2026 PC 360 Luminary Finalists: The people behind Cotality Insurance Solutions
Cotality's recognition as a 2026 PC 360 Insurance Luminary finalist highlights its commitment to human-centric insurtech innovation.
- Breaking industry silos connects underwriting, claims, and restoration through unified data.
- Transparent risk scoring eliminates "black box" blind spots for property insurers.
- A collaborative culture leverages AI innovation to drive actionable catastrophe insights.
Today’s digital world can feel impersonal. Even so, high level innovation comes from passionate people. The most transformational Insurtech innovation occurs when the people behind it are personally driven to enhance the lives of those touched by the insurance system.
This year, the Cotality™ Insurance division and several ofits team members were named 2026 PC 360 Insurance Luminary finalists. Each of these honorees has demonstrated that they are committed to rooting the entire insurance experience in humanity.
Cotality Insurance Division: Insurtech of the Year
The Cotality Insurance division has been named a finalist for Insurtech of the Year. This recognition stems from our mission to eradicate the pervasive industry silos that isolate insurance functions from each other.
By connecting underwriting, claims, and restoration through high-quality data and a unified digital architecture, we ensure that community resilience is a shared success rather than a disjointed, inefficient effort. Cotality doesn’t see this as a one and done job; the team is constantly innovating to fuel better collaboration across these disciplines. This results in smoother cycles that empower better decisions and eliminate friction.
Jake Labrie: Executive of the Year
Jake Labrie, Executive Vice President of InsuranceSolutions, understands all too well the overwhelming stress that comes with filing a property insurance claim. He joined the industry after a catastrophic fire impacted his own home decades ago. It was his experience with a fragmented claims process as a policyholder that inspired him to do something about the problem.
As a co-founder of Accurence (now part of Cotality), he pioneered solutions to digitize inspection data and automate estimating. Today,Jake continues to collaborate with technologists to co-create solutions for the industry’s most persistent pain points, enabling professionals to, in his own words, “shift their focus from IQ to EQ.”
Brian Sullivan: Risk Manager of the Year
Senior Product Manager Brian Sullivan has a passion for building resilience through transparency. Brian led the development of Cotality’s Fire and Water Resiliency Risk Scores, providing insurers with deeper insight into the localized risk factors that drive a property's susceptibility to common disasters.
Brian identified a blind spot in the industry—fire and water events that cost insurers billions annually—and refused to provide "blackbox" solutions to address it. His commitment to transparency has given insurers a superior understanding of what truly drives commonly overlooked risks.
Maiclaire Bolton-Smith: Excellence in Employee Advocacy
Maiclaire Bolton-Smith, VP of Product Marketing for Cotality, launched the division’s first product marketing team in 2025, empowering each of its members to establish Cotality as a trusted industry thought leader.
In response to the 2025 California wildfires, Maiclaire championed the thought leadership leg of her team to speak publicly as technical, empathetic experts in order to address the concerns of both insurers and a fearful public.
Maiclaire also serves as the President of Cotality's Women’s Business Council, driving the education and empowerment of women across all levels of the organization.
The Cotality Hazard HQ Command Central™ team: Excellence in Catastrophe Response
In the wake of the destructive 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, Cotality became a primary source of expertise on the event’s development and multi-faceted impacts on the insurance industry.
While Cotality’s leaders were the public faces of this response, the Cotality Hazard HQCommand Central™ team, led by Maiclaire Bolton-Smith, delivered the insights. This cross-functional team of climate scientists, geospatial experts, and marketers transformed raw data into information that people could easily absorb. Throughout January 2025, this team worked around the clock to translate complex risk into actionable intelligence for insurers and a confused public.
Cotality Insurance: Excellence in Workplace Culture
Cotality has built a culture of comfortable collaboration, where leaders urge people at all levels to share even their most off-the-wall ideas. From intimate team meetings to weekly division-wide calls ledby President Garret Gray, everyone is encouraged to speak up.
In late 2025, Cotality invested in its people through anAI Productivity Focus Week—five uninterrupted workdays for everyone to explore how different AI platforms could help them excel in their roles. This unconventional programming resulted in the implementation of 226 employee-led suggestions.
By investing in the talent and souls behind our technology, Cotality gives everyone the chance to make a lasting impact on the industry.
What’s next for Cotality and its people? Follow us on LinkedIn and learn more about the company here.
