Episode summary
This one’s a deliberate tangent. Not away from insurance, but out to the place where the industry comes together to argue, learn, sell, build… and occasionally rethink itself.

My guest is Bill Harris, co-founder and Chief Customer Officer of InsureTech Connect (ITC) — the largest gathering of insurance innovation in the world. We talked about how ITC started (including the very “sliding doors” origin story), what it takes to build something at that scale, why the pandemic actually accelerated the need for face-to-face community, and what Bill hopes his legacy is beyond “the conference guy in Vegas.”

What we cover

• Bill’s early ambition to be a news anchor, and the moment that dream changed
• The real origin story of ITC — and why Bill says it wasn’t even his idea
• Building the first ITC in roughly 180 days (yes, really)
• Why the 1-to-1 meeting zone became the “most valuable real estate” in the expo hall
• The year ITC almost didn’t go ahead — and the weight of that decision in 2017
• When ITC shifted from “a big event” to part of the industry’s innovation infrastructure
• Post-pandemic: why community came roaring back, and why ITC accelerated
• Bill’s take on signal vs noise (and the “AI sticker” problem)
• What success at ITC actually looks like for founders and leaders: connections, conversations, network
• Designing an experience that works for everyone from solo founders to carrier CEOs
• The content responsibility: how ITC topics can shape Q4 planning and next-year budgets
• Bill’s legacy: being remembered as a connector and bridge builder

Links / where to find Bill & ITC

• ITC Vegas: vegas.insuretechconnect.com
• Bill on LinkedIn: Bill Harris (ITC Vegas)

If you enjoyed this episode…
Share it with someone who’s never been to ITC but keeps saying they’ll go “next year.” And if you’re going in 2026, come say hello — we might just do Humanizing Insurance live from Vegas.

Humanizing Insurance is bought to you by Daniel Grimwood-Bird. It's a passion project, driven by the evergreen phrase 'Insurance is a people industry'.

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