The Next Chapter of Applied Systems with CEO Graham Blackwell

• October 20, 2026

On this two-part edition of Agency Nation Radio, Will Jones, Editor-in-Chief of Independent Agent magazine, interviews Graham Blackwell, Applied System’s new CEO, about his vision for the company, how artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping its future, and why he wants Applied to become the insurance industry’s AI transformation partner. 

“We think we can be the organization that works with agencies at a desk level that brings them AI automation in the tools and the workflows that they already perform,” Blackwell says. 

In the second part, Kasey Connors, executive director of the Big “I” Agents Council for Technology, hosts a conversation with Matt Lane, senior vice president of product management at Applied Systems. Recorded at Applied Net, they explore the digital roundtrip of insurance and how agencies can leverage AI to streamline workflows and connect processes across the insurance lifecycle. 

“With Epic and Applied’s breadth of offerings, the things we think we can do are really to connect those interstitial pieces where the work upstream helps the work at the next step,” Lane says. “When we think about the digital roundtrip, it’s about getting those big pieces of work off our users’ plates, but more than anything else, making sure all the steps fit together.” 

Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic to share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped shape their careers. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine, these are the stories insurance professionals want to hear.