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InsureOS
Software Dev, Web Design & Dev
Insurance infrastructure for specialty MGAs in New Zealand and Australia. Rating, quoting, payments, documents and renewals. Mine, so I can't blame the client.
Back to the studio
Alex Clark
Technical Director
Started as a designer. Stumbled into code. Fifteen years later, I'm still working out which one to blame.
- Works from
- Howick, East Auckland
- Speaks
- English, 한국어
- alex@caretakers.io
The long version
I'm the Technical Director at The Caretakers, which mostly means I get the call when two systems that were never meant to meet need to be on speaking terms by Friday.
I trained as a designer and spent my early years on signage, print and freelance websites before code took over. It still shows. I care about what's behind the interface, but I also notice when the interface is wrong, which makes me either useful or exhausting depending on the day.
These days it's web applications and platforms: software architecture, integrations, and sitting down with clients to work out what the problem actually is. A lot of that has been in insurance, education, health and safety, and government, which is where the interesting mess tends to live.
AI has changed how I work more than anything else in fifteen years. The hard part isn't getting it to do something. It's getting the result you actually wanted, without ending up with a beautifully automated mess.
I work from Howick, in East Auckland, with clients all over New Zealand. If you're nearby, I'm happy to meet in person.
What I get called in for
- Integrations nobody wants to touchXero, Microsoft 365, payment gateways, and the legacy system with no documentation and one surviving expert.
- Web applications and portalsLaravel, TypeScript and React. Member portals, intranets and the platforms behind the nice-looking bit.
- Infrastructure that's written downAWS, defined in code with CDK, so it isn't living in one person's head.
- AI that actually does the jobAgentic workflows and MCP, plumbed into the systems you already run.
- Second opinions on vibe-coded appsYou built it with AI and now it has customers. Let's have a look before they do.
Things I've had my hands in
Changelog
Designer
Both
Developer, allegedly
- v6.0 2025Founder, InsureOSAdded: a second thing to be responsible for.
- v5.0 2024Technical Director, The CaretakersChanged: now paid to have opinions about architecture. Previously did it for free.
- v4.0 2022Lead Developer and Engineering Manager, The CaretakersAdded: people. They do not compile.
- v3.0 2021Senior Full-Stack Developer, The CaretakersImproved: every aspect of digital experiences, according to my own LinkedIn.
- v2.0 2018Web Developer, The CaretakersBreaking change: stopped doing everything. Started doing one thing properly.
- v1.1 2014Graphic Web Designer and Developer, Alex Clark Design LtdAdded: code. Also sales, accounts and IT support, whether I liked it or not.
- v1.0 2011Graphic Designer and Project Manager, Cranium Signage SolutionsFirst stable release. Learned print production, where a typo arrives on a truck.
- v0.1 2010Diploma in Digital Creativity, Media Design SchoolInitial commit.
Known issues
Status: won't fix
- Will notice your kerning during a meeting about your database.
- Uses the word "horrible" affectionately.
- Spends a suspicious amount of the day talking to AI.
- Fluent Korean rarely helps with integration work.
Proactive, reliable, professional and valued.
Monica TattersallHead of Change Enablement, Star Insure
Got something tricky?
Send it my way.
Tangled integration, ageing platform, or an app that's outgrown the person who built it. Tell me what's going on and I'll tell you straight what I'd do about it.
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