DataBraid

Built around the broker

Insurance brokers create value through advice, judgement, relationships and service. But too much of their time is spent navigating disconnected carrier systems, portals and workflows.

DataBraid is building a better way to work across that complexity. Our broker-centric workspace brings carrier information and workflows closer to the broker, creating a more consistent experience across carriers while keeping brokers firmly in control.

We believe brokers should spend more time serving customers and less time managing systems.

Built with the industry, for the industry

DataBraid was created through Koru, the venture studio established by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), in collaboration with brokerages in the OTPP insurance portfolio.

From the start, DataBraid has been shaped by people who understand the work firsthand: brokers and insurance leaders who deal with the complexity of fragmented systems and workflows every day.

Our purpose is simple: build technology around the broker, not the other way around.

The Team

We are passionate team of builders with over two decades of experience in insurance and technology.

Nick Romano

CEO

Nick is an accomplished CEO and enterprise technology leader with over 20 years of experience building and scaling high‑growth SaaS and deep‑tech companies. A repeat founder recognized for turning advanced technologies into commercially successful platforms, Nick has led ventures including Deeplite Inc. (acquired by STMicroelectronics), Messagepoint Inc. (private equity), and Prinova Technologies. As CEO of DataBraid, he is driving the company’s AI‑first vision and execution to deliver the intelligence layer that powers automation and connectivity across the insurance ecosystem.

Atif-Khan

CTO

Atif is an AI transformation executive and CTO of DataBraid, with 25+ years of experience turning advanced AI into scalable enterprise products and measurable business outcomes. He has led organization-wide AI transformation at Messagepoint, where he launched MARCIE, the CCM industry’s first generative AI platform for Fortune 500 clients, and previously helped bring AllSight’s AI-powered Customer 360 platform to market ahead of its acquisition by Informatica.

Kyla Walsh

VP, Strategy & Broker Intelligence

Insurance executive with 20+ years of experience spanning business development, brokerage operations, and carrier partnerships. Brings experience from both the brokerage and carrier sides of the industry, with a focus on strategy, operational transformation, growth, and building trusted industry relationships.

Jeff McMullen

CFO

Veteran CFO across private and public companies, from startup through scale and exit including Deeplite with Nick. Part of a team that grew an enterprise software business from $10M to $100M+. Expertise in SaaS, M&A, and financial strategy.

Jahangir Shabiyev

Staff Engineer

Software Engineer and Technical Lead with 15+ years building distributed systems, workflow platforms, and backend services from the ground up. Specializes in backend engineering, system design, API architecture, reliability, and cloud infrastructure, with the ability to contribute across the stack and partner closely with frontend teams.

Dahzen Wang

Sr. Full Stack Engineer

Full Stack Software Engineer with over a decade of experience building scalable cloud applications and digital platforms used by millions of users. With expertise spanning AI-enabled development, cloud infrastructure, and modern software architecture, he helps build the technology foundation powering DataBraid's vision for the future of insurance operations.