Instech London Podcast

In this episode, Claire Souch is joined by Tom Philp, CEO of Maximum Information; James Lay, AVP of Product Management at Verisk; and Stephen Martin, Head of Catastrophe Modelling at Westfield Specialty, for a timely discussion on the future of catastrophe model evaluation, and why it's no longer enough to simply trust what’s in the black box. As new specialist model vendors emerge and market expectations evolve, the panel unpacks a growing demand for transparency, interoperability and smarter ways to adopt models that fit real-world portfolios. At the heart of the conversation is a shared belief: the industry doesn’t just need more models, it needs better ways to evaluate and use them. In this conversation, they explore: Why traditional model validation no longer meets the needs of modern risk teams The shift from 'black box' outputs to meaningful model evaluation that supports business decisions How tools from Maximum Information and Verisk’s Model Exchange reduce the burden on small or lean teams The role