Ardcarne Life Assurance / BB-Demo – Proposal
Callcompleted
Ardcarne Life Assurance: documents · 2026-06-18 11:30
Proposal call for Enterprise tier, first phase for broker distribution and customer service, total deal value £155,000. Signature targeted for 30 Jun 2026, conditional on the CISO and procurement being content. Ronan Tierney signs.
What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26Proposal call for Enterprise tier, first phase for broker distribution and customer service, total deal value £155,000. Signature targeted for 30 Jun 2026, conditional on the CISO and procurement being content. Ronan Tierney signs.
What happened: Matteo Ricci walked Niamh Costello and Ronan Tierney through the Enterprise proposal. He asked for a steer on shape, not a signature, so security and procurement can run in parallel.
Customer view: Niamh said the number does not surprise her and that her concern is delivery without drama. Ronan said he will not sign before security and procurement are content.
Commercial: The £155,000 is a total deal value, not an annual price. The order form is to show the split between implementation and subscription, and the number holds only if scope stays as written.
Watch: The CISO is not yet content and the security review is still moving. As a regulated buyer under DORA, Ardcarne will put the arrangement through full outsourcing scrutiny, including an exit plan. Customer service adoption is a worry Niamh raised.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
Enterprise proposal, parallel sign-off
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
positive
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BB-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Matteo Ricci to send the open security items list with owners within a couple of days.
- Matteo Ricci to propose CISO session times before the end of the week.
- Matteo Ricci to send the order form draft with the exit approach and the split of the total the following week.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- The CISO is not yet content and nothing is signed until security and procurement are both content, so the 30 Jun 2026 target could move.
- DORA outsourcing scrutiny and an exit plan will be demanded by the head of procurement and could lengthen the process.
- The customer service team is wary of another tool, so low adoption could undermine the value case.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Enterprise tier sale with a total deal value of £155,000, with other teams to follow once the first phase lands.
- A CISO session covering the incident process could build the security confidence needed to sign.
Transcript
Matteo Ricci NoneMorning, Niamh. Morning, Ronan. Can you both hear me all right?
Niamh Costello NoneMorning, Matteo. Yes, loud and clear. It's grey and wet here, so a video call suits me. Ronan's finishing something else, I think he's about to join.
Ronan Tierney NoneHere. Morning both. Apologies, the last one overran.- Matteo Ricci NoneNo apology needed, and thank you for making the time, Ronan. I know you do not usually join these. Let me restate where we are on the timeline so we all have the same picture. The date we have been working towards is signature by Tuesday 30 June 2026. Today is the proposal. The point is to put the scope and the commercial shape in front of you, and to agree what has to happen between now and then.
- Ronan Tierney NoneThank you. What decision do you need from me today?
- Matteo Ricci NoneA fair question, and I would rather answer it plainly. Not a signature. I need your steer that the proposal is the right shape, so I can ask our team to prepare the order form for review, and so that procurement and your security team can run their steps side by side instead of one after the other.
- Ronan Tierney NoneIs our CISO content, Niamh?
- Niamh Costello NoneNot yet, and I would rather be honest about that. The security review is still moving. I need him comfortable before anything is signed, and I am not going to push him on timing. But the questions are getting narrower, which tells me we are heading the right way.
- Matteo Ricci NoneWhich I appreciate. And let me confirm that in writing afterwards, so you have the open security items in one list, with who owns each one on our side.
- Niamh Costello NonePlease do. Can I start with the outcome, because I think that frames everything? What does good look like for the brokers? Today our broker distribution team and our customer service team each hold a partial picture of every broker firm. Same firm, different record, different story. When a broker rings in, nobody can say with confidence what the whole relationship looks like.
- Matteo Ricci NoneYes, and that is the heart of the proposal. One view of each broker firm, built inside your own Snowflake account, so the data does not leave your environment. The brain sits over the systems you already use, and your two teams ask it the same questions and get the same answer.
- Niamh Costello NoneGood. And let's not over-engineer it. I would rather we get a clean view of the brokers working first, and add the rest later.
- Matteo Ricci NoneAgreed, and that is how I have shaped it. The proposal is Enterprise tier, with the first phase focused on broker distribution and customer service. Other teams can follow once the first phase has landed.
- Ronan Tierney NoneRight. What is the number?
