Acrisure launches new AI-backed brokerage with investment firm Tulco

US-based insurance broker Acrisure and investment firm Tulco Holdings have teamed up to launch Altway Insurance, a direct-to-consumer brokerage platform which is fully supported by artificial intelligence.

The new platform will work with Google, and target sectors such as shared and gig economy to drive innovation and new opportunities in insurance distribution. Google Cloud AI will support the automation of client-facing operations, marketing, sales and product-distribution channels.

“While there has been substantial investment to fuse technology and insurance, today, there remains a massive and unmet opportunity to truly create the broker of the future," said Thomas Tull, chairman and CEO of Tulco. "To meet that opportunity, we're thrilled to combine the AI and analytics leadership of Tulco with the phenomenal growth and global distribution power of Acrisure.”

Greg Williams, Acrisure president and CEO, said: “As we have redefined what could be accomplished in terms of growth in the insurance broker space, we have looked for the right moment to partner with the strongest technology player to drive substantial innovation. In Altway, we’re confident that Acrisure’s unique capabilities and Tulco’s leading edge technology will drive new opportunities and create innovation in insurance distribution.”

The joint venture will be led by Brendan McCord, an expert in AI transformation and architect of the Department of Defense’s first AI strategy. He serves as president of Tulco Labs where he oversees the company's machine learning engineers and data scientists, as well as AI research partnerships with MIT and Carnegie Mellon University.

McCord will be supported by chief technology officer Eric Allen, who previously served as senior vice president and AI researcher at the hedge fund Two Sigma.

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