Piko AI reveals former Augment Risk exec as vice chair

Piko AI has unveiled a new vice chairman and chief commercial officer, who joins from parametric broker specialist Augment Risk.

Steve McElhiney (pictured) joins to lead strategy and industry engagement for the company, which has built its offering around using artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to reduce inefficiencies for captives and solve unstructured data problems.

Christina Card Zbar, the founder of Piko AI, said she was “thrilled” to have McElhiney join the team.

“His deep industry expertise will help us tackle the industry’s toughest friction points,” she said. “Piko AI’s platform will enable captive management firms to scale more efficiently with existing resources, and redirect their efforts towards even greater higher-value analytics.”

Announcing his move, the company also claimed that unstructured data costs the global captive industry over $5 billion in avoidable losses and expense leakage.

Piko AI claims to deliver a secure, interoperable data platform for captive owners, managers and the industry’s ecosystem.

“AI is transforming all elements of business. The global captive industry is now poised for greater efficiencies through the Piko AI platform,” McElhiney said. “I look forward to leveraging my background in complex captives and reinsurance and risk transfer solutions in a leadership role with this VC backed platform and its renowned team of technologists and tech executives.”

McElhiney was most recently a partner at Augment Risk, joining at the start of 2025 to build and scale a new global division focused on captive and alternative risk transfer solutions.

Previously, McElhiney has held senior positions with Artex, EWI Re, Argo, UPS, TIG, and Allianz (Fireman’s Fund) and has been the chair of CICA, VCIA and the CPCU Society.

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