Vinod Kachroo on the Future of Surety: AI, Modernization, and Market Disruption

Surety is entering a new phase of modernization.

AI presents opportunities to augment underwriting decision-making. Automation can improve collaboration across the three-party Surety structure. And emerging digital tools are expanding how carriers think about growth and operational efficiency.

At the center of this shift is Vinod Kachroo, Tinubu’s newly appointed Head of Americas Business — a leader with more than 35 years of experience modernizing complex insurance operations.

His career began at AIG during one of the industry’s earliest large-scale technology overhauls, where he helped lead the migration from legacy mainframes to relational databases and automated a multi-billion-dollar book of business. That early experience shaped a career defined by mission-critical modernization — from building early digital self-service tools at Prudential to leading complex integrations at MetLife, including a large Life & Annuity acquisition, which became a case study at Harvard Business School.

Now, Kachroo brings that cross-functional perspective — spanning carrier, consultancy, CTO, CEO, and entrepreneur — to Tinubu’s Surety platform at a pivotal moment for the market.

You've already been leading within Tinubu: what does this expanded role overseeing Surety represent for you?

Vinod: It's exciting. I always say I am a hardcore insurance person. The experience I have in different roles is helpful in understanding Tinubu customers’ challenges and opportunities. I worked on Surety in past industry roles, and within Innoveo, I have customers with Surety businesses. So I am able to have valuable conversations about Surety with our customers.

I can also bring innovations and ideas from other lines of business to those Surety customers. I have worked in the North America marketplace for over 35 years, and I have serviced global customers as well. Now I have more tools in my toolkit, so there are more ways to help Surety customers and create synergies for them.

What aspects of modernization will unlock the most value and productivity for Surety carriers?

Vinod: It will be key for Surety systems to run on very flexible technology architecture so carriers can react quickly to changing market conditions and take advantage of opportunities. That’s one reason we are changing our underlying tech stack at Tinubu to make it more flexible going forward.

Also, embedded AI in Surety platforms will create a lot of efficiency for carriers—that’s a priority for Tinubu. For example, if you are underwriting and can ask questions within your system, just like you do today in Chat GPT, but leveraging external data sources and all the information within your company, that will facilitate better, faster decisions. It will make it easier to use traditional and non-traditional variables.

In general, how do you see AI and automation influencing Surety?

Vinod: In a big way. AI will improve how information moves between brokers and carriers, and how information moves between all the appropriate people within a three-party Surety structure. Agentic AI will take it to the next level and further automate the human aspects of the business. Our customers will be able to make better business decisions and scale without needing to add headcount.

One result of the growth of automation will be the Surety market being disrupted, as it becomes easier for new entrants to join the market. Surety is not traditional insurance, but with the growth of technology, companies that do other lines of business, such as benefit insurance or other P&C lines, can enter the market. I see non-traditional insurers coming in rapidly, as well as non-traditional players who may not be insurers: I think the technology will enable that.

But we have to remember that technology is a means to an end not an end in itself. Surety is a risk management business. Yes, there is technology and innovation, but you need to have core capabilities to make effective use of it. Some new entrants have created good digital operating models, but they lack underwriting experience. Tinubu has some customers with 100 years of experience and 100 years of data that help inform how they should run their business decision models. That has immense value.

If technology and AI are going to change and expand the Surety market, how is Tinubu set up to succeed in this new environment, and to help its customers succeed?

Vinod: We’re going to be the AI-first company with AI embedded in everything we do. We already are. We are leveraging AI in how we are modernizing our platforms. We are not just advocating that our customers use AI; we are using it ourselves. We want to embed its capabilities into the platform to give our customers a higher level of efficiency. We don't want to be caught when the world has already moved. We want to move the world, and to be a driver in Surety technology.

We are making sure our traditional carrier and broker customers have the right technology to drive efficiencies and compete in this new digital marketplace. Also, as non-traditional players come into the market, we will be a platform for them too. This can benefit our current customers. We can learn from new entrants and use those learnings to help our traditional customers.

I believe Tinubu is very well equipped and is in an amazing place to help our customers grow their businesses. We are investing in a modern technology stack and a renewed platform that will take our technology to the next level. I think the opportunity for us has only just begun.

What are your priorities for Tinubu this year?

Vinod: To make sure I understand the needs of all our customers. I have started meeting them, and I will continue doing that. We are already taking customer feedback and applying it to strategic investments we’re making to give them a higher level of efficiency. I want to make sure that I help our customers grow their businesses with high levels of operational efficiency.

I also want to finish some of the modernization work we are doing within the platform and roll that out to our customers. Then they will start to see value from the investments we have been making over the last couple of years in technology and modernization.

I would say 2026 is a heavy year of execution: 2027 and 2028 will be heavy years of exploitation of that new technology for our customers, while Tinubu continues to innovate. We have to future-proof our business—for ourselves and for our customers—while also meeting the operating needs of their day-to-day business.

Not all leaders of technology companies have hands-on engineering experience, but you’ve been a CTO. How does that benefit you in your new role?

Vinod: I have been very fortunate to have had a good cross-section of experience. I have mostly run technology, but I have also run business operations at scale. At one large company, I ran all of the technology and all of operations, bringing the two functions together. So when I wear a business hat, I am also thinking about how technology impacts operations.

I have been on the carrier side of the house most of my life. I have been an executive in companies like AIG, Prudential, MetLife, and then I have been on the service provider side of the house with my roles at TCS [an AI-led technology services company]. After that I was privileged to come onto the entrepreneur side of the house by running product companies like SE2, Innoveo and now Tinubu Surety. So I bring a broad understanding of business needs, day-to-day operations and how technology might fulfill those needs.

That enables me to engage my customers in a holistic conversation and not only look at their business needs from a technology standpoint. I am not a guy who wants to do technology for the sake of technology.

At the end of the day, Tinubu’s technology has to solve business problems and create business opportunities, and that is what we are going to do.