PD Edge Pod Episode 6: From Actuary to CEO, Carl Hess on his leadership journey at WTW
SOA Podcasts - Society of Actuaries
Release Date: 12/02/2025
Emerging Topics Community: GenAI Agents: Designing Choose Your Own Adventures for LLMs
SOA Podcasts - Society of Actuaries
Anders Larson, FSA,MAAA and Shea Parkes, FSA, MAAA provide a clear, approachable look at how modern AI systems really think, act, and respond. They dive into the hidden machinery behind today’s GenAI applications – exploring how agent frameworks guide LLMs through structured, choose‑your‑own‑adventure–style decision loops. Using practical examples from Microsoft Copilot and actuarial workflows, they break down how middleware, tool calls, and general context transform raw models into useful business assistants.
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Professional Development Edge Podcast Ep. 8 Working with Ambiguity with Aree Bly
SOA Podcasts - Society of Actuaries
The podcast features Jon Forster interviewing Aree Bly, founder of Alignment Ally and author of "The Sustainable Brain," focusing on the importance of developing comfort with ambiguity for actuaries and other professionals. Aree shares practical examples from her career, such as handling ambiguous data formats in healthcare analytics, and discusses strategies for determining when work is "good enough" without sacrificing quality. The conversation covers tools like the RACI framework for clarifying roles and responsibilities, and offers advice for navigating ambiguity arising from...
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Young Professional Advisory Council: Fraud, Waste & Abuse (FWA) in the U.S. Healthcare System
SOA Podcasts - Society of Actuaries
Exploring Fraud, Waste & Abuse (FWA) in U.S. healthcare—key trends, AI’s impact, and how actuaries and data professionals can drive smarter detection and prevention.
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Career Development Community: Innovation in Insurance – A Conversation with Jason Hiquet
SOA Podcasts - Society of Actuaries
Join Jason Hiquet, FSA, CERA and host Chris Smith, ASA, for an insightful discussion of innovation in insurance. Jason’s expertise in the field and advice for those seeking to have an impact is can’t-miss for anyone with hopes of driving change in the industry! Want more? Register for the on Monday, April 20, 2026 at 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET. Topic calls are live virtual events that allow for engagement and interaction on topics of interest. Note: This episode refers to the Entrepreneurial & Innovation Section. It was recorded in 2025 prior to the transition from SOA...
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Emerging Topics Community: SOA Member AI Survey - Summer 2025
SOA Podcasts - Society of Actuaries
In this episode of the Get Plugged In Podcast, originally published in January 2026, Dale Hall, Managing Director of Research at the Society of Actuaries Research Institute, is joined by Joe Alaimo, CEO at ProComp Consulting Inc. in Ontario, Canada and Community Advisory Team Member of the Emerging Topics Community. Together, they unpack the results of the Society of Actuaries Research Institute’s inaugural AI Adoption Survey. Their conversation explores how actuaries are using AI tools, the most common use cases across career stages, and the key organizational barriers...
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Young Professional Advisory Council: Kick Back with YPAC
SOA Podcasts - Society of Actuaries
Join Tasso Bountouvas, FSA and Carly Mauro, FSA as they give an overview of the main goals and motivations of YPAC. They celebrate 2025 accomplishments and look forward to another exciting year of impact!
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Actuarial Leadership and Impact Making
SOA Podcasts - Society of Actuaries
Join Ganiu Shefiu as he interviews Jola Fakoya, FSA, CERA, to discuss making an impact in actuarial leadership.
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PD Edge Pod Episode 7: Is Takaful the same as mutual insurance? An interview with Hasham Piperdy
SOA Podcasts - Society of Actuaries
The podcast features Jon Forster interviewing Hasham Piperdy about the similarities and differences between Takaful and mutual insurance. Both models emphasize collective risk sharing and returning surplus to participants, but differ in ownership structure, capital provision, and investment restrictions. Takaful adds a layer of Shari’ah compliance, requiring investments to be Islamic and oversight by a Shari’ah board. The discussion highlights that while the models share cooperative principles, Takaful introduces faith-based ethics and governance. Contributors: Hasham Piperdy, FIA;...
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Emerging Topics Community: Actuaries in the Age of AI: A conversation with ChatGPT: 2 years later
SOA Podcasts - Society of Actuaries
In this captivating podcast, Joe Alaimo, CEO of ProComp, sits down once again, two years later, with ChatGPT. Together they talk about what has actually changed in two years, what did not change, and where the profession might be heading next. What does ChatGPT now see ahead for the actuarial profession? The original was published on Oct 12, 2023
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PD Edge Pod Episode 6: From Actuary to CEO, Carl Hess on his leadership journey at WTW
SOA Podcasts - Society of Actuaries
The podcast features a conversation with Willis Towers Watson CEO Carl Hess, who discusses his progression from actuary to CEO, emphasizing the importance of analytical skills, communication, and people management in leadership. Carl highlights how technology and AI are transforming the actuarial profession, noting that automation and AI projects at WTW are helping staff focus on more productive work and better utilize unstructured data. He shares personal anecdotes about using music to maintain focus during actuarial exam studies and explains how he stays connected with WTW’s employees...
info_outlineThe podcast features a conversation with Willis Towers Watson CEO Carl Hess, who discusses his progression from actuary to CEO, emphasizing the importance of analytical skills, communication, and people management in leadership. Carl highlights how technology and AI are transforming the actuarial profession, noting that automation and AI projects at WTW are helping staff focus on more productive work and better utilize unstructured data. He shares personal anecdotes about using music to maintain focus during actuarial exam studies and explains how he stays connected with WTW’s employees through informal interactions and modern communication tools. Carl reflects on key career moments and lessons leaned along the way. Carl is joined by Chris Lombardi, Karen Grote, and Jon Froster for this thoughtful conversation.
Contributors: Carl Hess, FSA, CERA; Chris Lombardi, FSA, MAAA; Karen Grote, FSA, MAAA; Jon Forster, ASA, MAAA
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With roots dating back to 1889, the Society of Actuaries (SOA) is the world’s largest actuarial professional organization with more than 32,000 actuaries as members. Serving as the SOA’s research arm, the SOA Research Institute provides objective, data-driven research bringing together tried and true practices and future-focused approaches to address societal challenges and your business needs. It provides trusted knowledge, extensive experience and new technologies to help effectively identify, predict and manage risks.
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