By Lin Yuan

Last month we welcomed Patrick Miller, a tenured data science and artificial intelligence leader, to the company. As Director of Engineering, Patrick will first assess Newfront’s data structure, determining how we can best unify our information, a monumental task after the merger.

Post assessment, Patrick and his team will focus on building capability around data science – an undertaking very familiar to him! At Google, Patrick led the company’s enterprise AI approach, helping to expand the usage internally to make the business more efficient and effective. Prior to that, Patrick led similar efforts at Macmillan, a publisher, and Cognama, a cancer genomics machine learning research tool.

When asked why he considered the move to Newfront, Patrick says that he’s intrigued by the obstacles that combining insurance and technology inherently present.

“Insurance is a very old industry,” he said. “I’m energized by the challenge of building data into the DNA of any company, but especially one in an industry where it hasn’t really been done before.”

We’re thrilled to have Patrick on board! I asked him to share some additional information about himself, including more about his vision for data at Newfront.

Lin

I’ve been working in data science and artificial intelligence for the last ten years. Most recently, I was at Google leading a machine learning (ML) engineering team focused on building scalable, cutting-edge ML solutions to Google’s enterprise problems. My team supported all of Google’s business functions, from classifying documents for the legal department to optimizing energy usage in Google’s buildings.

Before that, I built the data science group at Macmillan, a major trade publisher. Similar to the insurance world, usage of data was relatively unsophisticated. My team built the data foundation and eventually the intelligence that helped enable editors and other publishing professionals to focus on the things that they are best at – making great books.

Joining Newfront

By far the biggest draw to Newfront for me is the people. Newfront has assembled a team of super talented folks, who are caring and curious. I’m really excited to be able to work alongside folks from a variety of backgrounds towards building a modern insurance experience.

My Charge

Data is what I know how to do and what I truly enjoy doing. My team’s goal is to solidify Newfront’s data foundation, democratize data access, and build the intelligence that empowers our insurance professionals to do the best work of their careers.

UPenn, Georgia Tech, Guggenheim Global Trading, Macmillan, ForecastAer, Cognoma, Google, Newfront.

Family (Megan, Vinnie, Kara), hacking away at problems, Italy, food.

Chess, woodworking, stand-up comedy, movies, travel.