- Matteo Ricci NoneThe total value of the deal is £155,000. I want to be careful how I describe that, Ronan. It is the total for the deal as proposed, not an annual price, and the order form will show how it splits between the implementation and the subscription.
- Ronan Tierney NoneUnderstood. So the split will be in writing, line by line.
- Matteo Ricci NoneYes. Let me confirm that in writing with the order form draft, so nobody has to rely on what I say on a call.
- Niamh Costello NoneRonan, for what it's worth, the number doesn't surprise me. My concern was never really the price. It's delivery without drama, and knowing early if something is going sideways.
- Ronan Tierney NoneWhat's the board risk, Matteo? If it goes wrong, what do I tell them?
- Matteo Ricci NoneI would rather you heard it from me than discovered it later. The technology is the smaller risk. The bigger one is access: getting the right permissions on your source systems quickly enough, with a named owner on your side who can say yes. If that slips, everything behind it slips. So in the plan we have a named owner on each side and a short regular check, and anything that is going sideways comes to you early, not at the end.
- Niamh Costello NoneThat's what I want to hear. And Ronan, that's the part the regulator would care about too, that there's an owner and a paper trail.
- Matteo Ricci NoneWhich brings me to a question I always ask regulated buyers. What does your regulator need to see?
- Niamh Costello NoneFair. We're supervised by the Central Bank, and we're under DORA, so the outsourcing register has to be right and there has to be an exit plan for anything material. Our head of procurement will have detailed questions on that, and she's right to. I'd rather you expected them than were surprised. The brain is going to sit under a material outsourcing arrangement, so let's assume it gets the full treatment.
- Matteo Ricci NoneUnderstood, and expected. I will bring exit and termination assistance to that conversation properly rather than treating it as an afterthought. I would rather that was settled early than found at the end.
- Ronan Tierney NoneSo that's procurement and the CISO. Anything else in the way?
- Matteo Ricci NoneNot that I can see. Let me share the proposal so we can walk through it properly. Give me a second, there we go. Can you see the first page?
- Niamh Costello NoneYes, we can see it.
- Matteo Ricci NoneGood. So page one is the outcome, in your words: one view of each broker firm for broker distribution and customer service. Page two is scope. Enterprise tier, the first phase covers the sources we listed in the earlier sessions, the brain built and run inside your Snowflake account, and your two teams asking questions through chat and search. Page three is the implementation plan, and page four is the commercial summary, which is where the total of £155,000 sits.
- Niamh Costello NoneCan we stay on scope for a moment? I want the first phase small enough that it lands. Broker distribution and customer service, one view of each firm, and nothing else until that's trusted. Is that what page two says?
- Matteo Ricci NoneThat is exactly what it says, and I would defend it. It is easier to widen a working brain than to rescue an overreaching one. Other teams can follow once the first phase has landed and your people trust the answers.
- Ronan Tierney NoneHow will I know it's landed? I don't want a status report. What do I actually see?
- Matteo Ricci NoneGood question. Honest answer: you see your broker teams asking the brain questions instead of reconciling records by hand, and you see Niamh's team able to say that one firm has one view. In the plan we agree a small set of questions up front, the ones your brokers and customer service staff actually need answered, and we test the brain against those before we call the phase done.
- Niamh Costello NoneI like that. That's what good looks like for the brokers. If a broker rings in and the person answering can see the whole picture in one place, that's the test.
- Matteo Ricci NoneThen I will write those questions into the plan, with you owning the list. Would you be comfortable with that?
- Niamh Costello NoneYes, I'll own it. I'll want two or three of my people involved.
- Ronan Tierney NoneMatteo, what could change the number?
- Matteo Ricci NoneFair, and I would rather say it now. The total is for the scope on the page. If the scope grows, it changes, and I will say so before anything is added, not after. If the scope stays as written, the number stays as written. I will not surprise you on this.
- Ronan Tierney NoneGood. That's what I wanted.
- Niamh Costello NoneCan I ask about the incident side? Our CISO will ask what happens if something breaks, and how quickly we hear. I know the order form will cover service levels, but I'd like him to hear it from you directly rather than from a clause.
