CASE STUDY
Ceres Insurance.
How we built an entire insurance company's technology stack in under a year, from zero infrastructure to selling policies in less than 12 months.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The challenge.
Ceres Insurance needed to launch a fully digital insurance company from zero infrastructure in under 12 months. No email addresses, no systems, no team. In an industry built on legacy processes, paper workflows, and 30-60 day timelines, this would prove impossible for most consultancies.
Beyond the technical buildout, Ceres needed to compete in a market where policy issuance takes 4-7 days, payment processing takes 3+ days, and manual processes strangle operational efficiency.
The solution.
We were embedded as co-CTOs to build the entire technology organization from scratch. We hired a 15-person engineering team, integrated 15+ external platforms, automated processes that traditionally took weeks (as we challenged industry-standard operations), and challenged every assumption about what was possible.
The result: A fully operational insurance company in under 12 months.
At a glance.
An overview of the work we helped implement while operating as embedded Co-CTOs & Head of Engineering for Ceres.
Timeline
<12 months (zero to production)
Policy Issuance
<5 minutes (vs. 4-7 days)
1035 Exchange
<2 weeks (vs. 30-60 days)
Payment Processing
3-4 hours (vs. 3 days)
Platform Integrations
15+ systems connected
Accounting Automation
95%+ manual reduction
Risk Mitigation
Kept business operational
Industry
Insurance (Annuities)
CHALLENGE & SOLUTION NO. 1
Addressing policy issuance roadblocks.
The industry standard timeline for policy issuance is 4-7 days long, from application submission to execution. Ceres needed competitive advantage through speed, and a careful implementation of their new systems under expert supervision.
The process.
→ Automated the entire case-to-policy lifecycle
→ Eliminated manual validation steps through real-time checks
→ Built orchestration layer coordinating multiple systems simultaneously
→ Implemented agent credential verification during form submission
→ Added client data validation in real-time, including bank accounts / beneficiary screening
→ Eliminated "Not In Good Order" (NIGO) policies, accelerated time-to-market, and established a clear competitive advantage
The result.
Policy issuance reduced to under 5 minutes (from funds-cleared to issued policy).
CHALLENGE & SOLUTION NO. 2
Downsizing time allocated for 1035 exchanges.
It normally takes 30-60 days to complete 1035 exchanges. Seeding carriers deliberately make instructions difficult (e.g. handwritten letters, physical stamps, and even mailed checks). Operations teams spend 4-10 days just generating instructions.
When we made this observation clear to Ceres, they mentioned they hadn’t thought of it before.
They were buried in legacy processes, so we established an automated process that cut down their time by approximately 75%
The process.
→ Automated the entire 1035 exchange process
→ Built electronic management system for faxes, emails, and letters
→ Created carrier-specific routing system
→ Reduced instruction generation from 4-10 days to under 1 minute
The result.
The full exchange process went from 30-60 days to just under 2 weeks.
CHALLENGE & SOLUTION NO. 3
Implementing a new real-time payment process to reduce time from 3 days to 3-4 hours.
Traditional carriers make customers wait 3 days for ACH clearing or weeks for checks to mail and deposit. This is an inefficient system that plagues most insurance carriers, and we saw an opportunity within Ceres’s systems to optimize.
While Ceres initially told us no one in the industry does real-time payments, we realized there was an opportunity to give them a competitive advantage.
The process.
→ Convinced finance and executives to adopt real-time payment APIs
→ Implemented RTP (Real-Time Payments) integration
→ Connected payment systems directly to back-office for same-day processing
→ Enabled intraday premium collection and same-day agent commissions
The result.
Payment processing established, with time reduced from 3 days to 3-4 hours.
CHALLENGE & SOLUTION NO. 4
Most insurance companies treat front office (sales) and back office (finance, accounting, etc..) as separate systems.
This leads to a slew of problems: policies sitting in queues, manual reconciliation takes weeks (or even months), and customers getting caught in cycles of follow-ups and unfinished communications.
We made it clear to Ceres that these operations can’t work separately.
Connecting the front and back offices, after years of disconnected operations.
The process.
→ Connected front-office and back-office systems
→ Integrated policy administration directly with Oracle/SAP ERP
→ Enabled same-day posting (policies issued today post to finance today)
→ Built "glue" connecting 14+ platforms into seamless operations
The result.
Real-time finance ops, new connection between the front and back end of customer interaction, and no more weeks-long delays.
CHALLENGE & SOLUTION NO. 5
Automating processes for their accounting team, to help them recover from manual work.
When we started working with Ceres, we learned that their accounting system–as well as their entire team–were underwater. They were sending 40-50 invoices per day requiring manual entry into a legacy system. They were leaving automated processes on the table that could solve their problems in a much faster, cleaner way.
There were bottlenecks, mistakes, and frustrated staff.
The process.
→ Built AI-powered invoice processing system
→ Automated invoice ingestion and posting directly into Oracle
→ Reduced manual intervention to 1-2 exceptions per day
The result.
95%+ reduction in manual accounting work.
CHALLENGE & SOLUTION NO. 6
Creating visibility into operational problems.
Most insurance companies hear about problems from customers first. It’s common for leadership teams to ask: "Why don't we know about issues before our customers do?"
This should never be the norm.
We helped build a full visibility process that allowed for active monitoring, responses, and staying on top of ongoing comms.
The process.
→ Built extreme operational visibility across every system
→ Implemented proactive monitoring and alerting
→ Integrated DataDog, TalkDesk, and admin systems into unified dashboard
→ Created operations-facing incident portal with automatic severity detection
The result.
On a fractional basis, we worked directly to resolve issues before customers notice. In some cases, we called agents to alert them of problems (not vice versa).
CHALLENGE & SOLUTION NO. 7
Bringing Ceres to the present with modern communication, including a call center integration.
Too many insurance companies rely on outdated communication methods.
They reject common solutions that other industries adapt right out of the gate, from automated notifications tied to policy lifecycle events, to integrated call operations that ensure seamless flow and communication.
We addressed the root cause of Ceres’s fractured processes, and rebuilt an integrated architecture from the ground up.
The process.
→ Built automated transactional messaging (policy issuance, application updates, regulatory timelines)
→ Created scalable notification microservices for IMOs, agents, and clients
→ Integrated TalkDesk call center directly into policy administration system
→ Implemented OTP-based identity verification for secure client interactions
→ Built work queues mirrored into TalkDesk for streamlined operator workflow
The result.
Developed a modern communication architecture with verified delivery, audit trails, and integrated call center operations.
CHALLENGE & SOLUTION NO. 8
Building compliance and governance from scratch.
New insurance companies need regulatory compliance, security policies, and governance frameworks. The problem is these companies won’t establish a clear infrastructure before they grow, which causes significant problems down the line.
To build a powerful system, you need a reliable foundation.
The process.
→ Hired vCISO and authored SDLC/compliance policies
→ Implemented CMDBs and risk registers
→ Created SOPs and runbooks across all function
→ Configured SSO and SCIM support with Entra ID (Azure AD
→ Deployed Jamf and Intune for secure device provisioning and zero-trust access
→ Established automated identity provisioning workflows
The result.
Enterprise-grade security, compliance, and governance infrastructure operational from day one.
Ceres now operates with end-to-end modern infrastructure, upgraded communications, and a competitive edge through technology that outpaces industry standards by 75%.
If you’re an insurance enterprise looking to rebuild, create something new, or implement a tech stack that scales with you, we can help.
