--- title: "It Starts with the Broker: Why We’re Bringing DataBraid to IBAOcon 2026" description: See what DataBraid is bringing to IBAOcon 2026 and how a broker-centric approach turns portal hopping & disconnected workflows into a better way to work. image: https://www.databraid.ai/hubfs/Logo%20Blur%20Edit.png --- [Skip to main content](https://www.databraid.ai/archive/news/it-starts-with-the-broker-why-were-bringing-databraid-to-ibaocon-2026#main-content) [![Logo - Text - Blue](https://www.databraid.ai/hubfs/Logo%20-%20Text%20-%20Blue.svg) ![SR Logo Dark](https://www.sprocketrocket.co/hubfs/sr-assets/stack/Images/SR%20Logo%20Dark.png)](https://www.databraid.ai) - [About Us](https://www.databraid.ai/about-us) - [Careers](https://www.databraid.ai/careers) - [News & Blog](https://www.databraid.ai/archive/news) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [About Us](https://www.databraid.ai/about-us) - [Careers](https://www.databraid.ai/careers) - [News & Blog](https://www.databraid.ai/archive/news) - [Join the Early Access Program!](https://www.databraid.ai/about-early-access-program) [Book a Demo](https://www.databraid.ai/contact) [Join the Early Access Program!](https://www.databraid.ai/about-early-access-program) [Book a Demo](https://www.databraid.ai/contact) # It Starts with the Broker: Why We’re Bringing DataBraid to IBAOcon 2026 Oct 13, 2026, 3:17:59 PM ![It Starts with the Broker: Why We’re Bringing DataBraid to IBAOcon 2026](https://www.databraid.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/Logo%20Blur%20Edit.png?width=1200&height=820&name=Logo%20Blur%20Edit.png) Next week, the Ontario broker community comes together in Toronto for [IBAOcon 2026](https://ibao.org/event/ibaocon/about).   This year's conference theme is**“It Starts Here.”** It's fitting. IBAO is framing the event around the people, conversations and ideas shaping what comes next for the broker channel, with this year's program exploring everything from the human side of the broker relationship to innovation and AI.   For us at DataBraid, there is an important idea at the centre of all of that:   **The future of brokerage technology should start with the broker.**   And that's the story we're bringing to IBAOcon.   ### Brokers don't need another system to manage Spend enough time inside a brokerage and you quickly see the problem.   Carrier portals. Different credentials. BMS records. Quoting systems. Emails. Documents. Tasks. Different workflows for different carriers.   The problem isn't that brokers don't have technology. It's that too often, the broker is the integration layer between all of it.   They move between systems. They re-enter information. They remember which carrier does what. They reconcile information when systems don't agree. And when they need to know exactly what's happening with a policy, they often go back to the carrier.   That's the friction DataBraid was created to address.   In our IBAOcon ambassador training, we've been describing that problem in very simple terms: multiple carrier portals, duplicate data entry, different logins and disconnected workflows.   We think there is a better approach.   ### Start with the source of truth One of the foundational ideas behind DataBraid is also one of the simplest:   **When it comes to the policy, the carrier system is the source of truth.**   Rather than building another layer that depends entirely on copied or potentially outdated policy information, DataBraid is being designed around connectivity to the carrier systems where the work actually happens.   That distinction matters.   Once accurate carrier information can be brought into a common workspace, the broker no longer needs to think about the mechanics of navigating each individual carrier environment in quite the same way.   The carrier systems can remain different behind the scenes.   The broker experience doesn't have to be.   That's the foundation behind what we're building as a **brokerage operating system**. ### But the broker stays at the center There is another side to this story that is just as important.   We aren't building technology to replace brokers.   We're building technology to make brokers dramatically better at what they already do.   Insurance is filled with judgment calls, customer conversations, coverage decisions and situations where experience matters. Technology should remove unnecessary operational friction so brokers can spend more of their time on the work where their expertise actually creates value.   That's particularly important as AI becomes an increasingly prominent part of the insurance technology conversation.   Our vision isn't autonomous insurance operating around the broker. It's better technology operating **for the broker**.   In our own IBAOcon training, we've described DataBraid as an **accelerant for the broker**, with the licensed broker remaining responsible and in control.    That principle will remain central as DataBraid evolves.   ### What becomes possible? Once you combine a broker-centric workspace with current carrier information, some interesting things start to happen.   Routine brokerage work that previously required switching between systems and re-entering information can begin from the same underlying policy information.   Renewals can become more intelligent.   Remarketing can become faster.   Policy review can become more dynamic.   Carrier activity can become visible in one place.   Work can move between people without losing context.   And the knowledge brokers need to navigate different carrier rules and workflows can increasingly be surfaced when and where they need it.   We've already been exploring these workflows with brokerages, including how carrier information can support policy servicing, renewal intelligence, quoting, work management and carrier access.    The goal isn't automation for automation's sake.   It's removing the friction that gets between brokers and their customers.   ### So we built a slot machine 😊 Of course, explaining all of this on a tradeshow floor is another matter entirely.   So at IBAOcon, we're taking a slightly different approach.   We built **Portal Jackpot**.   It's part game, part conversation starter and part tongue-in-cheek representation of something brokers know extremely well: spending your day bouncing between carrier portals.   During our conference training, we've described Portal Jackpot as the visible manifestation of portal hopping.    Because sometimes the best way to start a conversation about a complicated problem is simply to make the problem recognizable.   If you've ever forgotten a carrier password, had too many portal tabs open, or entered the same information more times than you care to remember, you'll probably understand the joke.   And hopefully you'll have a little fun with it too.   ### Let's talk at IBAOcon IBAOcon takes place **October 21–22 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel**, bringing Ontario's broker community together for two days of conversations about where the industry goes next.    We'll be there.   Come see what we're building.   Play Portal Jackpot.   Tell us what drives you crazy about your current workflows.   Challenge us on what we're getting right and what we're getting wrong.   Because if we're going to build a better operating system for insurance brokerages, we believe there is only one place it can really start:   **with the broker.** ![Nick Romano](https://www.databraid.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/Nick%20Romano%202%20w.%20background%20zoomed.jpg?width=120&height=120&name=Nick%20Romano%202%20w.%20background%20zoomed.jpg) **[Nick Romano](https://www.databraid.ai/archive/news/author/nick-romano)** [![Data\_logo\_final](https://www.databraid.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/DataBraid_April2026/images/Data_logo_final.png?width=244&height=45&name=Data_logo_final.png)](https://www.databraid.ai) Copyright © DataBraid Limited [Privacy Policy](https://www.databraid.ai/privacy-policy) - - ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Nick Romano", "url" : "https://www.databraid.ai/archive/news/author/nick-romano" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-13T19:18:16.257Z", "datePublished" : "2026-10-13T19:17:59.000Z", "headline" : "It Starts with the Broker: Why We’re Bringing DataBraid to IBAOcon 2026", "image" : [ "https://www.databraid.ai/hubfs/Logo%20Blur%20Edit.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.databraid.ai/archive/news/it-starts-with-the-broker-why-were-bringing-databraid-to-ibaocon-2026", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.databraid.ai/hubfs/Logo%20-%20Text%20-%20Blue.svg" } } } ```