Gareth brings to Vertafore over two decades of technology and sales leadership, including a decade at SaaS and Cloud pioneer Salesforce where helped scale it 10.6x from $2B to over $21.3B and 56,000 employees. He has built customer obsessed organizations catering to businesses of all sizes—from startups in the small and medium business segment to his most recent role as Group Vice President at C3 AI Inc. delivering complex enterprise AI solutions to the Fortune 500.
He is known as an innovation driver and a customer-focused revenue leader in the tech space. He was a founding member of the Financial Services vertical at Salesforce—spanning insurance, banking, capital markets, lending, and wealth management—and built it into the organization’s fastest growing and most successful division. His list of accomplishments also includes revitalizing the Healthcare and Life Sciences vertical, transforming it into three years of 24% annualized growth, and driving diverse, rewarding cultures.
Gareth is based in Marin County, California. Outside of the office you’ll find him skiing (or snowboarding when the powder is epic), biking, surfing, playing guitar, camping with his family, supporting his children’s athletics and music performances, toiling on a tiny ranch, and volunteering for various environmental and equality issues.
Gareth’s 5 Fast Facts
1. What do you love most about your role at Vertafore?
Our purpose in Sales & Marketing is to strengthen the connection between our customers and their clients by empowering agencies, carriers, and MGAs with optimal digital infrastructure. Our solutions are the engine enabling our customers to be there for their clients. I love that we’re fueling an industry that frees people to live their best lives, and I’m thrilled to continuously earn our customers’ trust to help them maximize their growth and success.
2. How did you get into the InsurTech business?
Although I consulted for some of the largest insurance companies in the world during my time at Coffing Data Warehousing, my InsurTech journey hit overdrive at Salesforce where I was one of the founding members of the Financial Services vertical. We catered to the insurance industry and built Financial Services Cloud. I then ran a similar playbook in Salesforce’s Healthcare vertical with a major focus on life and health insurance. Both exposed me to the inner workings of the industry, and I fell in love with the mission of insurance.
3. What are you most excited about for the future of InsurTech?
The myth that technology will replace the independent agent channel is starting to evaporate. Instead, our industry is embracing the fact that innovation and technology are enablers—not replacers—to drive productivity and efficiency so agencies and carriers can spend more time delivering value to their customers.
To that end, we’re starting to see more partnership and cooperation between start-ups and traditional systems and tech providers, to deliver a modern, holistic experience to the channel and the end-insureds. That’s exciting because the industry receives the benefits of start-up-style innovation, informed by deep industry knowledge and experience.
4. What’s your idea of the perfect weekend?
Hands down, an outdoor adventure with my family, either in the mountains or on the water. Depending on the time of year you’ll find me in a tent, on the slopes, in a saddle, or in the surf.
5. I’m coming to visit you! What are your favorite/must-do things in your city?
Marin County offers the best of the Bay Area. Your first stop: Wine country for amazing vistas, great food, and fantastic wine tasting. Next up, make your way to Muir Woods to marvel at giant redwoods, ride in the birthplace of mountain biking, or head over to Bolinas for some sand and surf. Finally, hop over the Golden Gate and spend an elegant night in San Francisco!
Education:
- MBA, The Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
- Bachelors of Business Administration, University of Texas at Austin
Experience
- Group Vice President, C3 AI
- Sr. Area Vice President, Salesforce
- Industry Sales Manager & Global Account Executive, Bentley Systems
- Director of Brand Marketing & Demand Generation, Skyetek
- Chief Operating Officer, Coffing Data Warehousing
