Kai-Nicholas Kunze – Get to know our VAB member

We would like to introduce our member Kai-Nicholas Kunze, who joins the VAB community from Lausanne, Switzerland. He currently serves as Head of Financial Services Advisory – Banking & Insurance at ELCA Group. Previously, he worked for Accenture DACH in management consulting focused on the Insurance industry. Kai-Nicholas has served on a number of boards including as a board director at Wise.swiss and as a board member for the online supermarket Zélo. He spent 21 years with the insurance giant Generali, serving - among other roles - as Chief Underwriting Officer Non-Life (Switzerland) and as Co-Founder and CEO of the on-demand, community-based insurer LINGS. Kai-Nicholas is interested in taking on further board work in the Insurance sector and would like to connect with members active in that space. 

What inspired you to become a member of the Virtual Advisory Board community?

I am fully committed to continuing my operational responsibilities while gradually expanding my involvement in board roles over the next 3 to 5 years. I felt the VAB community could be a good space to find support and inspiration for this process. 

In what area do you feel board advisors can add the most value for Boards of Directors (BoDs) and executive teams?

I'm in Financial Services Advisory and my expertise is in the insurance industry (with a focus on Switzerland). I believe that my industry knowledge could be valuable to boards needing deeper strategic knowledge of the industry and a fresh, external perspective on what their organisation might want to pursue in terms of foresight planning or business development. 

What would be your dream company/organisation to work with as a board advisor/NED?

Ideally, a small and mid-sized insurance that wants to modernise. Or possibly an InsurTech company seeking a senior-level advisor. I would love to help a business in this space find ways to show that insurance is an essential and cool industry and also to guide insurers in using AI tools to help enhance customer experience and boost the quality of human interactions. 

What book or podcast would you recommend to VAB members that might improve their skills in corporate governance, board advisory or boosting board-to-executive team communications?

I would recommend True Leaders Deliver by Peter Corijn or Hostage at the Table by George Kohlrieser.