Our actuarial team had a tremendous experience at the Casualty Actuarial Society’s Ratemaking, Product & Modeling (RPM) Seminar in Chicago. We attended thought-provoking sessions on innovation, rate filings, emotional intelligence, and the evolving role of AI in our profession. We also had the opportunity to connect with a vibrant community of actuaries—both in the conference halls and at memorable networking events around the city.
Keep reading for highlights from the seminar sessions and events.
Keynote Address: Unlocking Innovation
Jeff Ma, an entrepreneur and former member of the MIT Blackjack Team, delivered a compelling keynote that reframed how actuaries should think about innovation. His central thesis: innovation rarely fails because of a lack of intelligence. It fails because of cultural and behavioral barriers.
Ma identified five common culprits:
- Groupthink
- Loss aversion
- Overprotection of past success
- Low-trust environments
- Emotional (vs. probabilistic) decision-making
Ma drew a meaningful distinction between problem-solving (making better decisions within known constraints) and true innovation, which means challenging the constraints themselves. Both require data, but innovation also demands courage, trust, and cultural alignment.
Actuaries, he argued, are well-positioned to lead in this space. Long before “data science” became mainstream, actuaries were already modeling uncertainty, making probabilistic decisions, and translating risk into strategy. In an AI-driven world, analytical capability is increasingly accessible to everyone. What will differentiate leaders is how they apply it.
“Innovation is not about being reckless. It is about making disciplined, data-driven decisions in environments that allow smart risk-taking.” Jeff Ma, Keynote Speaker
Ma also emphasized the role of organizational culture. High-performing teams share several traits: healthy and respectful conflict, a willingness to challenge ideas rather than people, diverse perspectives, and leadership that tolerates thoughtful risk. Trust, he stressed, is the foundation. Without it, innovation stalls entirely.
He closed with a set of reflection prompts that resonated with our team: Where might groupthink be limiting your organization’s innovation? Are decisions evaluated probabilistically or emotionally? Where could trust be strengthened? These are questions worth carrying back to the office
Session Highlight: Surviving a Rate Filing
Speaker Susan Gozzo Andrews delivered a practical and candid session on the realities of navigating the rate filing process. Her key message: filings should tell a clear story, supported by strong actuarial evidence. Making that story legible to regulators is an art form in itself.
Andrews highlighted how rate filing requirements vary significantly by state and are often inconsistent, adding complexity to an already nuanced process. Increasing sophistication in modeling and rating algorithms makes filings harder to interpret, which puts an even greater premium on clear communication and documentation.
Among her best practices:
- Tailor actuarial memos to the specific state’s requirements and expectations
- Conduct thorough peer review before submission
- Understand the regulator’s perspective, as it can meaningfully improve approval timelines
She also noted that the CAS Task Force on State Filing Requirements (CASTF) hosts monthly discussions on state-specific filing differences, a valuable resource for practitioners navigating this landscape.
Session Highlight: Actuaries in the Age of AI and the Emotional Intelligence Advantage
Brent M. Rossman led an engaging session on a topic that’s easy to overlook amid all the technical conversation around AI: emotional intelligence (EQ). His premise was straightforward but important: decisions in actuarial work are often influenced by ego, risk, and career considerations, and that’s not going away with the adoption of AI.
Rossman focused on two core dimensions of EQ: self-awareness (understanding how emotions affect your own performance) and awareness of others (improving interpersonal dynamics on teams). He emphasized that recognizing and naming emotions, rather than suppressing them, builds resilience and improves decision-making.
AI, he noted, enhances predictive capabilities but can also create a perceived loss of control, which tends to amplify emotional responses. In this environment, strong EQ becomes a professional differentiator. Emotions are not right or wrong; they are signals to interpret and manage thoughtfully.
Community Spotlight: Abacus Happy Hour
One of the highlights of the week was the Abacus Actuaries happy hour hosted at the Ezra Penland Chicago office. Abacus is focused on supporting and empowering Asian actuaries through community, mentorship, and career development, and this event brought together approximately 40 members and allies for meaningful connection.
Charles Zhu, who founded Abacus after experiencing underrepresentation in the profession firsthand, shared remarks about the organization’s mission: increasing visibility, supporting actuaries at all career stages, and providing guidance on exams, career growth, and industry navigation. His message on the power of seeing yourself reflected in a profession, and how that can inspire others, was a moving reminder of why these communities matter.
The event was a strong opportunity to foster community within the actuarial space, and we left inspired by the work Abacus continues to do.
Networking: Ezra Penland Happy Hour with Cognalysis
Later in the week, we co-hosted a networking happy hour at Emerald Loop with Cognalysis, a data and analytics firm focused on helping organizations leverage data for better decision-making. The event drew strong attendance from conference-goers and provided a welcome opportunity to reconnect in a more informal setting.
Conversations flowed easily across topics from the sessions, including innovation culture, rate filings, and AI adoption, and the event reinforced what the RPM Seminar does best: bringing smart people together to think through hard problems in an industry that’s evolving quickly.
Looking Forward
The 2026 RPM Seminar reinforced several themes our team has been tracking: the growing importance of data-driven culture, the regulatory complexity surrounding AI, the enduring value of human judgment and emotional intelligence, and the power of community in a specialized profession.
We’re energized by the conversations we had and the ideas we’re bringing back. If you’d like to discuss any of these topics further or explore how these insights might apply to your organization, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team.
