Why Risk Management Software Fails—And How Acclaimit's CEO Kathy Burns Built a Better Solution

Risk Management: Brick by Brick

We're coming to you LIVE from Riskworld 2025! In this episode of Risk Management: Brick by Brick, Jason Reichl sits down with Kathy Burns, CEO of Acclaimant, to explore her remarkable journey from Aon's technology pioneer in the 1990s to leading one of the most innovative risk management information systems companies today.

Kathy shares how she broke away from the traditional broker path early in her career to help create what is now the RMIS category, her experience building and selling Ventiv Technology, and her strategic pivot to the wholesale insurance market at Ryan Specialty Group. Now as CEO of Acclaimant, she's on a mission to democratize enterprise-level risk management solutions for middle market companies.

Discover why "everybody deserves the right to be a good risk," how focusing on specific problems rather than feature lists transforms sales conversations, and why the most successful leaders surround themselves with great people. Learn practical insights about balancing innovation with risk-averse buyers, the importance of consultative selling in insurance technology, and when to trust your intuition over data in pivotal decisions.

To find out how TrustLayer manages risk so that people can build the physical world around us, head to TrustLayer.io.

Podcast Host: Jason Reichl

Executive Producer: Don Halliwell
Episode Highlights:

• 00:00 Intro: Meet Kathy Burns, CEO of Acclaimant
• 00:39 Early Career Risks: Breaking Away from the Pack
• 02:14 Building the RMIS Category at Aon and Ventiv
• 04:36 The Ryan Specialty Group Experience
• 05:26 Democratizing Risk Management Technology
• 07:21 Strategic Focus: The 18-Month Transformation
• 10:42 Beyond Features: Solving Real Problems
• 13:17 The Consultative Sales Revolution
• 16:47 Enterprise vs. Middle Market Strategy
• 18:10 Leadership Rapid Fire: Risky or Too Risky
• 22:27 Career Advice: Surround Yourself with Good People

Episode Resources:

• Kathy Burns’ LinkedIn
• Acclaimant
• TrustLayer
  
  

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Risk Management: Brick by Brick is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Previous guests include: Seth Hausman of Kraus-Anderson Insurance, Matthew Meyer of The Horton Group, Diana Rich of Foundation Building Materials, Christy McHenry of Suffolk Construction, Mark Rieder of NFP, and Cory Mangum of Primoris Services Corporation.
Check out the three most downloaded episodes:

• Managing Your Risk Portfolio with Seth Hausman
• Focusing on Specialization with Matthew Meyer
• Risk Management is Everywhere with Diana Rich

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