Global AI and digital transformation company GFT is deepening its footprint in the insurance sector with the appointment of Frédéric Therrien to the newly created role, Global Head of Guidewire. Central to GFT’s work with Guidewire is transforming Property and Casualty (P&C) insurers’ legacy systems through migration to Guidewire Cloud. He will lead the business unit responsible from GFT’s Canadian headquarters in Quebec, where insurance projects currently make up 35% of GFT’s business with Canadian clients.

Insurers recognize the need to move faster and offer better customer experiences than legacy systems can support. A majority of insurance CIOs (68%) have already increased their investments in application modernization over the last few years, according to Gartner. But even among those with a digital roadmap in place, a gap still exists between where they are now and where they want to be. This is often due to the complexities that result from decades of unstructured data and manual, paper-heavy processes. 

GFT has been working with Guidewire since 2011 to bridge this gap for P&C insurers, including Canada’s Beneva. Now, as GFT’s work with insurers across the Americas and Europe continues to grow, the company has appointed one its most senior and tenured insurance experts — who has played a key role in Guidewire implementations and transformations for some of the largest insurance carriers in the world — to oversee its entire Guidewire practice.

“Insurers face a unique set of challenges when it comes to digitization.  Organizations are moving away from their patchwork infrastructure IT systems they’ve added to for decades,” said Therrien. “Transformation powers speed and agility and improves the customer experience. GFT has 14 years of deep insurance industry experience, which now informs its work transforming companies through technology solutions like Guidewire.”

GFT’s global Guidewire offering spans a team of more than 1,000 Guidewire consultants, across 13 different countries. Six hundred of these experts are based in Canada. The Guidewire Business Unit is responsible for continuously expanding its practice, which currently boasts 50+ completed projects, 8,000 Guidewire certifications and 13 GuideWire PartnerConnect specializations for the EMEA and AMER regions. This experience fuels its work with P&C insurers who partner with GFT on Guidewire implementations tailored to their unique needs.

Therrien has been charged with expanding GFT’s Guidewire business, with an emphasis on U.S. and Latin America growth. He also will be responsible for building a globally connected team, driving innovation across all regions. This includes the integration of new AI capabilities. By leveraging AI-driven automation in claims processing, underwriting, and customer experience, GFT will help insurers unlock greater efficiency, decision-making, and customer satisfaction.

“Throughout GFT’s 35-plus-year history, our work to digitally transform insurance companies has been a steady contributor to our continued growth both in Canada and worldwide,” said André Gagné, CEO, GFT Canada. “Our focus has always been on providing our clients not only with best-in-breed technology solutions, but the tools and expertise they need to implement them. Frédéric’s appointment as the head of our Guidewire practice reinforces our commitment to doing just that.”

GFT is a Guidewire PartnerConnect Consulting partner at the Advantage level , and has received  several recognitions including Guidewire’s esteemed Partner Excellence Award.