# Ando Kivilaid — builds things with AI Insurance founder turned AI builder. Twenty years of brokers and insurance software, then three years building the AI that runs inside them. Now I build for other teams, and for myself when something annoys me enough. ## Where this comes from. I co-founded IIZI, which became the largest insurance broker in the Baltics, and Insly, the insurance software platform that came out of it. I started and later sold a warranty insurance MGA. Somewhere in between I co-founded 180°, a restaurant in Tallinn that went on to earn two Michelin stars. The restaurant is the odd one out. It taught me more about operations than any software company did. In 2023 I stopped running companies and started building with AI full time, first as Head of AI at Insly, where the underwriting and pricing systems I built are still in production. Now I do that work for other teams, and I keep building small tools on the side because the fastest way to learn what a model can do is to make it do something useful. Ando Kivilaid builds AI systems in Tallinn, Estonia. He co-founded IIZI, the largest insurance broker in the Baltics, and Insly, an insurance software platform used by 4,000+ brokers that handles more than €1B in gross written premiums. He founded and sold a warranty insurance MGA and co-founded 180°, a Tallinn restaurant with two Michelin stars. In 2023 he moved to building AI full time, first as Head of AI at Insly, where his underwriting and pricing systems are still in production, and now for other teams and for himself. He is not affiliated with Kivilaid OÜ, the road paving and landscaping company. ## The long version - **Independent** (now), Builds things with AI. Building AI systems for other teams, and tools for myself. Mostly insurance, not only. - **Insly** (2023–2025), Head of AI Strategy & Implementation. Led Insly's AI work end to end: underwriting automation, pricing engines and intelligent forms across the platform. - **180° by Matthias Diether** (2018–2022), Co-founder. Fine dining in Noblessner, Tallinn. One Michelin star, then two. The odd one out on this list, and the best operations lesson I've had. - **Warranty Insurance** (2015–2022), Founder & CEO. Built from zero into the largest warranty insurance MGA in the Baltics, then exited. - **Insly** (2013 →), Co-founder. Insurance software platform used by 4,000+ brokers, handling more than €1B in gross written premiums. - **IIZI Insurance** (2001–2015), Co-founder. Grew into the largest insurance broker in the Baltics, with 31% market share in Estonia. One of the first digital insurance brokers in the world. ## Things I've built - [Nola](https://kivilaid.ee/projects/nola): Booking and quoting software for local service providers: salons, shops, studios and solo chairs. - [Nora — Insly AI](https://kivilaid.ee/projects/nora): An AI layer that removes manual work from insurance operations, so MGAs and insurers scale without adding headcount. - [Eesti Data MCP](https://kivilaid.ee/projects/mcp-servers): One MCP endpoint for Estonian public data — 77 tools, no API keys. - [AI Visibility Tracker](https://kivilaid.ee/projects/ai-visibility-tracker): Tracks whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and other AI answer engines mention and recommend your business. - [Hangete Radar](https://kivilaid.ee/projects/hangete-radar): AI-powered discovery of Estonian public procurement: summaries, smart matching and market analysis. - [YouTube Insight AI](https://kivilaid.ee/projects/youtube-insight-ai): Paste a YouTube link and get a detailed summary and key insights, generated by Gemini. - [FitBox](https://kivilaid.ee/projects/fitbox): Turns a 3D scan of a space into the largest buildable plywood subwoofer enclosure, with cut patterns, bevel angles and predicted response. - [Brand Scraper](https://kivilaid.ee/projects/brand-scraper): Extracts logos, colours, social links and contact info from any company website. - [ChromaLens](https://kivilaid.ee/projects/chromalens): Deconstructs any website's design system — colours, CSS variables and fonts — and has an AI critique the palette and layout. ## Questions I get ### What do you actually build? Systems that read documents, price risk, answer questions or take actions, and that have to be right often enough to trust. Extraction pipelines, pricing and decision engines, agents, and MCP servers that give AI assistants access to real data. ### Is it only insurance? Insurance is where I know the most, so that's where I'm fastest. It isn't a requirement. If the problem is real and the answers have to be correct, I'm interested. ### How long does it take? Depends on the data. A first version usually runs on real documents within a few weeks. Sign-off for production has taken two to three months on the projects listed here. ### How do we start? Message me on LinkedIn with a few lines about the problem. If it sounds like a fit, we talk for half an hour and I tell you honestly whether I'd build it. --- Source: https://kivilaid.ee/ · Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andokivilaid · Overview: https://kivilaid.ee/llms.txt