When people think about claims technology, they often picture developers writing code behind the scenes. What they don't always see are the people who sit at the intersection of claims reality and product innovation, the ones translating real-world pain points into better systems.
Ciara Duncan is one of those people.
As a Product Owner at Benekiva, Ciara works closely with development teams to turn client needs, enhancement ideas, and industry challenges into features that actually work for claims professionals. And while she's not processed claims herself, her career has been shaped by working side-by-side with the people who do.
Ciara's path into insurance wasn't a straight line — something many people in the industry can relate to.
She started out with a degree in biology and spent several years working in higher education. That role introduced her to CRM systems and process-heavy environments filled with regulations, approvals, and manual workflows, experience that would later prove surprisingly relevant.
After earning her master's degree in business, Ciara transitioned into the insurance world, joining a carrier as an analyst working within their claims processing system. Her role focused on partnering directly with claims examiners: gathering enhancement requests, writing user stories, and working with development teams to improve how claims were handled day to day.
"I didn't know anything about life claims or annuities at first. But working directly with examiners taught me a lot. You really have to understand what they're doing in order to design better processes."
Learning claims by listening to the people living it became foundational to how she approaches product work today.
One thing quickly became clear to Ciara as she moved from working at a single carrier to supporting many through Benekiva: The pain points are remarkably consistent.
Manual document handling. Endless spreadsheets. Calculations done outside the system because no one fully trusts automation. Claims teams juggling multiple platforms that don't talk to each other.
"Every carrier solves it a little differently, but the base problems are the same. Old admin systems. Claims platforms that don't quite do what you need them to do. Everyone's at the same crossroads."
It's also why change management remains one of the industry's biggest hurdles. Even when better tools exist, fear of doing things differently can slow progress.
That's where Ciara sees Benekiva's role.
At carriers, transformation efforts often stall — not because the ideas are bad, but because they're difficult to execute within legacy systems or organizational structures. Before joining Benekiva, Ciara was part of a claims transformation team at a carrier where progress felt slow and fragmented.
Then she saw Benekiva.
"It felt like stepping five years into the future. A lot of the things we were trying to design already existed here."
Ciara joined Benekiva as an analyst and eventually moved into her current Product Owner role, where she now helps guide enhancements from idea to release, testing workflows, validating outcomes, and ensuring features align with how claims teams actually work.
That combination of claims context and product execution is exactly what she believes makes Benekiva different.
"You don't want someone who knows nothing about your industry telling you how to do your job. You want people who understand the processes and can actually help improve them."
When asked about her favorite Benekiva feature, Ciara didn't hesitate: the portals.
Benekiva's Agent and Beneficiary Portals represent something Ciara has been passionate about for years: giving claimants visibility into what's happening with their claim.
"At a previous carrier, one of our biggest goals was to show beneficiaries what was happening in the claims system. But the solution didn't work well, didn't look good, and wasn't easy to use."
Seeing Benekiva take that idea and execute it thoughtfully has been especially rewarding.
"As an end user, I expect to log in, see my documents, understand what I need to do, and move on with my day. During a life claim, people shouldn't have to wait months or a year just to get the money they need for funeral expenses or basic support. It should be simple."
That focus on simplicity — especially during emotionally difficult moments — is central to how Ciara thinks about product design.
When asked why she's stayed at Benekiva, Ciara's answer went beyond technology.
"It's the people. I've never worked at a company this small before, and it's different in the best way. Everyone genuinely wants to make things better."
That shared mission — to simplify claims, respect the people behind them, and finally move the industry forward — is what keeps Ciara excited about the work she does every day.
And behind every feature release, UI update, and platform launch, it's voices like hers that ensure Benekiva's technology is built by claims professionals for claims professionals.
Behind the Claims highlights the people shaping the future of claims from the inside out.
If you're ready to see what a claims platform built by claims experts looks like, let's talk.
