Sapiens’ SKO: SaaS, Success, & Scaling
I had the honor of wrapping up day 1 of Sapiens’ 2026 Global Sales Kickoff in Rome with moderator Mark Jeffries last week. We focused on the question everyone is asking in insurance: where will real growth come from?
Not from more complexity. Not from AI theatre. And definitely not from moving the same old stuff to the cloud.
Growth comes from outcomes delivered faster at scale…and that’s where AI + SaaS become the unfair advantage. Customer journeys beat systems, speed beats perfection, and industry depth beats generic technology.
The energy in the room said it all: insurance is ready to move and the winners won’t be the ones who talk transformation…they’ll be the ones who turn it into measurable outcomes.
AI has to be tied to real moments that matter – underwriting, claims, servicing, and distribution, not experiments in isolation. The bar is shifting from “automation” to augmented judgment: humans + AI making better decisions, faster, with stronger governance.
My session at the end of SKO day 1 focused on the “living technology” that will deliver the hyper-personalisation our customers demand.
Sapiens’ New Vision: 2 Pillars
Two defining pillars of Sapiens’ strategy emerged at the SKO:
1. The shift from cloud to true SaaS: accelerating insurance transformation through continuously evolving platforms
2. A micro-vertical focus: delivering deeply specialised software for P&C, Life & Pensions, and Reinsurance, built for how insurers actually operate
My friend and colleague, Sapiens’ Executive Chairman and Interim CEO Mike Ettling, emphasised these messages from the start.
He took center stage on day 1 to explain the need for greater intention in how we engineer and sell as a SaaS company. His message focused on the importance of AI and steady growth, by simplifying and standardising our operations, with high standards and exceptional customer focus as our North Stars.
Mike’s analogy about the Sapiens “orchestra” benefitting from its world-class string section, our commercial team, made a powerful statement about Sales setting the tempo for our growth and future performance.
How Insurers Win in 2026
AI provides an advantage by offering innovative ways to enhance efficiency, customer experience, and product development. R “Ray” Wang, best-selling author and founder of Constellation Research, Inc., emphasized the value of AI in his featured SKO session on what trends will matter most in the future. “The winners in insurance will partner with insurtech platforms that are enabled for AI.”
Featured speaker R “Ray” Wang talking about the importance of AI in the future of insurtech.
Marketing is a Momentum Engine
CMO Yaffa Cohen-Ifrah’s message was clear when she took the main stage: Marketing is a momentum engine to help Sales accelerate, become more predictable, and more scalable.
Marketing’s primary role isn’t simply lead generation, but establishing client confidence and creating trust that exists even before the first call. Credibility that’s established before the first conversation, because we’ve built an authentic brand that delivers value through meaningful thought leadership.
CMO Yaffa Cohen-Ifrah took center stage to discuss Marketing’s role in building customer trust.
Partnerships
Strategic partnerships enable companies to combine innovation with scale, creating an amplification effect. The importance of partnerships was the focus of a talk with Sapiens’ strategic partner, Microsoft.
Microsoft’s EMEA Regional Business Lead Patrice Amann and I spoke about hyper-scaling. Companies can expand faster, access large infrastructure, and build greater credibility and trust by integrating into a proven ecosystem backed by powerful partners.
Celebrating Sales Superstars
It wouldn’t be an SKO without recognising the high achievers among our sales team. On our final night in Rome, we gathered at the elegant Palazzo Brancaccio to honor our high performers. We thanked them for their exceptional performance and for helping Sapiens become the preferred transformation partner for leading insurers.
Sapiens’ sales team superstars were recognized for their outstanding achievements at an awards ceremony at the Palazzo Brancaccio.
Sapiens – and Insurance – Are on the Move
Like Rome, Sapiens new vision and strategy won’t be built in a day. But like the city’s founders, we’re creating with intention and precision to develop something meaningful: a SaaS-first, AI-powered platform that helps our clients transform, and serve customers in ways that matter.
