Women in Insurtech: Actuology CEO Steph Tulley talks tech
As the CEO of Tampa-based InsurTech startup, Actuology, Steph Tulley is driven by her determination to meet the needs of Gen Z and Millennial customers. She worked her way up the corporate ladder in the insurance industry, starting initially as a receptionist, and almost a decade later, launched her own insurtech company.
Actuology is based in Tampa, at the innovation hub Embarc Collective. The insurtech provides a unique advisory service and SaaS solution for insurance technology through its API plug-in that streamlines the advertising experience.
Built by Tulley, the innovative platform designs an insurance ecosystem (Actuology Interactive) where users can discover business insurance, select insurance needs, and analyse their insurance risk.
We caught up with her to find out more.
Tell us about your startup - what’s the concept?
Actuology introduces the consumer to a completely digital commercial insurance environment. The user has the ability to learn, understand, and select commercial products from our insurtech marketplace. Our platform is designed with information and distribution in mind.
What differentiates your idea from the rest of the marketplace?
Actuology is the first automated advisor service, especially for insurtech. We provide a marketplace for both the consumer and our business partners to flourish.
How did you get interested in the industry? Is there a story there?
Like many, my faith in the insurance industry was more coincidental and less intentional. I started out as a receptionist and built my way up to tech CEO in under eight years. The quick movement came naturally, but the deep understanding of my industry came from a fiery passion for change. I saw an industry evolving towards the future and decided to help get it there.
What’s been your biggest challenge so far - and how are you overcoming it?
Actuology must help leverage other insurtech companies in order to accomplish our goals. We are disrupting the industry, not the players. As a tech company, speed, agility, and scalability are the fundamental laws of success. Our largest challenge is applying our fast-paced movements to a slowly evolving industry.
As a young woman working in the tech industry, what's your experience been so
far?
As a young woman in an unlikely tech vertical, I use my experience as an opportunity and see my uniqueness as a strength. We have Embarc Collective and all of Tampa Bay behind us, they want us to succeed. And that’s very rare in an environment that’s highly competitive.
If you had advice for other young entrepreneurs thinking of entering the space, what would it be?
Lead with passion, and enter without hesitation. The tech industry was built for my generation. We are tech natives, innovative thinkers, and creative explorers by nature. Capitalise on what comes naturally, and do it with integrity.
How do you see the future of automation unfolding within the insurance industry?
In order to understand the future of insurtech, one must look at the movement in fintech as a lens. The steps fintech has made towards automation are a blueprint for what is to follow in the insurtech future.
What are the future plans for Actuology?
Actuology has a primary objective; to build technology for people, and design a healthy ecosystem of partnership. The future of Actuology will always be based on our ethos and the needs of the consumer. After all the company was started by a fiduciary, it’s my job.
What inspires you in insurtech today?
Designing the future and playing in the unknown. The insurtech evolution is here - it’s a challenge that I am willing to take on.
