Underwriter Spotlight: Meet Griffin Goldman, VP, Underwriting Retail Regional Lead

In this issue of our Underwriter Spotlight Series, we’re excited to introduce you to Griffin Goldman, VP, Underwriting Retail Regional Lead. 

Griffin has almost a decade of experience in cyber insurance, and he’s been an At-Bay* Cyber underwriter for four and a half years. He currently focuses on the middle-market segment, tailoring creative solutions to the unique needs of large, complex organizations. In this interview, Griffin discusses his approach to underwriting large risks, his thoughts about InsurSec, and more. 

1. How did you get into insurance? 

I went to college in Florida, where I majored in professional sales (yes, that is an actual major). The curriculum required an internship, and I ended up working at a life insurance agency. I found the sales aspect of the job to be particularly rewarding, and the experience sparked my interest in the insurance industry — though I realized life insurance wasn’t quite the right fit for me. 

After college, I took the “reverse snowbird” path and left Florida to settle in New York. I applied to multiple insurance companies and was accepted into a college graduate program at Chubb. I found that cyber insurance, with its dynamic landscape and focus on technology, was what I was looking for; it’s the “young person’s” insurance. After four years at Chubb, I joined the Underwriting team at At-Bay, and the rest is history.

2. What do you think are the most important considerations for brokers working with larger businesses? 

An understanding of the organization’s structure is crucial. With larger businesses comes a larger organizational structure, and often there even are multiple insureds, like foreign parent companies or subsidiaries, that can be overlooked. It’s important that brokers can present all the details of a large client’s organizational structure to an underwriter. 

Security controls are another key consideration. Underwriters need the full picture of an insured’s security posture (e.g., Do they have MFA? EDR or MDR? Email security?) as early as possible to accurately view and rate the risk. If an underwriter doesn’t have all the facts about an organization’s security when a submission is received, it can lead to some back-and-forth or different rates/premiums. If all information is provided early on, the underwriting process is much more efficient. 

3. How does your approach to underwriting middle-market businesses differ from underwriting smaller businesses?

Middle-market business calls for a more nuanced and tailored approach. These larger risks tend to have a wider breadth of services that need to be covered, which requires a close look at what exactly those services are and how coverage can be provided. At At-Bay, we’ve found a lot of success in what are considered tougher classes of risks by diving deeper into what the insured does and finding creative solutions to meet their needs. 

Additionally, calls between underwriters and middle-market organizations’ IT teams allow us to ask direct questions about security practices. These questions are paramount for an underwriter to get comfortable with the insured’s security posture and to enable the underwriter to exercise flexibility and creativity when providing terms that aren’t usually available for small businesses.

4. How do brokers benefit from At-Bay’s InsurSec approach?

Brokers benefit from At-Bay’s InsurSec approach because it enables them to provide their clients with solutions that go beyond a traditional cyber insurance policy to help prevent cyber risk in the first place. This strengthens their clients’ security postures and may, in turn, unlock better insurance terms (via premium savings or enhanced coverage).

For example, every At-Bay Cyber and Tech E&O policyholder gets access to At-Bay Stance as part of their Embedded Security endorsement. Stance is a unified security platform with proactive threat scanning, email fraud monitoring, advisory services from At-Bay cyber experts, security awareness training, and phishing testing. These solutions offer clients a combined value of up to $72,000 per year.¹  Additionally, customers who adopt MDR for Email, which provides 24/7 email monitoring and response, can unlock up to $1M in Financial Fraud Sub-Limits.²   

In a soft market where differentiation is key, brokers who leverage these InsurSec solutions can provide their clients with value beyond price — helping them secure stronger coverage while actively reducing cyber risk. 

5. What’s something that most people don’t know about you?

I’ve been to over 30 countries (and counting). 

When I graduated college, I spent 40 days backpacking Europe with five of my closest friends, and it really opened my eyes to different cultures outside of the U.S. Since then, I’ve challenged myself to always find new places I’ve never been to and live life to the fullest.

About At-Bay

At-Bay is the InsurSec provider for the digital age. By combining world-class technology with industry-leading insurance, At-Bay was designed from the ground up to empower businesses of every size to meet cyber risk head on. At-Bay Insurance Services, LLC provides insurance protection and security prevention solutions to close to 40,000 businesses in the US, safeguarding up to $800B in collective business revenue, and offers coverage by admitted and non-admitted insurers for Cyber, Technology Errors & Omissions (Tech E&O), and Miscellaneous Professional Liability (MPL). The At-Bay Group also includes an active full-stack insurance company and a cybersecurity company. At-Bay Security offers proprietary cybersecurity solutions including At-Bay Stance Managed Detection & Response (MDR).

*At-Bay Insurance Services LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of At-Bay, Inc.

¹ Access to certain At-Bay Stance offerings are available via the policy’s Embedded Security Fee and corresponding Endorsement. Please refer to the Embedded Security Endorsement for specific terms and conditions. Estimated value of At-Bay’s Stance is based on At-Bay’s market assessment. At-Bay Stance should not be considered a replacement for a comprehensive exposure management solution or a standalone cyber security solution. Please consult with an IT professional for additional guidance. Eligibility, rules, and limitations will vary. View Advisory Services catalog here.

²  Eligibility, rules, and limitations will vary based on risk profile and security requirements. If applicable, the “Additional Financial Fraud Sub-Limit(s)” shown in the Declarations, will apply for specified financial fraud losses arising from email accounts that have activated At-Bay Stance Fraud Defense or are protected by At-Bay Stance MDR for Email. Please refer to the corresponding Stance Financial Fraud Enhancement Endorsement or the Stance MDR for Email Financial Fraud Enhancement Endorsement for specific terms and conditions.

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