Former Zego Head of Search Tom Riley Leaves to Launch His Own Agency, HAKKEN

Tom Riley, the former head of search at insurtech unicorn Zego and widely rated as one of the UK’s top SEOs in his sector, has left the company to launch his own agency, HAKKEN, a studio built for insurance and fintech brands competing in the toughest corners of search.

At Zego, Tom owned organic and AI search in the fiercely competitive vehicle insurance market, going head-to-head with aggregators and major insurers. His campaigns helped the brand climb to the top of Google for high-intent commercial terms, grow organic traffic sharply, and cut its reliance on paid media, turning search into one of the company’s most powerful growth channels.

Now he is taking that experience independent, and early signs are strong. HAKKEN is already on course to turn over a multi-six-figure sum in its first year of business, a rapid start that reflects the demand for specialists who can deliver in regulated, high-competition markets.

Tom Riley Launches HAKKEN to Help Insurance and Fintech Brands Grow Through SEO and AI Search

HAKKEN’s Focus on Insurance and Fintech SEO

The studio focuses only on the sectors Tom knows best, where competition is fiercest and compliance is strictest, acting as a specialist partner for funded startups, managing general agents, and established insurance companies that want to own their demand. Its client list already includes a number of London-based technology startups, several of them venture-backed.

The launch comes at a turning point for search. As more customers research insurance and financial products inside ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews, HAKKEN helps brands become the trusted sources those tools cite and recommend, building authority and visibility within FCA and YMYL standards.

Tom Riley Shares His Vision for HAKKEN and the Future of Search

“Insurance and fintech are some of the hardest niches in search, and they are exactly the ones most agencies avoid or underdeliver in,” said Tom Riley, founder of HAKKEN. “Leaving an in-house role to build my own thing was a big step, but I wanted to bring what I learned at the sharp end to a wider set of brands, and to be ready for where search is heading with AI.”

A highly reviewed and rated consultant, Tom is an entrepreneur and investor beyond his SEO work. He owns VERCORE, a national ecommerce business selling industrial flooring paints, co-owns lead generation ventures, and invests actively in robotics and cryptocurrency. It is that mix of hands-on experience, commercial instinct, and forward thinking that he now brings to clients through HAKKEN.