The Notes

Notes From the Desk

Practical notes on running a commercial book. No vendor gloss.

I built my own AI agent. Read this before you build yours.

I'm a commercial broker with no computer science degree, and I built a working AI agent. The building was never the expensive part. Here are the four things I ran into after the build worked, and the question that replaces build versus buy.

August 11, 2026Read →

Workflow Automation7 min read

ACORD 25 Automation: How to Stop Hand-Typing Certificates

The certificate of insurance is the smallest job on a broker's desk and the one that gets done most often. Here is what automating it actually changes, where it still breaks, and what to check before you let it out the door.

July 28, 2026Read →

Broker Operations8 min read

What to Do When an Insurer Sends a Non-Renewal Notice

A non-renewal notice starts a clock, and the clock is the whole problem. A practical order of operations for personal lines brokers: read the date off the notice, find the reason, tell the client early, and remarket in a defined sequence.

July 28, 2026Read →

InsurTech9 min read

Choosing Broker Software: What to Actually Ask a Vendor

Every demo looks good, because that is what a demo is for. Here are the questions that separate software producing finished work from software producing drafts you end up rewriting yourself.

July 28, 2026Read →

Market Intelligence8 min read

The 2026 Soft Market: What Commercial Brokers Need to Do Differently This Year

After three years of double-digit increases, the commercial insurance market has flipped. Property rates are down. Reinsurance capital is at record highs. And the brokers winning in 2026 are the ones who stopped running the same playbook from 2023.

May 12, 2026Read →

Submissions7 min read

Submission Quality Is the Renewal Lever Brokers Actually Control

Underwriters now have more accounts to choose from than they've had in years. They're using submission quality as a proxy for account quality. The brokers winning the best terms aren't necessarily writing the best risks. They're sending the best submissions.

May 8, 2026Read →

Broker Operations9 min read

The Hidden Math of Producer Time: What Admin Actually Costs on Your P&L

Most brokerage owners track commission revenue, payroll, and insurer overrides. Very few track what they're actually paying their producers to do administrative work, and the number, when you actually do the math, is almost always higher than they realize.

May 5, 2026Read →

InsurTech7 min read

AI vs ChatGPT for Insurance Brokers: What Actually Works

Every broker is experimenting with ChatGPT. Most are frustrated. Here's the honest breakdown of where generic AI falls short, and what purpose-built insurance AI actually does differently.

March 3, 2026Read →

Broker Operations8 min read

Insurance Broker Burnout: The Real Cost of Admin Work

Junior producers keep leaving, and the industry calls it a talent crisis. The actual cause is hiding in plain sight, and it's fixable.

March 3, 2026Read →

Policy Review9 min read

What Is Policy Gap Analysis? A Complete Guide for Commercial Brokers

Most brokers review policies. Far fewer systematically identify every gap. Here's exactly what gap analysis is, how it works, and why it's one of the highest-value services a commercial broker can offer.

March 3, 2026Read →

Workflow Automation9 min read

The Complete Guide to Insurance Submission Automation (2026)

The submission is assembly work: gather, re-key, narrate, match, package. Here's how submission automation works, what it hands off, and what changes when the producer becomes the reviewer instead of the assembler.

March 3, 2026Read →

Written by a Broker, for Brokers

The notes are for working producers. Take what is useful.