Melissa Bagley, ACAS
Melissa Bagley is a Senior Director at WTW, where she plays a key role in helping insurance organizations modernize their actuarial, underwriting, and claims functions through technology-driven solutions. With nearly a decade of experience in the actuarial field, she specializes in process transformation, leveraging advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI-enabled tools to drive operational efficiency and profitability for her clients. Known for her practical, client-focused approach, Melissa builds strong partnerships and delivers strategic insights that help organizations navigate an increasingly competitive and rapidly evolving insurance landscape.
Throughout her career, Melissa has held progressive roles of increasing responsibility, including positions at USAA and early experience with Goldman Sachs, where she developed a strong foundation in risk management and global insurance operations. At WTW, she has advanced from actuarial analyst to senior leadership, contributing to both consulting engagements and the development of go-to-market strategies for the firm’s technology solutions. She has worked with major clients, including organizations like Chubb Insurance, helping them implement data-driven pricing models and optimize decision-making across their businesses.
Melissa holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University, where she studied actuarial science, statistics, and risk management. She is an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS), reflecting her deep technical expertise and commitment to the profession. Recognized for her leadership and impact—including receiving WTW’s CEO Circle Award—Melissa continues to shape the future of insurance consulting by combining technical excellence with strategic vision and a strong focus on innovation.
• Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS)
• Baylor University- B.B.A.
• WTW CEO Circle Award 2024
• Casualty Actuarial Society
• American Academy of Actuaries
• Golden Key Honor Society
• Gamma Iota Sigma
• Church volunteer - teaching children every Sunday
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success largely to my family who has supported me throughout the entire process. I would also attribute a lot of success to my company, WTW. They've really just given me so many opportunities, so much trust, and so much leeway to be able to shine and do things. They've really given me a lot of ability to carve out my own path, and they really listen to what I have to say. Even when I was still pretty new to the organization and more junior, they would still listen to me and actually take what I have to say into account, so I feel like I have a lot of voice within the company, which has been very valuable. And of course, I would attribute the big majority of everything to God and my faith. So that's absolutely the number one. But yes, God, family, and my company who's given me the opportunity to grow.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I think the best advice is to build out your network and build relationships. I think I undervalued that at first. But the insurance world is such a small world, and I think any industry is smaller than you think in terms of the size of things and the network out there. Building meaningful relationships is the key to gaining credibility and trust, and being able to be seen as a trusted partner in whatever you do, especially working for a consulting company. Build your network and actually care about the people, build actual real relationships with people. It's made the biggest difference, and it also just makes work a lot more fun when you actually build relationships with the people around you, both within your company and outside of your company.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say just always have an attitude of curiosity and willingness to learn. Because if you're ambitious, and you actually have a drive to learn, to do the best possible work you can, and always deliver the highest quality product, the highest quality deliverables, anything that you're doing, that doesn't go unnoticed. A willing attitude and really good communication, like staying on top of communication, those types of things will always earn you notice and trust. If you have trust within the organization to do things, you will get more responsibility and the trust to be able to take things and run with them, rather than people feeling like they have to either step in or not give you as much trust to get you to that next step. And all of that really starts with a willing attitude and the attitude and mindset of wanting to give your best work.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the challenges are that the environment we're in is becoming increasingly competitive. We've got a lot of competitors on the horizon, newer companies and more established companies, and they are very aggressive. That's produced a challenge to be able to make sure we position ourselves to show we are the best solution or we are the right fit for this client. But it's also provided a lot of opportunity to get creative and really think about what sets us apart, why should you go with us. It's given us the opportunity to not only get creative, but also tell our company internally what do we need to do in order to be the best solution. How can we enhance our products and our offerings to make sure that we are changing with an ever-changing industry? We need to think about things like AI and how that's just blowing up in the industry. We need to stay relevant, and we need to do things internally to make sure that we're staying on top of the trends, and even becoming thought leaders in all those areas.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say honesty and integrity. I think always doing the right thing when nobody is looking. It takes a while to build trust, it takes 5 minutes to break it. In work, if I'm a consultant and I want to be a partner to my clients, I want them to actually trust me and know that I believe in what I'm speaking about, and that I'm speaking from experience, and that I'm being pragmatic and practical and just honest about the solutions that we have and how they could benefit our clients. And then even just from a personal life perspective, just doing the right thing, and treating other people with kindness and respect, and showing people that you care about them. I really want to teach that to my kids, and there's no better way than to try to lead by example. So those are the values I hold very closely.