Luisa Barile: From puppy to profit – how ManyPets learned new tricks for growth

When Luisa Barile describes ManyPets as a “golden retriever – sweet, energetic, maybe still a bit of a puppy,” it is hard not to smile. Few insurance leaders would liken their business to a beloved family pet, but for Barile, the analogy feels apt.

“We’re lively and full of energy,” she says.

This energy has paid off. For the financial year ending 31 March 2025, ManyPets reported profit of £6.25m – a turnaround from the £33m loss recorded the previous year. Revenue also more than doubled to £62m.

This wasn’t the result “of just one thing, but a combination of actions,” explains Barile, who took the reins in 2023 after five years as chief financial officer.

“We reduced our administrative expenses and went through an internal transformation project to make sure we are as efficient as we should be – partly through technology and partly through process optimisation.”

This overhaul was comprehensive. She adds: “We’re now at around a 70% loss ratio, which is within a healthy range. The industry average is still a few points lower, but our philosophy is not to get it as low as possible – it’s to be competitive while offering good value for money.” 

Building maturity without losing spirit

ManyPets was once the archetypal insurtech disruptor – agile, experimental and restless. But as it scaled, Barile recognised that the business needed to evolve from its “startup mentality of innovation” to something more structured.

“We’ve evolved into a more mature organisation where innovation still thrives, but within parameters,” she says.

“The DNA of the company hasn’t changed. The foundations of our culture – customer centricity, great service, putting the customer at the centre – remain the same.”

That balance between agility and discipline has defined Barile’s leadership. A former McKinsey consultant, she brings what she calls “structured thinking” to a culture still “fuelled by creativity”.

She also describes her leadership style as that of an “orchestrator”.

“I like to build an environment where things can happen on their own – where people are enabled to deliver,” she says.

“I spent a lot of energy in my first year rebuilding the leadership team to have the right skills for the company’s next stage of growth.”

The rise of Millie

If there is a mascot for ManyPets’ new era, it might not be a lovable golden retriever at all – but Millie, the firm’s AI-powered claims bot. Millie’s story began humbly as a rules-based automation tool designed to fast track low complexity pet claims.

“Millie started as a simple rules based system – if a claim looked like X, Y or Z, we’d pay it,” Barile explains.

“It was binary – either pay the claim or pass it to human oversight. Millie never declines a claim.”

Today, Millie has become far more sophisticated.

Barile explains: “We now have 12 or 13 different data models running behind Millie, checking invoices, reading details, identifying anomalies and assessing whether treatment makes sense within the pet’s medical history. 

“More than 50% of claims are now paid automatically, with the rest passed to claim handlers. Claims paid through Millie are paid within a day – and because there’s no human touchpoint, the costs are clearly reduced.”

Barile stresses that the technology is designed to enhance, not replace, human experience.

“Our philosophy for AI use is clear – it’s not about replacing people,” she says. “It’s about improving the experience for our customers and our employees. Claim handlers are happier because they spend their time on judgment-based work and customer conversations, not repetitive admin.”

Customers, meanwhile, experience frictionless service. “Customers never had issues interacting with it because it’s invisible to them – they just see that their claim was paid quickly,” she notes.

This approach helped ManyPets win the Best Use of Technology for Customer Experience – Claims category at the Insurance Times Tech and Innovation Awards 2025, reflecting its application of AI.

Pet cover under pressure

Barile is acutely aware of the broader forces shaping pet insurance. The market, she says, is squeezed by conflicting pressures.

“We’re seeing two contrasting forces – on one side, pet owners view pets as part of the family and want peace of mind. On the other, the economic environment is driving demand for affordability,” she explains.

Those two trends play against each other. People want the best for their pets, but also need to manage costs.”

After a turbulent few years for pet insurance – marked by claims volumes exceeding £1bn for the third consecutive year, this tension has been exacerbated by veterinary inflation. According to a Which? report from February 2024, prices for veterinary and pet-related services rose in the UK by 10.7% year-on-year, far outpacing the overall inflation rate of 3.8%.

“We’ve seen pet insurance premiums increase over the past decade, driven by the greater availability and cost of advanced veterinary treatments,” says Barile. “Inflation in the vet space has outpaced general inflation.”

To respond, ManyPets has diversified its proposition. “We’ve introduced products that cater to different needs – still comprehensive, but more flexible for customers who can’t afford the most premium policies,” she says.

Competition and consolidation

With premiums fluctuating and claims inflation biting, competition in the pet insurance market remains fierce.

“The market has become much more competitive,” says Barile.

“The number of players has stayed flat, but the number of products has doubled over the past ten years.”

“It’s a crowded market – lots of new entrants, some succeed, others don’t. I do see some consolidation coming. There are players who’ve grown and then stagnated.”

ManyPets is ready to take advantage of that shift, however.

Barile says: “We’re very open to acquiring books of business. We’ve built an efficient tech platform that’s designed to scale. It would make a lot of sense to take on books from companies that haven’t invested in technology as we have, plug them into our system and deliver synergies.”

Now that ManyPets is profitable, such deals are actually on the table too.

“We now have access to cash, so we’re open to that idea,” she says. “We have the advantage of a significant book, a lot of data and great technology infrastructure – all of which take time to build.”

Despite leading a technology-driven insurer, Barile insists that empathy remains central to her role.

“A bad day is when I receive a customer complaint,” she admits. “It doesn’t happen often but, when it does, I reply personally and use it as a learning opportunity.”

This mix of warmth and precision defines her leadership. Under Barile, ManyPets has transformed its balance sheet, modernised its operations and emerged as one of the UK’s most forward-thinking pet insurers – without losing its personality.

“I’ve told my team very clearly – I want us to be number one,” she says.

“Success means being the undisputed go-to for pet insurance in the UK.”