Building the Tech Forward, Human-Centric Business:
Why Jeff Bates & Andrew Acker Believe People Still Matter Most
Jeff Bates wasnât supposed to be here. He thought he was going to be an accountant, just like his dad. He even gave it a shot after college. But pretty quickly, he realized the work wasnât for him. âIt was just problems and mess all day long,â he remembers. Dry spreadsheets, endless reconciliations, there was no spark. He wanted something more creative, something that actually felt like building.
The way out came from an unlikely source, one of his dadâs clients, a man named Doug Bello. Doug had started his own title outsourcing business in the late â80s after running the largest title plant in the country in Los Angeles County, California. He had this rare mix of business instincts and people smarts, and he saw something in Jeff. Without saying a word to Jeff, he picked up the phone, called Jeffâs dad, and asked if he could steal him away. A few weeks later, Jeff was sitting across from Doug in a job interview. Jeff ended their interview with a line that still follows him today, âBut⊠what is title insurance?â Somehow, he got the job anyway.
If youâve spent any time in this industry, you probably get it. Nobody really sets out to end up in title. You trip into it, and then one day you realize youâve built a career in it. Jeff was no different. The only difference was that he had Doug to show him the ropes, and to show him that business could be about more than transactions. It could be about people.
Andrew Ackerâs entry point was just as unconventional. He was in consulting, restless and looking for a bigger challenge, when he crossed paths with Jeff at his sisterâs wedding in Guatemala. A few conversations later, Jeff told him about D. Bello. Before Andrew could overthink it, he was boarding a plane to Colorado Springs for ALTA One 2012, his first day on the job. âTrial by fireâ doesnât quite capture it. Imagine walking into a ballroom packed with industry lifers when you barely know the vocabulary. Overwhelming? Sure. But also exhilarating. And if youâve ever been thrown into the deep end on day one, you can relate.
Thatâs how it started: one guy who asked the wrong question in an interview, and another who stumbled into his first conference wide-eyed and underprepared. Somehow, it worked. They balanced each other out, Jeff steady, process-driven, always focused on execution; Andrew curious, creative, constantly pushing them to stand out. Together, they stepped into leadership when Doug began to step back.
The easy version of the story is that they run an outsourcing company. The truer version is that they run a people company that happens to do outsourcing. That distinction matters. Outsourcing has a reputation problem; in most industries, itâs shorthand for cutting jobs or cutting corners. But what Jeff and Andrew built is almost the opposite. Their model is simple: take the 80 percent of the resource-heavy, tedious work that burns people out, do it well, and give their clients back the freedom to focus on the things that drive value and help them scale. Or as Jeff puts it â which was adopted as the companyâs tagline â âWe do the work, you take the credit.â
That ethos bleeds into everything they do. Take their marketing. They made a deal with each other early on: if it wasnât creative, memorable, or a little risky, they wouldnât do it. So instead of cheap swag, they handed out $45 customized Yeti mugs. Instead of polished corporate explainers, they filmed their kids breaking down title concepts âlike Iâm five.â Their most popular video? What is Title Insurance? (Explained Like Youâre 5!). It spread not because it was perfect, but because it was human.
The same goes for their operations abroad. They donât talk about headcounts or cost savings; they talk about communities. Jobs that provide stability in places where stability is rare. Families who now have opportunities they didnât before. For Jeff and Andrew, those teams arenât invisible contractors, theyâre an integral part of the story. And the benefit goes both ways. The expertise and execution of their teams pave the way to professional freedom for their domestic clients â leaving early to watch their childâs soccer game, enjoying a family vacation during peak season, or simply leaving at 5pm each day. Itâs all about people.
Of course, theyâre not blind to the future. AI is everywhere, and they know itâs coming for title too. But they temper the hype. Jeff and Andrew see technology as a tool, not a complete answer. âAI is making impressive strides, but many tools still donât integrate well, leading to frustration and fragmented workflows. They often push quality control and decisions downstream rather than fixing core issues. The real priority needs to be refining processes, developing expertise, and then applying the right technology as a catalyst for people.â Andrew says.
Thatâs the through-line: people first. It started with Doug Bello, who saw something in Jeff when he barely knew what title insurance was. It carried through Andrewâs first chaotic conference, when he realized that sometimes the only way forward is to dive in. And it shows up today in the way they run D. Bello, not as an outsourcing shop, but as a company built on curiosity, creativity, and community.
Because in an industry that is always on the brink of new challenges, regulatory pressure, and other risks, Jeff and Andrew keep circling back to the same truth: itâs properly equipping and supporting people that will make the difference.
