Beyond Boundaries | How Simfuni Is Modernising Life Insurance with Shaun Quincey

Legacy systems, slow integrations, and fragmented data are still some of the biggest blockers to meaningful change in life insurance.

In this episode of Beyond Boundaries, Sønr’s Matt Connolly sits down with Shaun Quincey, Founder & CEO of Simfuni, to unpack what it really takes to modernise life insurance, and why Shaun believes the sector is at a similar inflection point to where retail e-commerce was a decade ago.

Shaun shares how Simfuni approached the industry from first principles: starting with a focused payments module that plugs into policy administration systems, then quickly realising that the real bottleneck isn’t any single feature – it’s legacy integration, slow APIs, and the complexity created through M&A.

From there, the conversation moves into Simfuni’s broader vision: becoming an “operating system” layer for life insurers – enabling a 360° customer view, improving self-service, and getting organisations “match fit” for AI by consolidating data and creating a pathway for faster product delivery.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Why insurance resembles retail e-commerce 9–10 years ago – rising expectations, fast-moving tech, and legacy platforms struggling to keep up
• How Simfuni started with a premium payments plug-in – and why payments can be a gateway to better self-service and retention
• The hidden challenge behind “quick wins”: legacy integrations and slow APIs
• Why life insurers that grew through M&A often face an “impossible” operating reality (multiple policy admin systems, inconsistent data, fragmented customer journeys)
• What Shaun means by building a life insurance operating system – and how consolidation enables embedded products, faster launches, and better policyholder experiences
• Why “AI readiness” is fundamentally a data and operating model issue, not just a tooling decision
• A contrarian view: why you don’t need massive teams to deliver value in insurance – outcomes can come from small, specialist teams that know how to scale expertise into delivery

Why it matters

Shaun’s core point is simple: life insurance is at an inflection point – much like retail e-commerce was 9–10 years ago. Expectations are rising fast, technology is moving faster, and many insurers are still held back by the same underlying blockers: fragmented systems (often created through M&A), slow integrations, and data that isn’t easy to use.

The key takeaway from this conversation is that “AI readiness” isn’t just about adopting new tools – it’s about getting the foundations right. By consolidating data into a single, usable view of the customer and creating a step-by-step path to modernisation, insurers can unlock faster delivery, better self-service, and real operational impact without a risky rip-and-replace programme.

A huge thank you to Shaun for joining us – and for sharing such a clear, practical perspective on what’s really slowing the market down, and how life insurers can move forward with confidence.

🚀 Exciting news: our Beyond Boundaries 2025 report is now live – dive into the report here: https://sonr.global/beyond-boundaries-2025/

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