- Matteo Ricci NoneOf course. And that is a conversation I want him in, not just a document. The principle is simple. If anything affects your data or your service, your security team hears it from us, early and in full, and we do not wait to be asked. I will propose a session with him and his team, so they can ask me whatever they like, and I will confirm in writing what we cover.
- Niamh Costello NoneGood. I need him comfortable, and honestly he'll be happier with a session than with another document. Let's put that in the plan.
- Matteo Ricci NoneDone. I will propose some times for that session before the end of the week, and I will copy you both.
- Niamh Costello NoneOn procurement, our head of procurement will want to see how we exit if it ever comes to that. Termination assistance, data return, that sort of thing. Can you have a first view of that ready for her, so she isn't starting from nothing?
- Matteo Ricci NoneYes. Because the brain lives inside your Snowflake account, the data stays with you, which makes the exit conversation simpler than most. But I do not want to say more than that until our legal team and yours have looked at the wording. I will bring a first draft of the exit approach with the order form, subject to our team confirming it.
- Ronan Tierney NoneFine. Niamh, are you happy that procurement and security run in parallel?
- Niamh Costello NoneYes, as long as nothing gets signed before both are content. That's non-negotiable for me, and I know it is for Ronan.
- Ronan Tierney NoneIt is. I won't sign before security and procurement are content.
- Matteo Ricci NoneUnderstood, and that is how I have planned it. The date we are aiming at is Tuesday 30 June 2026, but it is a target, not a promise, and if procurement or security need longer, the date moves, not the process.
- Niamh Costello NoneI appreciate you saying that. I never accept vague timelines though, so what's the first concrete step, and when?
- Matteo Ricci NoneThree things. In the next couple of days, the list of open security items with owners. Before the end of the week, proposed times for the session with your CISO. And next week, the order form draft with the exit approach and the split of the total. What I will not do is give you a start date for the implementation until our delivery team has agreed it with you. I will bring their dates with the order form, not before.
- Niamh Costello NoneThat's fair. Can I raise one worry? It's the customer service team. They're busy, they've seen tools come and go, and they're wary of another one. If they don't use it, none of this matters.
- Matteo Ricci NoneYou are right to worry, and it is the part I take most seriously. Our customer success manager, Elena Novak, owns adoption, and she will join the planning once the order form is in hand. The approach is to start with a small group in each team, the people who feel the broker problem most, and let them show the others. Training goes alongside the questions list, so what people learn is what they need on a Monday morning, not a tour of features.
- Niamh Costello NoneGood. I'd rather start with the sceptics than the enthusiasts, to be honest.
- Matteo Ricci NoneThen we will do exactly that. Ronan, so the order form is addressed correctly, you are the signatory?
- Ronan Tierney NoneI sign, yes. Once Niamh's team, the CISO and procurement have all said they're content.
- Matteo Ricci NoneThank you. Two things I would ask from your side, Niamh, neither urgent this week. The name of your owner for the access question, and a rough first version of the broker questions list, even if it is only a page.
- Niamh Costello NoneBoth fine. I'll have a name for you shortly.
- Ronan Tierney NoneGood. Let's proceed on that basis. Niamh, keep me across it. I don't need the detail, I need to know early if something is wrong.
- Niamh Costello NoneOf course. You'll hear it from me first.
- Matteo Ricci NoneLet me read back what I have, so you can correct me. One, the proposal as shown, Enterprise tier, first phase for broker distribution and customer service. Two, a total deal value of £155,000, with the split in the order form and no change unless the scope changes. Three, security and procurement run in parallel, nothing signed before both are content, and Ronan signs. Four, I send the open items list, propose the session with your CISO, and bring the order form draft with the exit approach next week. Five, no implementation start date until our delivery team has agreed it. Have I missed anything?
- Niamh Costello NoneOnly that I'd like the session with the CISO to include the incident process, not just the architecture. Otherwise that's right.
- Matteo Ricci NoneNoted, and it will be in the agenda I send. Anything on your side, Ronan?
- Ronan Tierney NoneNo. Thank you for being direct about the risks. That helps.
- Matteo Ricci NoneI would rather you trusted me on the bad news than the good news, so thank you for saying that. Then I will let you both go. Thank you for your time, and speak soon.
- Niamh Costello NoneThanks, Matteo. Speak soon. Bye, Ronan.
- Ronan Tierney NoneThank you both. Goodbye.
Callsmade from