Introduction
What does it take to rebuild after disaster as a business leader, a homeowner and a policyholder?
Garret Gray has spent his career trying to improve how insurers and property owners respond to damage. As President of Insurance Solutions at Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) and founder of Next Gear Solutions, he’s been at the centre of building tools for claims, risk assessment and recovery.
But this year, the conversation became personal. A wildfire tore through Garret’s neighbourhood in California, forcing an emergency evacuation and leaving his home heavily damaged. That experience has shaped the way he thinks about risk, resilience and the urgency of modernising the systems we rely on.
In this episode, Matthew Grant speaks with Garret about what he’s learning, not just from running a technology platform, but from living through the very risks his business is built to address.
Garret reflects on:
- What the industry often underestimates about “secondary” damage and long-tail claims
- Why speed not just coverage is critical in claims response
- How Cotality is using AI to streamline damage assessment, measurement and documentation
- Where underwriting still falls short on using granular property data effectively
- The potential for aerial imagery, building code data, and mitigation scoring to improve pricing
- The evolving role of regulators, particularly in high-risk states like California
He also shares what it takes to keep innovation alive inside a larger company and why so many of the original founders of acquired businesses are still working alongside him today.
