Fear of being left behind forces insurers to embrace AI: Flyreel CEO

That is the view of Cole Winans, CEO of Flyreel, a US-based insurtech start-up that is bidding to revolutionise the commercial insurance space with its AI-powered underwriting solution.

The Denver, Colorado-based company recently raised $3.85 million in its latest funding led by Gradient Ventures — Google’s AI-focused venture fund that invests in early stage start-ups. State Auto Insurance Companies and US forensic investigation firm Donan also invested in the venture’s latest round of funding.

The company said it intends to use the proceeds to fulfil customer demand, expand its team, and accelerate the development of its technology, on which patents are pending.

"Insurance isn't the fastest moving market for sure, however, there has been a huge change in the perception of AI and its acceptance over the last 12 to 24 months," Winans said. "Almost every carrier now is leveraging the technology in one way or another."

Winans went on to explain that he sees AI as changing the insurance experience in two key areas. "It's back office and customer-facing," he said.

"I think back office is where a lot of carriers have started adopting automation technology because it lets them experiment some of their work behind the scenes without posing any significant risks.

Whereas in customer-facing where AI is put front and centre — it really has to perform.

"However, some of the greatest change has been seen in the customer facing area where AI is really driving the customer experience. It has allowed carriers to better serve their policyholders by providing personalisation, automation and scale.

"AI has demonstrated an ability to positively impact carrier outcomes and customer experiences."

However, Winans concluded, there's more to AI than what has been leveraged so far. "We're just beginning to scratch the surface of AI's potential in insurance, with so much more to come."

Flyreel, which launched in 2016, claims to offer "the most advanced" solution for commercial and residential property insurers using a combination of AI and computer vision technology. Flyreel’s technology is hosted on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.

Its technology captures and analyses large quantities of data, allowing carriers to make better underwriting decisions quickly and transparently, while improving their loss ratio and customer claims experiences, the company claims.

With additional funds for expansion and backing of experts from both the technology and the insurance sectors, Winans is optimistic about the aspects of having "the best of both worlds".

He added: "We're most excited to have investors around both AI and insurance. Our primary criteria for finding the right investor was alignment and vision, and to bring in expertise from both the sectors."

With the ongoing digital revolution, the insurance business is gradually shifting from the traditional policy-centric model to a more customer-centric approach. There has been a rapid emergence and adoption of innovative insurtech solutions, as well as a heightened mainstream acceptance, in the recent years, he added.