James Robinson is the founder of Cactus, a Bermuda-based (re)insurance venture dedicated to transforming how risk is identified, priced, and transferred in the modern insurance market. With a career spanning over 15 years across financial services, technology, and (re)insurance, James has built a reputation as one of the industry's most technically rigorous and commercially astute operators — someone who has consistently sat at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and real-world risk.

James read Mathematics at Christ's College, Cambridge, graduating with an MA that gave him the quantitative foundations he has drawn on throughout his career. He began his professional life as a Software Engineer at Barclays Capital, before moving into quantitative development at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, where he was responsible for implementing sophisticated quantitative models at scale. In parallel, he founded Etothepii Ltd, where he applied algorithmic and probabilistic modelling to systematically generate returns from betting markets — an early demonstration of his ability to build data-driven systems that perform under real financial conditions.

In 2017, James turned his focus squarely to the (re)insurance industry, joining Hamilton Insurance Group in Bermuda — one of the market's most respected and analytically sophisticated carriers — first as a Software Developer and subsequently as AVP, Data Scientist. During his four years at Hamilton, James was instrumental in applying Python-based data science to insurance problems, developing the deep understanding of underwriting, portfolio analytics, and risk transfer that now underpins his work at Cactus.

Since founding Cactus in 2021, James has been building at the frontier of what is possible when technology, data, and (re)insurance expertise are combined. Operating from Bermuda, one of the world's most important reinsurance hubs, he has navigated first-hand the challenges and opportunities that define the MGA landscape today — from accessing and retaining capacity to building the data infrastructure and underwriting discipline that capacity providers demand. His work at Cactus reflects a conviction that AI and advanced analytics are not simply tools for operational efficiency, but transformative forces capable of reshaping how risk is understood and underwritten across the entire insurance value chain.

A RIMS Associate Member and a recognised voice on the application of AI, data, and technology in (re)insurance, James brings to the ITC stage a perspective that is simultaneously technical, entrepreneurial, and deeply grounded in the commercial realities of the modern insurance market. He is a practitioner first and a theorist second — and it is that combination that makes him one of the most compelling and relevant voices in the industry today.