Innovation Ecosystems and Global Market Transformation with Dawn Miller from Lloyd's
InsurTech Geek PodcastShow Notes
Dawn Miller, Chief Commercial Officer of Lloyd's and CEO of Lloyd's Americas, joins host James Benham to explore what an insurance ecosystem actually is, why a 338-year-old market still has to fight to be understood, and how Lloyd's Lab turned an accelerator into a pipeline that keeps its alumni in the industry.
Dawn grew up in Georgia and went to university in Washington, D.C. planning to run the United Nations. Instead she found risk transfer — first at OPIC, now DFC, then political risk at Willis — and stayed for 25 years, through Chubb, AXA and AIG, with a detour building a company in Prague along the way. She joined Lloyd's for the transformation challenge: an institution with 338 years of legacy, a license network trading in 200 countries, and a purpose statement that needed a reset.
Recorded on site at InsurTech Insights New York 2026.
In this episode: • What separates an ecosystem from a marketplace or a network — Dawn's answer is the heartbeat at the center, where you can watch value move between stakeholders • Why Lloyd's reset its purpose statement in March, and why "global" appears in it twice when 60% of market premium comes out of North America • The narrative problem: a coffee house origin story and 338 years are not enough to win capital and clients • Inside Lloyd's Lab seven years on — two themed cohorts a year, structured problem statements, government partners, and the 95% of alumni still in insurance • Why insurance should talk about itself as a resilience industry that happens to sell insurance, and what that reframe does for talent
Key Quotes: "We bring together the world's leading risk-takers to advance global progress." "Your competitor one day could be your partner the next, your client the following." "We can't just say we started in a coffee house. We've been here 338 years. That's not enough." "Ecosystem is the only word that gives a sense of a bit of a heartbeat to the center of it." "Talk about us as a resilience industry that happens to sell insurance."
🔗 Connect: Dawn Miller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-mmiller/ Lloyd's: https://www.lloyds.com | https://www.linkedin.com/company/lloyd%27s-of-london/
👤 Host: James Benham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbenham
🎙️ This episode is sponsored by Terra, the next-generation Workers' Comp and Commercial P&C Software. Visit 👉 https://terra.insure / https://www.linkedin.com/company/terrainsure/
📌 Find InsurTech Geek: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/insuretechgeek/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/InsurtechGeek Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insurtechgeek/
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