As the market continues to soften, MGAs are facing growing pressure to scale efficiently, differentiate clearly, and deliver sustainable underwriting performance while adapting to rapidly changing technology expectations.
At the same time, long-term capacity alignment is becoming more important than ever. In a market where carriers are becoming more selective and operational discipline matters more, MGAs increasingly need partners built for this moment.
Episode 2 of Ecosystem Unfiltered brings together Joanne Artesani of Sproutr and Amanda Cai of Jove Insurance for a candid conversation on what operators are doing to navigate that shift and what it actually takes to build and scale successfully in 2026.
The Significance of a Soft Market
If you take away one thing from this podcast, let it be this: scaling an MGA in 2026 requires a very different approach than it did during harder market conditions.
As market conditions evolve and competition increases, both guests note that pricing alone becomes a dangerous differentiator. Amanda speaks openly about avoiding a “race to the bottom” on pricing and instead focusing on speed, customer experience, and operational efficiency.
In softer markets, underwriting profitability becomes more important, and businesses that grew primarily because market conditions were favorable can quickly become exposed.
That environment raises the importance of operational infrastructure, underwriting rigor, and strategic capacity relationships. It also reinforces the fact that growth alone is no longer enough. The market increasingly rewards businesses that can demonstrate durability.
Distribution Still Determines Everything
To demonstrate durability, MGAs cannot underestimate the importance of distribution strategy.
MGAs must understand exactly how business will flow into the organization, where demand is coming from, and what contingency plans exist if the original strategy changes. In a more competitive environment, sustainable growth depends on proving there is committed distribution tied to a real market need before significant investment is made.
Amanda founded Jove Insurance by doing just that. The company emerged only after identifying a specific gap in the market: contractors and businesses operating across dozens of countries without insurance products designed for borderless workforces. Rather than starting with technology first, the business was built around solving a demonstrated operational problem.
Technology Is Becoming an Expectation, Not a Differentiator
The conversation also highlights how quickly technology expectations are evolving across specialty insurance to enable MGAs to move faster, improve customer experience, and scale processes that would otherwise remain manual.
For Jove, that meant building a fully digital quote-and-bind process capable of delivering business liability quotes across multiple countries in roughly 30 seconds. The goal was not automation for its own sake, but eliminating friction in areas where traditional underwriting workflows were slowing growth.
Amanda also described how the company is giving brokers a “Shopify-style” insurance experience with customizable digital quote-and-buy capabilities embedded directly into broker workflows.
At the same time, Joanne cautions founders against adopting a technology (like AI) just because it is trendy. Successful MGAs are the ones integrating it thoughtfully into underwriting, product development, and distribution in ways that directly support business outcomes.
Why Capacity Partnerships Matter More Than Ever
One of the more revealing parts of the episode centers on the role of capacity partnerships in helping MGAs scale.
Rather than describing capacity simply as capital, both guests frame long-term capacity alignment as something that fundamentally changes how operators build businesses.
Joanne discusses the importance of removing the distraction of annual renewal pressure so founders can stay focused on growth instead of constantly defending their programs.
Amanda describes how Accelerant’s support allowed Jove to bring a much broader version of its product to market far faster than would have been possible before.
This reinforces an important reality in specialty insurance: the right capacity partnership is no longer just a balance sheet decision. It can materially influence speed to market, product ambition, operational flexibility, and long-term scalability.
Building Something That Does Not Yet Exist
What makes this episode particularly compelling is how both founders discuss the realities of building businesses without clear precedents.
Amanda talks openly about the challenge of convincing the market to understand products that do not fit currently accepted categories, while Joanne reflects on the experience of building Sproutr around a multidisciplinary service model that did not previously exist in the market.
Both ultimately arrive at a similar conclusion: scaling in specialty insurance requires far more than a good idea. It requires resilience, iteration, operational discipline, and a willingness to solve problems incrementally while the market catches up.