What was said
What this says
Current to 10 Oct 26Callum Reid wants underwriters, not just his ops team, using the brain, and a value case his COO can read for the Growth renewal at £44,000. Daniel Okafor committed to slots, a one-pager and a provider-facing dashboard.
What happened: Quarterly review with Callum Reid alone. Daniel Okafor walked usage, support and the renewal, which is a straight Growth renewal at £44,000 a year with no paperwork or billing difference.
Customer view: Callum is candid that adoption is narrow. About ten active users against forty licences, with underwriters drifting back to spreadsheets.
Commercial: Callum does not hold budget, so the COO decides. He needs a simple value summary, and a capacity-provider page built on the dashboards builder already in Growth.
Watch: Callum is the largest single user, a key-person risk. Daniel owes slots and an agenda by the end of the week and a one-page draft by Friday.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Daniel Okafor to send Callum slots and a draft agenda for an underwriter session by the end of the week.
- Daniel Okafor to send a one-page quarter summary draft by Friday.
- Callum Reid to introduce a senior analyst to build the capacity-provider page.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Only about ten of forty licences are active and underwriters still prefer spreadsheets, so the COO may question value at renewal.
- Callum is the largest single user, a key-person risk.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- A provider-facing dashboard built on the Growth dashboards builder could show value to capacity providers.
- An underwriter working session could widen adoption beyond the ops team.
Transcript
- Daniel Okafor NoneMorning, Callum. Can you hear me all right?
- Callum Reid NoneYep, loud and clear. Morning.
- Daniel Okafor NoneLovely. Thank you for the time, I know the start of the week is never quiet. I think it's just the two of us today, so shall we make a start?
- Callum Reid NoneFine by me. What I need out of this is two things. Something I can show the capacity providers about how the team actually uses it, and a clear view of the renewal, because it's coming up fast.
- Daniel Okafor NoneBoth are on my list, so that works well. Let me share my screen and walk you through the quarter first, then we'll come to the renewal. Give me a moment. Can you see it?
- Callum Reid NoneNot yet. Yes, there it is.
- Daniel Okafor NoneGood. So, the headline. The brain is being used steadily. Active users sit at about ten a day on average, which is almost exactly where we were last quarter, a touch down if anything. Questions asked are healthy, and most of them still come from your underwriting operations team. Records indexed keep rising, and the nightly refresh has been finished ahead of 07:00 on business days all quarter.
- Callum Reid NoneAbout ten, out of forty licences. That's a quarter of what we pay for. I'd like it higher, honestly. What I need is the underwriters themselves in there, not just my team.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat's fair, and I'd rather say it plainly than dress it up. How is the team finding it, from where you sit?
- Callum Reid NoneMy ops people live in it. The underwriters dip in when there's a bordereaux query and then drift off. They still go back to the spreadsheet because it's what they know.
- Daniel Okafor NoneMm. That's quite common at this stage of an account, if I'm honest. People adopt it when it answers a question they already have that morning. So what I'd suggest is a short working session with a few of the underwriters, built around the questions the syndicates actually send you.
- Callum Reid NoneBy when?
- Daniel Okafor NoneI'll come back to you by the end of the week with a couple of slots and a draft agenda. Just to close the loop on that one.
- Callum Reid NoneGood. Next.
- Daniel Okafor NoneSupport. One ticket in the last month, nothing high priority, and it's closed. It was a how-to about a dashboard, so nothing wrong with the data or the connectors.
- Callum Reid NoneYeah, that was one of my team. They wanted to filter by binder and couldn't find it. Sorted in a day, I think.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat's right. Which brings me to the dashboards, actually. The bordereaux view you built, is it still the one your team opens first thing?
- Callum Reid NoneEvery morning. It has to be right at 07:00, that's the whole point. If it's wrong at 07:00 I'm explaining it to someone by 09:00.
- Daniel Okafor NoneUnderstood. And has it been right?
- Callum Reid NoneMostly. There was one morning a few weeks back where a submission count looked low and we thought the sync had lagged. Turned out it was a late file from a broker. Not you.
