🚀 Startup Stories with Atlassian: How Newfront uses AI to build a modern insurance brokerage
Hi Startups Community!
We are excited to launch a new series called 🚀 Startup Stories with Atlassian, where we interview founders about their entrepreneurial journey, learn about the problems they are trying to solve, and explore how their teams are using Atlassian tools to grow and deliver value to their customers.
The first founder we are featuring in the Startup Stories series is Gordon Wintrob, Co-founder and CTO of Newfront, a modern insurance platform that leverages data and technology to deliver a better customer experience.
Watch our interview with Gordon Wintrob and read more to learn about Newfront!
Newfront is building the insurance platform of tomorrow
Gordon Wintrob co-founded Newfront in 2017 with a mission to modernize the insurance brokerage industry. After learning from insurance professionals that a significant portion of their time is spent on administrative tasks rather than high-value client interactions, the co-founders set out to build Newfront as a way to reduce inefficiencies in the insurance space.
"It was clear that the insurance industry has not modernized. They're doing things in 2024 the same way it's always been done since probably 40 years ago with pen and paper living in physical filing cabinets. By combining experienced insurance professionals with world class technologists who are really good at building software, you can build this special kind of company that uses humans for what they're great at and computers for what they're great at."
Based in San Francisco with a team of over 800, Newfront serves clients in various sectors in the US by blending expert human knowledge with cutting-edge technology.
Newfront scales with Atlassian and leverages AI to deliver a better customer experience
With the help of Atlassian tools like Jira and Confluence to streamline their operations, Newfront has been on a growth trajectory since 2019. They transitioned to Jira to manage project milestones and workflows, as they scaled and outgrew tracking tasks in spreadsheets and other project management tools. The team leveraged Jira’s automation and reporting capabilities as the company expanded and projects increased in complexity.
Newfront has also embraced the power of AI to supercharge their client interactions to take their customer service to the next level. By utilizing large language models, Newfront has been able to streamline complex processes like contract reviews, simplifying what used to be a time-consuming task. The integration of AI technologies accelerated the speed at which Newfront can process and analyze data, enabling the company to provide tailored and value-driven solutions to their customers.
Newfront focuses on people with “Crossing the Aisle” ritual
At the core of Newfront's success is their people-first approach. Gordon stressed the importance of a strong company culture and their belief in empowering individuals through technology rather than replacing them. A unique tradition within their engineering team is "Crossing the Aisle," where team members come together to collaborate and share knowledge across departments, fostering teamwork even in a distributed setup.
Gordon is a California native who can’t start a day without his coffee. He currently resides in San Francisco and, once caffeinated, frequently goes on runs throughout the trails in the Bay Area.
You can follow Gordon’s journey here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gwintrob/
Twitter/X: 
Questions or comments about Newfront's founder story? Leave a comment and let us know! Stay tuned for more inspiring stories and innovative approaches from startups like Newfront in the Startups Community.
Are you a founder in the Atlassian for Startups program interested in being featured in our Startup Stories with Atlassian series? If so, please reach out to us at startups@atlassian.com.
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Annie Lu
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