Using AI to improve insurer-MGA efficiency

Artificial intelligence (AI) can help insurers deal more efficiently with their managing general agent (MGA) partners, speakers said last week at an industry conference.

AI can be used for everything from crafting emails to addressing pain points between carriers and MGAs, speakers said June 12 during a carrier panel at the Canadian Association of Managing General Agents (CAMGA) conference in Toronto.

For example, AI makes it possible for insurers to conduct a remote audit of MGAs rather than a physical one, says Shafeen Mawani, president and CEO of Fortress Insurance Company.

“Now you’re both on [and] can log on to the system. You can actually just get the files,” Mawani says. “So, making things a little bit more efficient, I think, is helpful, rather than actually being physically present there.

“It’s also sharing best practices in terms of how to make their operations better,” he adds. “As we test it out, we can share those learnings. And if you’re successful, we’re successful in turn.”

Mawani says he’s also using AI to craft emails and send messages, as well as for strategy and analyses of opportunities.

Esaïe Djossou, Accelerant’s Canada head of distribution, says his company hired what he calls essentially a “tech consultant for MGAs” to help guide them through sourcing, platforms and putting together a submission file.

Starting small

“It started maybe small, I guess, depending on the point of view on things like a marketing app…and now it has evolved to a lot of different things,” Djossou says. “We don’t feel like we have a solution. I think the solution really is just listening to what the needs are…

“We really want MGAs just to underwrite,” he adds. “That should be what they spend most of the time on.”

Jeff Walker, senior vice president, chief distribution officer for HSB Canada, says the insurer is regionally focused but is shifting gears to ensure it’s more nationally focused.

“We have a global innovation committee at HSB, and AI is a great example where we are analyzing how the various policies are responding in response to data,” he says.

For example, the insurer will look at commercial general liability policies and use AI to see how the policies are responding to damage or injury. It will also see if there are any gaps in those policies through a Canadian and global lens.

“We anticipate this is going to obviously continue to be an area that everyone’s looking at, but we know there will also be gaps in how coverages and various policies respond, and our intention is, through that global committee, to ensure that we’re bringing new products to market with pace, so that you too can offer creative solutions to brokers and clients.”

Lloyd’s is taking a similar approach by looking at how AI can make the market and data collection more efficient, says Callum Alexander, director of delegated authority at Lloyd’s. “Can we [use] AI tools, or algorithmic tools, to improve the way the market collects data, shares data?” he asks.

Technology adds a lot of efficiency and “I see productivity actually increasing in our industry because of technology…and the adoption of AI,” Mawani says. “If you improve your productivity by 5%, that can have an enormous impact on an organization.”