5 MINUTE READ
Michael Krikheli, Co-Founder and CTO at Five Sigma, joins Belinda (Bee) Murray on the Flow Driven CEO Podcast, to talk about claims innovation, exponential technology, and what it means to lead and build with presence and humanity.
In this thoughtful conversation, Michael introduces Clive™, Five Sigma’s Multi-Agent AI Claims Expert, and shares how the goal of Five Sigma’s technology is to bring time back to adjusters and create the space for more human, empathetic claims experiences. He opens up about leadership, intentionality, and why solving the right kind of hard problem matters more than chasing the next trend.
Bee: You talked about how exponential technology is hard for us linear humans to grasp. Can you explain what you meant?
Michael: Humans don’t naturally think exponentially. We see what’s next, but we struggle to understand how quickly things scale and grow. We’re now in what I’d call the intelligence revolution. We had the industrial revolution, which unfolded over centuries, then the computing revolution, which took decades. But now, AI is advancing at incredible speed: in mere years. It’s tough to imagine where we’ll be in 10, 20, or 50 years, but the shift is already happening — and it’s happening within our lifetimes.
Bee: That mindset shift feels critical for any founder. You need to be building for the curve, not the step. How do you think about innovation in that context?
Michael: You have to ask: where is technology going, and where will it meet our industry? That’s how we think about innovation at Five Sigma. Not in terms of the next feature, but the next leap.
Bee: Let’s talk about Five Sigma. Your starting point was actually with a framework for solving the right kind of problem?
Michael: We started about 7-8 years ago. We came from tech and business, and we were looking for a problem with three things: high value, a lot of data, and real impact on people’s lives.
Insurance claims had all of that. When you buy a policy, you forget about it. But when something goes wrong and you file a claim — that’s a moment of need. That’s when there’s real interaction and emotion. Claims also contain tons of data. That’s where we wanted to be.
Bee: I call that “solution-finding.” You weren’t chasing a trend. You were finding a real, complex challenge and figuring out how to solve it.
Michael: As AI leaders in any industry, we have to ask: where can AI help? And where do we need humans? What is uniquely human in a given task?
With claims, it’s that human connection, listening to someone, really helping them, showing empathy. But right now, adjusters are so busy trying to manage systems, stuck on pushing papers and admin tasks. They don’t have the space to be truly present with the customer.
And that’s what we’re trying to fix. AI can take away that noise — it can handle the repetitive, compliance-heavy stuff and allow humans to focus on the part that actually matters: being there, present, for someone when they need it.
And honestly, it’s just more fulfilling, and fun. No one wakes up excited to fill out forms all day. But solving real problems? Helping real people? That’s meaningful work. That’s what we want to enable.
So yes — we’re building to create that space. So adjusters can do one thing at a time, do it with focus, and do it with intention.
Bee: How did you and your co-founders come to build with this mindset? These are strong leadership qualities: the ability to adapt, to pivot, to stay present, to do things with purpose. Where does this mindset come from?
Michael: If you think about it, you’re going to spend most of your life — most of your waking hours — working. More time than with your kids, your spouse, or doing anything else. So if that’s the case, you want to have intention in what you do.
Bee: Have you had those moments at Five Sigma where you weren’t sure if it was going to succeed? Questioning whether it’s going to work, or how to maintain your differentiation?
Michael: Of course. But what kept us going is that the problem still exists. The opportunity is still there. Claims aren’t magically automated now. There’s still a ton of work to do. From there, it becomes about execution. Ideas are great, but you have to actually bring them to life. It’s constant iteration, and that’s what drives us forward.
Bee: Tell me more about Clive, the AI Multi-Agent Claims Expert. What’s your view on AI agents? Is that the “next big thing,” or are they already here?
Michael: They’re definatly already here, and they’re only going to get better. The underlying tech is moving very fast. And it’s on us to ask, “How do we apply this to our domain?”
That’s where Clive came from. The vision is simple: There are so many tasks involving a claim – Intake, triage, liability assessment, damage assessment, customer communications, investigation, settlement, and so on. Clive can help with all of them.
Some tasks can be automated. Others just need decision support. Clive is designed to do both.
And it’s not just about intelligence — it’s about agency. Clive understands what’s happening, the full-context of a claim. He has an action plan for the claim, and can actually do things — like sending an email or advancing a task — autonomously.
We keep expanding his capabilities. Every time we introduce a new use case, customers are excited because they see how it will actually work for them.
The ultimate goal? Remove the paper-pushing. Free up time for adjusters to bring their human strengths back into the role.
That’s where we want to lead — and we aim to be the best in the claims space.
Bee: Can AI help us slow down? Be more human? We’re always in hustle mode — chasing, pushing, rarely feeling the growth or joy. Do you think automation can help us recover from that?
Michael: I hope so. I really do. Social tech was supposed to connect us — and in many ways, it still does. The fact that we can talk right now from opposite sides of the world is amazing. But we’ve also gone too far. We’re always online. We doomscroll. We’re overloaded.
I think AI can take away the noise — the busywork — then maybe we can reclaim our time. Use it to be more intentional, more present. That’s the hope.
Bee: And that’s what I love about what you’re doing at Five Sigma. You’re using AI to get back to what’s human. Less paper pushing. More time for what matters.
What would you say to someone who wants to start a business, but has no idea where to begin?
Michael: I’d say: start with a problem you’re passionate about. One that you care about enough to work on for years.
Bee: Michael, thank you so much. I appreciate you jumping on the show — and at 9:00 AM on a Monday, no less! That really says a lot about you, your energy, and your intentionality. Thank you for a really great chat!
Michael: Thank you so much. It was really great talking to you.
