Catastrophe modelling firm Risk Management Solutions (RMS) announced the appointment of a new chief technology officer (CTO) — as well as a slew of other people moves — as the firm continues to push through delays to its RMSOne modelling platform.
RMS named Cory Isaacson CTO on Tuesday, with a mandate to “lead the development of RMS(one),” according to company statement. Isaacson comes from CodeFutures Corp., a data analytics software development firm that has been a long-time vendor in the creation of the RMSOne platform, according to the firm.
Isaacson is replacing the position made vacant by the May 2014 departure of Philippe Stephan, RMS’s CTO for the previous five years.
RMS parent, Daily Mail and General Trust plc, announced in November that the firm’s much anticipated launch of the RMSOne catastrophe modelling cloud platform would be pushed back to later this year.
“We took a difficult decision in the year to delay the launch of RMS(one), although we are confident that the new programme of staged releases to a small number of clients during 2015, with availability to a broader client base towards the end of the year, will benefit the business in the long-term,” the trust said in a statement.
“Cory has more than twenty years experience with advanced software architectures, is recognized as one of the brightest innovators in the field of big data and analytic computing, and has a track record of building successful systems,” said Hemant Shah, RMS co-founder and CEO in a statement. “Under Cory’s leadership, RMS will deliver RMS(one) as the industry’s first true exposure and risk management platform.”
In addition to the CTO appointment, RMS announced several other personal changes in a statement on Tuesday.:
Syamla Bandla, vice president of cloud platform operations: In her role as VP of platform operations, Bandla and her team are critical in delivering a world-class client experience on the RMS(one) platform and RMS’s portfolio of cloud and hosted offerings. Syamla joined RMS in 2012 from Dell, where she managed a team as a leader of global cloud engineering and operations.
Steve Jewson, senior vice president of model development: Jewson leads the Climate Hazard modeling group that builds the RMS models for all types of wind storms, hail storms and floods. He is currently heavily involved in optimizing the performance of these models in RMS(one). Steve joined RMS in 1999. Before leading the Climate Hazards group he led the RMS weather derivatives business. During his time at RMS he has developed many of the fundamental concepts used in RMS climate hazard modeling.
Will Mayes, vice president of professional services: Mayes is a member of the professional services leadership team and heads the London-based consulting organization. In this role, he works with some of the largest global insurers and reinsurers to improve their understanding and management of catastrophe risk.
Gilbert Molas, vice president of model certification and implementation: Molas has taken a leadership role in the migration and translation of RMS models onto the RMS(one) platform. He joined RMS in 1995 as a senior engineer and has played key roles in the development of major earthquake and climate models for the Americas, Japan, New Zealand and Europe.
Ajay Singhal, senior vice president of financial modeling & analytics: Singhal leads financial and LifeRisks model development and works with peril modeling and software teams in the development of HD models. He joined RMS in 2002 and has led the development of various models including the RMS Terrorism Model, the RMS Fire Following Earthquake Model and the RMS Offshore Platform Model.
Paul Wilson, vice president of model development: Wilson leads the North Atlantic hurricane modeling team and will guide future HD releases. He joined RMS in 2007 as a senior modeler and has led multiple projects including developing RMS’ medium-term hurricane rate forecasts, developing RMS’ first global tsunami solution, and most recently leading the RMS contribution to the Risky Business Project on the economic risk of climate change in the United States.
Christine Ziehmann, vice president of model product management: Ziehmann and her team work with the model development team to define product requirements, handling model review processes, product acceptance testing, model documentation, post model release support, and regulatory support. Christine has been with RMS since 2001, holding various product management and model development roles.
