What Actuaries Need to Know (and Avoid) in Cat Modeling

Recorded live at the 2025 CAS Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, this episode of Almost Nowhere features Brandon Katz, Executive Vice President at KatRisk, in a deep dive on climate data, catastrophe modeling, and the limits of what models can tell us.

Brandon brings a rare perspective to insurance, with formal training in meteorology, climate science, and paleoclimatology, to unpack what we truly know about climate risk — and where uncertainty remains. The conversation explores how climate signals are (and aren’t) incorporated into catastrophe models, which perils have higher versus lower confidence, and how actuaries can responsibly interpret model outputs amid regulatory and stakeholder pressure.

We’re back from the 2025 CAS Annual Meeting—and kicking off a slate of new episodes with a quick minisode on something big: the AI Fast Track is now available on demand.

Alicia and Max break down why this shift matters, how you can fit it into your year-end CE plans (attestation season, anyone?), and what makes this course a solid way to level up before the ball drops.

🎁 Use code almostnowhere before December 15, 2025 for $100 off registration.

Learn more:

https://thecasinstitute.org/press_release/ai-fast-track-program-now-available-on-demand/

Rob Lieberthal joins Alicia Burke and guest co-host Brian Fannin in our final episode recorded at 2025 CLRS to unpack his CAS-funded research project focused on turning messy, unstructured claims data—like medical notes and adjuster reports—into actuarial insights using large language models (LLMs). From the promise of synthetic medical records to the limits of explainability, Rob shares how he and his team are building an end-to-end framework that could change how we work with complex claims data. Plus, hear how you can get involved and provide input as the project evolves.