not random or inevitable, but they do follow a recurring pattern. Join our presenters for a fascinating deep dive into the “why” behind Nuclear Verdicts®. After analyzing 100 closing trial transcripts from Nuclear Verdicts®, Tyson & Mendes has identified the pattern and what is causing Nuclear Verdicts® in the courtroom—as well as how to stop them. In this invigorating session, presenters will unpack the data that shows what plaintiffs’ attorneys are doing, how the defense is responding, and introduce The Apex—a proven courtroom strategy designed to stop Nuclear Verdicts® now. We’re not content to simply find the root of the problem—we’re here to solve it. By using The Apex, Tyson & Mendes’ groundbreaking new strategy, we can stop Nuclear Verdicts® in their tracks, saving our industry multi-billions of dollars per year, and deliver justice for ALL!

Ashley Paige Fetyko
Partner and Head of Growth & Client Engagement
Tyson & Mendes

Keith Bostwick
Partner
Tyson & Mendes

C. Educational Session

D. Educational Session

Attendee Lunch

A. Bridging Generations, Building Success: Unlocking the Power of a Multigenerational Customer Base in Insurance

Today’s insurance customers, whether in personal or commercial lines, span four generations, each with distinct needs, expectations, and communication preferences. Boomers may prioritize trusted, face-to-face guidance for policy reviews, while Gen Z expects quick, digital-first solutions for everything from claims to quotes. The challenge for insurers is delivering experiences that resonate with all while maintaining consistency, trust, and efficiency. In this session, we’ll move beyond generational stereotypes to uncover strategies that help carriers, brokers, and agents connect authentically with both personal and commercial lines customers. Through real-world examples and actionable tools, you’ll learn how to transform generational differences into stronger relationships, increased loyalty, and long-term growth.

Keather Snyder
President and Chief Operating Officer
The Omnia Group

Tonya DeVane
Vice President of Customer Success & Product Optimization
The Omnia Group

B. Educational Session

C. Educational Session

D. Educational Session

Networking Break

Please join us to chat with fellow attendees, grab a bite to eat, and stretch your legs.

A. Third-Party Litigation Funding

Hedge funds and private equity firms are disrupting the insurance and legal industries by monetizing legal claims thereby increasing frivolous claims, nuclear verdicts, and increasing litigation expense. The practice is putting strain on the insurance and litigation industries and increasing costs of consumer goods and services.

Maryan Alexander
Partner
Wilson Elser

B. Wildfire – It’s Not Just About Climate Change

This is an updated presentation to the March 2023 NAMIC Education and Networking session, which was well-received. Adding a deep dive into what went wrong in the Los Angeles 2025 fires that insurers need to understand. During this session, we will review the emerging wildfire trends and how insurers need to adapt their risk management strategy. Insights include: forestry management, changing firefighting tactics, natural fire disruption, increase of ignition points, and historical drought. Participants will learn how all of these changes impact today’s mega fire environment and exacerbate climate concerns.

David Jowell
CEO & Founder
GIA Map

C. Don’t Make Your Intelligence Artificial

With the rise of artificial intelligence, it will be very tempting for UW organizations to promote efficiency over underwriting impact. But our value in underwriting cannot primarily be efficiency. Now is the perfect time to elevate to portfolio underwriting. AI is a just a tool to elevate UW to this level. Portfolio Underwriting is a foundational skillset for underwriters in a post-AI world. The UW of the Future is portfolio focused with excellent communication skills purposed to influence agents and internal partners to make our operations achieve better results. We need to work together to determine how best to coach and deploy our teams to reach this goal. This presentation will explore several key areas that we need collective development in order to make underwriting more impactful than ever before.

Chad Combs
Vice President, Personal Lines Underwriting
Ohio Mutual Insurance Group

D. Educational Session

Happy Hour

Attendee Breakfast

Registration and Event Information

The Registration and Event Information Desk is the main hub for conference information and badge pickup. NAMIC staff will be on hand to welcome you and answer any questions you have throughout the conference.

Sponsor Showcase

Peer-to-Peer Roundtable Discussions

The best teachers are often those who are walking in your shoes. Join fellow commercial or personal lines professionals in roundtable discussions focused on emerging issues, professional development, and industry hot topics. The session will include interactive, engaging discussions that allow you to talk about what you and your peers are facing and learn from each other’s successes and challenges.

Networking Break

Please join us to chat with fellow attendees, grab a bite to eat, and stretch your legs.

Closing Session: Washington Update

With more than two decades of experience in Washington’s political circles, Jimi Grande, NAMIC’s senior vice president of federal and political affairs, will provide an update on NAMIC’s current advocacy efforts in the nation’s capital.

James Grande

Senior Vice President, Federal & Political Affairs

NAMIC