Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

 

In this episode, Justin interviews Chrystina Howard, the ERM Leader of the Complex Risk Practice at HUB International. Chrystina relates a bit of her career and then explores topics around emerging disruptions such as climate change and extreme weather, geopolitical whiplash, the pandemic, and AI. Chrystina shares her recipe for organizational resilience and some tips for catching and holding the attention of the C-Suite and the board.

 

Listen for hints about Chrystina's upcoming webinar and her presentation on November 17th at the RIMS ERM Conference 2025 in Seattle, Washington.

 

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:14] The RIMS CRO Certificate Program in Advanced Enterprise Risk Management is our live virtual program led by the famous James Lam. Great news! A third cohort has been announced, from January through March 2026.

[:32] Registration closes January 5th. Enroll now! A link is in this episode's show notes.

[:43] About this episode of RIMScast. We will talk all about ERM with Chrystina Howard, ERM Leader of the Complex Risk Practice at HUB International. But first…

[1:10 ] RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops! The CBCP and the RIMS-CRMP are presenting The Exam Prep Bootcamp for "Mastering Business Continuity and Risk Management" from November 3rd to 6th. That is a virtual course.

[1:23 ] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Virtual Workshop will be held on November 11th and 12th and led by Joseph Mayo. Links to these courses can be found through the Certifications page of RIMS.org and through this episode's show notes.

[1:40 ] RIMS Virtual Workshops! RIMS has launched a new course, "Intro to ERM for Senior Leaders." It will be held again on November 4th and 5th and will be led by Elise Farnham.

[1:54 ] On November 11th and 12th, Chris Hansen will lead "Fundamentals of Insurance". It features everything you've always wanted to know about insurance but were afraid to ask. Fear not; ask Chris Hansen! RIMS members always enjoy deep discounts on the virtual workshops!

[2:13 ] The full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode's notes.

[2:24 ] RIMS Webinars! On October 30th, Swiss Re will present "Parametric Insurance: Providing Financial Certainty in Uncertain Times". On November 6th, HUB will present "Geopolitical Whiplash — Building Resilient Global Risk Programs in an Unstable World".

[2:45 ] Register at RIMS.org/Webinars.

[2:48 ] The RIMS ERM Conference 2025 will be on November 17th and 18th in Seattle, Washington.

[2:56 ] If you are a Washington resident who would like to attend, you can enjoy an exclusive $150 discount on your registration by entering the discount code ERM2025WA on the Review step of the registration form. Act quickly because this offer expires on Friday, October 31st.

[3:18 ] This is your chance to expand your ERM knowledge, here in Washington. That brings us to today's guest, Chrystina Howard. Chrystina is the ERM Leader of the Complex Risk Practice at HUB International, and she will be one of the presenters at the RIMS ERM Conference in Seattle.

[3:39 ] On November 17th, she will present "Talk ERM to Me: How to Get and Keep Attention from Management." On November 6th, she will be moderating the HUB International Webinar "Geopolitical Whiplash — Building Resilient Global Risk Programs in an Unstable World."

[3:59 ] Registration links for the conference and the webinar are in this episode's show notes.

[4:04 ] On with the show! We're all about ERM in this episode, and I wanted to give you all a chance to get to know Chrystina a little bit, in case you want to meet with her virtually, in person, or both. Let's get to it!

[4:14 ] Interview! Chrystina Howard, welcome to RIMScast!

[4:22 ] We will see more of Chrystina soon, on November 17th and 18th, in Seattle, Washington, at the RIMS ERM Conference 2025. We're going to talk more about that in a bit.

[4:39 ] Chrystina Howard spent a couple of decades with the Willis Towers Watson organization, where she looked after ERM consulting. She built out a platform and rolled it out, that is still going strong globally.

[4:53 ] Chrystina says she was fortunate to come to the HUB International organization, with a great culture, where she kick-started an ERM Consulting Division. She's having a blast, helping clients get what they need in terms of risk management.

[5:14 ] Chrystina says that when building the ERM Consultancy, she had a lot of great folks to work with and two decades under her belt of developing processes and models. She was set to go as soon as she arrived at HUB.

[5:31 ] Chrystina says they have great specialization, and she is able to get into a lot of industry risk information that she may not have known, to build out the breadth of the consultancy. She helps people learn what ERM is, how it's used, how it works, and why people are interested in it.

[5:53 ] Chrystina says, We're just guns blazing, now!

[6:09 ] Chrystina says geopolitical risks are definitely at the forefront for organizations. This includes economic volatility around the globe, tariffs, and import/export regulations between countries, that will call the shots for some time. 

[6:27 ] Chrystina says right along with geopolitical risks will be the effective use of AI. There are security concerns with AI. Some people are not comfortable with it. We're moving into a phase where we've got to put AI to work for us. How can we do that effectively and securely?

[6:44 ] Chrystina says a lot of industries will have staffing challenges, particularly skilled workers. It will hit the healthcare industry pretty hard, along with agriculture, and construction.

[6:58 ] Chrystina says she is seeing a bit of a resurgence in ESG risks. Despite the regulatory environment, people are keen to make sure that companies are being good environmental stewards, treating employees fairly, and behaving as the public thinks is appropriate.

[7:41 ] AI will make data compilation and claims processing faster. Chrystina has been reading of physicians and medical practitioners using AI as a background double-check when they're working toward a diagnosis.

[7:58 ] With its access to information, AI might ask, Your diagnosis is probably right, but did you consider this? We hope this will enhance the diagnostic process, and not take over.

[8:11 ] There is a concern that there's pressure to use AI tools because your colleagues are using them. If you rely on it too much, that can also backfire. We're going to have to strike a balance.

[8:40 ] Chrystina is an optimist when it comes to AI. AI tools can make shorter work of a lot of things in ERM, like scenario analysis; having a tool that will allow you to see multiple scenarios that maybe individuals couldn't come up with on their own, and make decisions from them.

[9:06 ] Chrystina mentions automation for reporting and metric updates. Successful organizations that have the resources can use AI in ERM training, policy updates, and even collecting information through surveys and interviews.

[9:23 ] Enhancing dashboards is a big focus going forward, getting a robust database that gives alerts and keeps everybody up to date.

[9:35 ] Justin mentions crises of the past few years. The Baltimore Key Bridge collapsed a year ago, and we don't hear about it anymore. Justin asks, How can ERM leaders keep resilience and risk appetite aligned with long-term strategy, rather than reactive short-term fixes.

[10:00 ] Chrystina thinks ERM, by nature, is focused on preparation and then response. It takes into account "left of loss." Before the incident occurs, how can we prepare ourselves the best and implement plans should something happen? 

[10:16 ] Chrystina has seen organizations widely embrace ERM more readily following the successful navigation of crises.

[10:24 ] It would behoove ERM leaders to seize that opportunity and make a great connection between the protection and preparation that ERM brought through the crisis to the strategic success of the organization.

[10:40 ] ERM leaders may have to campaign a little bit still, but it's something they can point out to executives, and the selling of ERM will be a lot easier.

[10:53 ] Quick Break! RISKWORLD 2026 will be in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 3rd through the 6th. RIMS members can now lock in the 2025 rate for a full conference pass to RISKWORLD 2026 when you register by October 30th!

[11:12 ] This also lets you enjoy earlier access to the RISKWORLD hotel block.