As featured in the Portugal Fintech Report 2024

The insurance industry is undergoing a significant transformation driven by advancements in technology. As data becomes increasingly integral to risk assessment and underwriting, the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation has grown in importance. Generative AI, with its ability to analyze vast datasets and generate predictive models, offers a promising avenue for enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of underwriting processes.

Silas Insurtech, a pioneering startup, is at the cutting edge of this transformation. In this context, understanding how generative AI is applied within Silas Insurtech’s platform provides valuable insights into the future of insurtech. This article features an overview post an in-depth interview with the founder of Silas Insurtech, shedding light on the practical applications, benefits, and challenges of using generative AI in the commercial lines and specialty insurance sectors.

Silas Insurtech: A Solution to Underwriting Challenges

Founded by a former Commercial Property Underwriter, Silas Insurtech was born out of frustrations that the founder dealt with in her daily life and a desire to address the inefficiencies and outdated systems prevalent in the industry. Despite the profitable growth sustained in the industry, these issues persist and continue unresolved.

With this in mind, the team at Silas have built an integrated end-to-end solution that acts as a companion to underwriters, taking into account every step of the process and packaging them into a neat, all-encompassing software, targeting the inefficiencies faced by underwriters. The aim of this is to streamline the process, enhance what can be ameliorated and automate what should be automated.

The uptake of technology within the insurance industry is certainly on the rise. The discernable focus and largest use case within insurance currently, is undoubtedly on handling unstructured data which Gen AI provides a solution for. This is combined however with the heightened awareness of accuracy and hallucinations, made ever-more important with the introduction of the EU AI Act. This categorizes the use of AI within insurance in the ‘high risk category’ and as such is alerting insurers that the AI wave must be ridden with caution. Therefore Silas Insurtech’s commitment is to addressing the insurance pain points whilst adhering to the highest ethical standards in data handling and AI usage.

Harnessing the Power of Generative AI

Silas leveraged the power of Artificial Intelligence on a number of core features. The Risk Report Summarization Tool utilizes Gen AI to identify and interpret key risk-related information from lengthy risk management reports. This provides underwriters with a concise 2-page summary and a precise risk score. This tool saves significant time by allowing underwriters to bypass the need to read through lengthy reports and focus more on critical and complex decision-making processes. To achieve this, they are building a custom Large Language Model (LLM) application, specifically tailored to perform risk interpretation in accordance with specific Line of Business and Underwriting Appetite requirements.

Harnessing the power of AI, Silas is also introducing their ‘Talk to Your Data’ functionality which allows underwriters to query data from various sources within the platform. Instead of navigating multiple interfaces and screens to gather information, underwriters can rapidly retrieve all the necessary details in one place, simply by querying in plain English. And the best part is in the way the data is presented. Imagine requesting a key metric and receiving an intuitive graph in response instantly. This, Silas Insurtech believes, is the future of interacting with data; effortlessly and seamlessly without manual intervention or programming.

A Strategic Approach to Gen AI

Silas’ approach to Gen AI is strategic. The focus is on combining well-established, more traditional tech methodologies with innovative AI solutions that facilitate the creation of the complex features being built. While there are numerous use cases transforming industries, Silas maintains acute awareness that Gen AI, and AI in general, comes with its own set of challenges and limitations.

The Future of Insurtech

Insurtechs that have hinged their value proposition on their use of AI will struggle and need to adopt their approach rapidly to maintain credibility within an already risk-averse industry. The months and years to follow will bring interesting trends within the Insurtech space as start-ups and more established companies struggle to strike the balance between the rapidly evolving world of AI and the naturally conservative insurance industry.

Silas Insurtech's innovative use of Generative AI has the potential to revolutionize the underwriting process. By streamlining operations, improving accuracy, and enhancing decision-making, the company is leading the way in the digital transformation of the insurance industry.