Dame Inga is a British businesswoman and the former CEO of Lloyd’s of London – the 330-year-old insurance and reinsurance market. With over 35 years of global experience in financial services she was awarded her damehood in 2017 for services to the UK economy.
During her 5 year tenure at Lloyd’s, Inga modernised the $40 billion insurance giant through the introduction of technology, moving it from a paper-based market to an electronic trading environment. She embedded a culture of innovation with the opening of the Lloyd’s Innovation Lab in the heart of the market, and expanded into new, high-growth markets including China, Dubai, and India.
As the first female Chief Executive of Lloyd’s, she also played a critical role in advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives across the global insurance sector.
1. Best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Be prepared to zig-zag your career and your life. We are not living in a linear world and moving around and doing all sorts of different things is truly enriching and gives you valuable experience for the future.
2. Worst piece of advice you’ve been given?
Go through an interview process for a job I didn’t really want because it would be good experience. It wasn’t enjoyable and made me look bad because I had underprepared.
3. What would you tell your younger self?
Just Do It! In the early eighties before this phrase became synonymous with a large global brand I had painted my own poster with these three words on it. I looked at it every day as it hung in my room and I wish I had acted on it earlier – it took nearly 10 years before I really took action.
4. What excites you most about the future of your industry?
Being at the forefront of the technological revolution that’s taking place. We are adapting our business models and adapting our products to be more customer focused but we are also responding in terms of mitigating against the dark underbelly of what we call the 4th industrial revolution – cyber-crime. As life moves forward for all of us, we’re there enabling human progress.
5. Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
I have gone through various phases of my life but currently Afroz Shah is my biggest inspiration. Based in Mumbai he is leading the way by working with local communities to combat the plastic pollution that is the scourge of our oceans. He gets personally physically involved and leads the way for others to follow.
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