Axe Group’s growth continues with Nik Long appointed as Head of Product
By Martin Stewart : 14th of April 2023
Demonstrating its ongoing plans for expansion, leading insurance software specialist Axe Group has recently named Nik Long as its new Head of Product. Nik has over 25 years’ experience in the software industry, and most recently was Director of Product & Technology for another insurtech company, Socotra.
“I think it’s a very exciting time to join Axe. They’ve done a great job building the platform and carving a place for themselves as a SaaS solution for insurers and reinsurers. Now it’s time to make the most of that investment. Expand their reach, their customer base, move further.”
Nik is enthusiastic about the opportunity to oversee all aspects of Axe Group’s product development. “Head of Product is generally considered a leadership role. It’s not necessarily a visual design role, or a user experience role, or a technology role, or a business or finance role, but you need a foot in all those camps to actually produce something that is appealing to not just our clients, but also to their customers.”
Nik recognises that Axe products have to serve two masters equally well. “There’s a really interesting dichotomy involved,” he explains, “you want the end users to have a really good customer experience ̶̶̶ something that traditionally the insurance industry has not been great at ̶̶̶ but you also want to ensure an outstanding experience for the underwriters, brokers, actuaries and the product managers who are managing their insurance products. It’s improving the UX across the board that Axe is so good at. And I want to help take that even further forward.”
Nik is also impressed by the way Axe Group has created a sustainable business model for itself. “It can be difficult with SaaS platforms and startups to ensure sustainable growth. They can often get out of control and self-destruct, but Axe has created a really solid product and now they can take it to the world.”
Axe Group’s founder, Martin Stewart, said, “Nik is a great addition to our leadership team. He brings valuable experience having worked with a global software vendor selling a SaaS Policy Admin solution and I am confident he will help us mature our product to support our planned expansion.”
Originally from England, Nik now lives in Sydney with his wife and two cats. The couple each enjoy travelling, skiing and scuba diving, so their holidays are very active no matter the season.