Beyond Boundaries | Partnerships, Product, Progress: Chaucer’s Innovation Playbook

Welcome back to the Beyond Boundaries Series by Sønr, where we speak with the people turning insurance innovation from conversation into execution.

In the latest Beyond Boundaries episode, Sønr’s Matt Ferguson, Managing Partner, speaks with Iryna Chekanava, Senior Innovation Underwriter at Chaucer.

The conversation explores how Chaucer thinks about innovation through the lens of partnerships, product creation and future profit pools.

Iryna joined Chaucer from the Lloyd’s Lab and has spent around eight years working in insurance innovation. In her role today, she focuses on exploring the emerging risk landscape and experimenting with new product creation.

For Chaucer, innovation is not just about finding interesting technology.

It is about identifying where new markets are forming, where clients have real problems, and where data, technology or market access can be translated into an insurable product.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• How Chaucer thinks about innovation as an insurance product creation journey
• Why partnerships are central to testing future profit pools
• What Chaucer looks for in an insurtech, startup or MGA partner
• Why strategic fit, useful data, technology and customer access matter
• How Chaucer assesses emerging areas such as AI liability, carbon credits, trade secrets and energy transition
• What it takes for an insurtech partnership to succeed

Why it matters

Insurance innovation is often presented as a search for the next big idea.

But Iryna’s perspective is more practical.

A new idea only becomes relevant if it can be connected to a real customer problem, a real market need and a product that can actually be underwritten.

That is where Chaucer’s partnership model becomes important.

The innovation team looks for partners with deep understanding of a customer segment, useful data or technology, and access to markets that could unlock new insurance opportunities. Chaucer then brings the insurance expertise, underwriting capability and internal product development process needed to turn that opportunity into something tangible.

Iryna is also clear on what can slow things down.

Insurance products cannot be built around a pitch deck alone. The market needs to have materialised. There needs to be insurable interest. Startups need to understand that regulatory requirements, value chain complexity and longer sales cycles are part of the reality of building in insurance.

The conversation also points to a broader shift in the market.

Innovation is becoming more mature.

Less theatre.

Less endless explanation.

More focus on execution, commercial relevance and solving real customer problems.

As Iryna puts it, the next phase is about less talking and more doing.

Thank you to Iryna for joining Beyond Boundaries and sharing such a clear view on partnerships, product creation and the practical work behind Chaucer’s innovation playbook.

Explore the full Beyond Boundaries 2025 report here: https://sonr.global/beyond-boundaries-2025/

For collaboration, interviews or future Beyond Boundaries opportunities, reach us at [email protected]