Mitigrate Appoints Insurance Industry Veteran Eric Gesick as Non-Executive Chair

Mitigrate’s appointment of Eric Gesick as Non-Executive Chair signals a strategic move to bridge the gap between climate-risk analytics and traditional underwriting. For carriers and MGAs, this leadership change highlights the growing importance of integrating actionable flood-mitigation data directly into risk assessment and capital management frameworks to improve loss ratios in an increasingly volatile environment.

What was announced

On 20 January 2026, Mitigrate announced that Eric Gesick has been appointed as the new Non-Executive Chair of the Board. In this role, Gesick is tasked with providing independent oversight and guidance to the Board, supporting the company's governance framework, and advancing long-term strategic objectives. The appointment is intended to strengthen the leadership team as the company seeks to enhance value for its customers, partners, and shareholders.

Gesick enters the role with several decades of experience across the actuarial, risk, underwriting, and analytics sectors of the insurance industry. His most recent position was as Senior Vice President of Liability Analytics at Verisk. His career also includes a significant tenure at AXIS Capital, where he served in multiple executive capacities including Chief Actuary, Chief Risk Officer, and Chief Underwriting Officer. Additionally, he has held senior leadership roles at the reinsurer PartnerRe and the carrier Travelers.

The appointment comes as Mitigrate continues to scale its AI-powered SaaS platform. The technology is designed to provide location-specific guidance on flood risk mitigation, specifically targeting residential, commercial, and industrial properties. By processing property and imagery data, the platform generates insights that allow organisations to safeguard assets and reduce potential losses from flooding. The system is currently utilised by a range of stakeholders, including insurers, mortgage lenders, housing associations, and property managers.

The companies involved

Mitigrate operates as a climate-insurtech specialist, positioning itself as a provider of flood prevention analytics. The company’s primary offering is a SaaS platform that utilizes artificial intelligence to interpret complex property data and imagery. This technology is marketed to a broad range of stakeholders within the property and financial ecosystems, including insurance carriers, mortgage lenders, housing associations, and property managers.

The firm’s focus is on moving beyond traditional risk assessment by providing tailored, actionable insights that facilitate cost-effective loss mitigation. By enabling property owners and insurers to implement specific preventative measures, the company aims to build long-term resilience against climate-related flooding events. Based in London, Mitigrate serves the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, helping organisations manage the financial and physical risks associated with rising flood threats. The company’s leadership includes CEO Laurent Feuilleaubois, who oversees the firm’s growth trajectory and its efforts to integrate climate analytics into the global insurance and analytics markets.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has previously tracked Mitigrate’s efforts to expand its technical capabilities through strategic industry collaborations. In 2026, the publication detailed a significant move in the flood risk space in the report Previsico and Mitigrate Partner to Transform Flood Forecasting into Proactive Prevention.

That partnership focused on the integration of forecasting and prevention, aiming to turn standard flood warnings into actionable mitigation strategies. By combining Previsico’s forecasting technology with Mitigrate’s analytics, the collaboration sought to provide a more comprehensive solution for property owners and insurers. This earlier reporting underscores Mitigrate’s consistent focus on the "proactive" element of risk management, shifting the industry standard from reactive claims handling to preventative asset protection.

What this means from an insurtech perspective

This appointment reflects a broader industry shift where climate-insurtechs are no longer just data providers but are becoming integral to the underwriting process. By hiring a former Chief Underwriting Officer and Chief Risk Officer from major carriers like AXIS and Travelers, Mitigrate is signaling that its flood analytics are designed to meet the rigorous standards of reinsurers and primary carriers. This puts pressure on traditional catastrophe modeling firms that lack the granular, property-level mitigation insights necessary for modern pricing. For the insurance value chain, the move suggests that "prevention-as-a-service" is becoming a critical component in maintaining the insurability of flood-prone assets while protecting capital reserves.