- Daniel Okafor NoneGood to know, and thank you for chasing it before it became a ticket. The refresh logs show it completing on time that morning, so that fits.
- Callum Reid NoneRight. Now, what I'm getting asked is how fast we turn round queries from capacity providers. Claims tickets, bordereaux questions, the lot. That's a capacity-provider question, and I want a page I can point them at.
- Daniel Okafor NoneOkay. So the helpdesk data and the CRM activity are both already in the brain, which means that page is really a dashboard question rather than a connector question. The dashboards builder is part of Growth, so you don't need anything new for it.
- Callum Reid NoneWho builds it? I haven't got the hours.
- Daniel Okafor NoneI'd be happy to sit with one of your team and build the first version together, then they own it. I'd rather they own it, so it keeps being right after I've gone away.
- Callum Reid NoneFine. One of my senior analysts. I'll introduce you by email.
- Daniel Okafor NonePerfect. Let me note that down. Now, shall I show you the questions-asked trend, since you wanted something for the providers?
- Callum Reid NoneGo on.
- Daniel Okafor NoneSo this is the last three months, month by month. It's flat to slightly up, and you can see the shape: most of the questions cluster around Monday and the days either side of a bordereaux deadline. That's useful, because it shows the brain being used for the thing you bought it for.
- Callum Reid NoneWho's asking them? I don't want it to be only me.
- Daniel Okafor NoneIt isn't only you, which I'm glad of, but you are the largest single user. A handful of people make up most of it. That's the risk I'd keep an eye on, one person carrying too much of it, and it's another reason for the underwriter session.
- Callum Reid NoneYeah. Fair. Put that in the notes, I'll take the hit on that.
- Daniel Okafor NoneNo hit, honestly, it's a normal pattern. Right, shall I turn to the renewal?
- Callum Reid NonePlease. And let me say up front, I don't do budget. That's our COO's call. I need to know what to hand him.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat's completely fine. So, just so we're both looking at the same thing. Your contract runs to 30 Jun 2025 and the renewal date is 1 Jul 2025. You're on Growth, forty users, and the order form has it at forty-four thousand a year. That matches what we've invoiced, so there's no difference between the paperwork and the billing.
- Callum Reid NoneSame tier, same terms?
- Daniel Okafor NoneSame tier, same terms. Priya has been talking to your colleagues about the paperwork, and as far as I know it's a straight renewal. I wouldn't want to promise you the exact day it's signed, because that sits with her and with your side, but I'm not aware of anything that's holding it up.
- Callum Reid NoneRight. He'll ask me what it costs us, all in. Is it forty-four thousand and nothing else?
- Daniel Okafor NoneFor the subscription, yes. Forty-four thousand a year, in advance, same as now. The implementation fee was a one-off at the start, so it doesn't come back. If you later add users or connectors, that's a separate conversation and I'd put it in writing for you first.
- Callum Reid NoneOkay. He'll want to see value though. He won't just sign because it's the same number.
- Daniel Okafor NoneHe shouldn't, and I'd rather give him something he can read in two minutes. What I'd propose is a one-page summary of the quarter: how often the brain's been asked questions, which teams are using it, how steady the refresh has been, and the capacity-provider page once it exists. Nothing technical.
- Callum Reid NoneKeep it simple. He likes simple.
- Daniel Okafor NoneSimple it is. I'll come back to you by Friday with a draft, and you can tell me what's missing before it goes anywhere near him.
- Callum Reid NoneGood. Anything else I should know before I go? I've got a market meeting at ten.
- Daniel Okafor NoneOnly that the six-month cadence on the Growth tier means we'd normally be talking again in the autumn, but I'm happy to be in touch sooner if the underwriter session turns up anything. And thank you, Callum, for being so straight about the adoption. It makes my job easier.
- Callum Reid NoneRight. So: you send me slots by the end of the week, one-pager by Friday, I introduce the analyst. That's it?
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat's it. Best wishes, and have a good meeting.
- Callum Reid NoneCheers. Callum, out.