Go big or go bust: Why real innovators shoot for the moon

Google Cloud’s James Lord and McGill and Partners Head of Innovation and Strategy Stephen Cross talk disruptive innovation, moonshots and the courage to dream beyond limits.

The rise of GB Snowsport is a David and Goliath story, one that has seen the organisation successfully take on the giants of winter sports. Much of this has been achieved through innovation that combines smart technologies with a culture that prioritises the athletes’ wellbeing and psychological readiness.

This saw the number of medals won by British winter sports athletes double in the four years leading up to the 2026 Winter Olympics and holds a fascinating blueprint for all positive market disruptors. It also has surprising similarities to the approach taken by McGill and Partners, from the focus on technology and people to collaborations with world-leading organisations.

Innovation is rarely a “eureka!” moment. Successful innovators tend to set themselves what innovative powerhouse Google calls a “moonshot” target – which many people would consider near impossible – and then make the incremental changes over time that can lead to astounding results. And even when you shoot for the moon and miss, you may land on a rooftop, which is far above where you started.

Think big to innovate

James Lord, Google Cloud UKI Enterprise Sales Leader, says that innovation is about solving problems, whether that’s for your own organisation or your customers, and it has three key ingredients. Firstly, innovative organisations are generally customer obsessed. Secondly, they are guided by data. And finally, they have a 10x way of thinking that typically aims for a huge tenfold improvement rather than a more modest 10% gain.

Companies must find the improvements needed to reach their goal. Lord says: “I’m quite a big snow sports fan and if you think about skiing, the Winter Olympics races are literally won by a fraction of a second. They use a very data-driven regime to understand everything, whether it’s about the ski design, the boot design or the wax design. We think about innovation in the same way – what are the practical applications of new ideas, processes and technologies in creating value to pull ahead of the competition?”

Companies must be prepared to test-and-learn and not be afraid to fail. GB Snowsport takes this approach with its innovations, as do those in other sports, such as Formula One. In the business sphere, Lord points to the new Waymo autonomous taxis operating in San Francisco, and soon London too, as an example of 10x thinking with a culture of test-and learn.

The taxis that take passengers around the city with no driver were a moonshot idea 10 years ago. There would have been no eureka moment, he explains. Instead, the vehicles would have gone through many iterations as engineers refined the concept into the taxis we see today, which already show some evidence of being safer than human-driven cars.

He adds: “We don’t think of innovation as a nice to have. It’s something you should build into your culture. You should give people the platforms and say, ‘we want you to drive change within our business. Find out how we can become more optimal and serve our customers better’.

“The great thing with innovation is that every person within a business has the ability to come up with new ideas for how to improve things. So, the question then becomes, does the business create a psychologically safe environment where that’s allowed to happen? Does it have an environment where you can try things and if they fail that’s fine, because that’s test and learn?”

Challenger vision

This philosophy is at the heart of McGill and Partners. Stephen Cross, Founding Partner and Head of Innovation and Strategy, says the firm was born from the frustration that as the insurance industry consolidated, it became dominated by large brokers that were slow to adapt, while smaller firms lacked the platform to handle the most complex global risks for clients.

This created an opportunity for a new kind of firm: one that blends the capabilities of a major player with the dynamism of a boutique. “The core ethos of the firm was, ‘everybody else tends to go left and follow the crowd. Why don’t we just deliberately go right?’” says Cross.

“We may be the underdog because our competitors can outgun us, but we can outsmart them and go faster. If they’re the elephants, then we’re the cheetah. We’re the fastest kid on the block, so we’re out there ahead of them. I love it when the underdog wins because it applies to us as well.”

Inspired by a “moonshot” mentality, akin to GB Snowsport’s audacious goal of becoming a top five snow sports nation by 2030, McGill and Partners set its own ambitious target: to become the undisputed leader in specialty insurance and reinsurance.

Lord says: “Where we see firms like McGill and Partners being different to some clients is that they are prepared to have a think about what a moonshot might look like. The chances of getting to a moonshot are actually quite low, but when you work backwards from it and say, ‘what would it look like at this level’ and then another level and you start to see things that are possible, because you’ve thought of the moonshot in the first place.”

He adds: “The London insurance market is more than 300 years old and hasn’t really had to change much over the years. McGill and Partners have focused their sights on doing things differently. And by doing things differently, I mean using technology to gain an edge is part of that.”

Innovative thinking

Like GB Snowsport, McGill and Partners are collaborating with world-leading technology partners to innovate rapidly. Through its partnership with Google Cloud, the firm launched its ChatMGP tool, becoming the first London market broker to use Google Cloud’s Agentspace – its secure AI-powered platform. The firm also works with Bellwether, a group of geospatial experts from X, Google’s Moonshot Factory, using Google Earth AI models, to provide predictive analysis of property damage before a storm even strikes, improving disaster preparedness.

The ethos extends to other technologies. Working with Salesforce, McGill and Partners was the first London broker to introduce Agentic AI technology, connecting London market insurers in a highly efficient, automated way.

Positive disruptor

This approach to innovation enables solutions to previously ‘uninsurable’ problems.

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London, an insurance issue emerged for higher-risk residential buildings awaiting work to fix fire safety issues. The firm tackled this head on and developed the innovative Fire Safety Reinsurance Facility to provide a solution.

More recently, the firm designed a War Risk Reinsurance Facility for commercial properties in the Ukraine, using an AI powered system from FortuneGuard, which uses real time official data on missile and artillery strikes to more accurately evaluate risk and offer affordable premiums for businesses in the Ukraine.

Groundbreaking culture

Just as GB Snowsport prioritises athlete wellbeing, McGill and Partners has woven innovation into the fabric of its corporate culture. This “different by design” philosophy is built on principles not policies.

The firm’s lack of legacy systems allows for a seamless, digital-first approach. Everyone is an owner and a “Contract of Trust” gives each individual the freedom to work with flexibility underpinned by the expectation that everyone will do the right thing for clients and colleagues. The result, according to Cross, is “extraordinary performance”.

Lord explains that the practical application of new ideas, processes and technologies is essential at Google Cloud. “We see that approach taken by McGill and Partners as well.”

This culture of creative lateral thinking also extends to the firm’s most critical asset – its people. From using its AI-driven strategic intelligence capability to source talent to opening new doors to recruiting talent via non-traditional routes. The firms very first apprentice scheme with The Brokerage, a social mobility programme, identified promising individuals from less affluent areas. “Our first cohort of nine young people joined us five years ago,” says Cross. “They are all still with us and all have been promoted.”

This constant drive for a better way is about gaining a competitive edge. “For GB Snowsport, it’s milliseconds that make the difference between winning and losing,” Cross concludes. “It’s a little bit like that in our industry as well; the fastest person over the line usually takes the prize. There is a definite satisfaction in being an underdog and winning.”

Stephen Cross

Head of Innovation and Strategy, McGill and Partners

James Lord

Google Cloud UKI Enterprise Sales Leader