The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with around 128 million* private and corporate customers in nearly 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 776 billion euros** on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage about 1.9 trillion euros** of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we are among the leaders in the insurance industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2024, over 156,000 employees achieved total business volume of 179.8 billion euros and an operating profit of 16.0 billion euros for the group.
AI at Allianz:
How AI is cracking complexity for underwriters
Life is becoming ever more complex for those whose job it is to establish pricing for accepted insurable risks: underwriters. Surging amounts of rules and regulations, technological advancements and evolving new risks like cyber liability, climate change impacts and geopolitical instability are adding layers of complexity to their work.
Modern underwriters must rely on their traditional risk assessment skills while also developing strong technical acumen to navigate this environment, all while staying ahead of broader market trends and risk shifts.
At Allianz United Kingdom, underwriters face a challenge: navigating through extensive guidance documents – some as lengthy as 600 pages – to find the answers they need during the underwriting process. With as many as 70 such documents to refer to, underwriters can spend upwards of two hours a week simply sifting through these resources to make sure they can make an attractive offer to a customer.
This inefficiency can result in slower response times, critical information being missed and a less-than-ideal experience for brokers and customers. Additionally, remote working environments provide limited opportunities for junior underwriters to access on-the-spot guidance from seasoned colleagues.
BRIAN: A generative AI solution
Recognizing these challenges, the underwriting profession is embracing innovative solutions to streamline information retrieval. A prime example is the Underwriter Guidance Tool, known as BRIAN at Allianz UK. This tool uses generative AI to simplify the process of accessing essential information.
Following a successful pilot phase with nearly 3,000 questions from 190 users, BRIAN is now in full production and ready to scale. BRIAN digests underwriting guides – currently all Property and Casualty (P&C) and Specialty line documents – and allows underwriters to ask specific questions and receive concise, accurate responses.
For example, when asked, “How do I calculate the Estimated Maximum Loss for a block of flats?” BRIAN scans the relevant guides and summarizes critical points, including the required calculation. Crucially, the information is sourced exclusively from the uploaded documents, ensuring compliance and reliability.
“What sets BRIAN apart is its dual functionality,” explains Benjamin Blackie, Transformation Business Owner at Allianz Insurance, UK. “It provides a concise answer, and it also includes a direct link to the specific section of the 800-page guidance document used to generate the response. This allows underwriters to delve deeper if needed, without manually searching hundreds of pages."
The tool is especially useful for junior underwriters to increase and accelerate familiarity with the vast documentation. BRIAN’s interface ensures smoother navigation, while its database significantly boosts speed and accuracy when answering questions. These streamline day-to-day tasks and create a foundation for the addition of more guides and materials planned for 2025.
Scaling and future applications of BRIAN
Currently, BRIAN is being used by 260 Property and Liability Underwriters across all Allianz UK commercial offices, with plans to scale to all 600+ underwriters within 12 months as more documents and business lines are added. Beyond this, Allianz is looking to expand BRIAN’s capabilities to include guides for other lines of business in Commercial. BRIAN is also being positioned as a foundational tool for similar AI-driven innovations in other business areas, such as Claims, reflecting its potential to transform various operational processes.
Similar initiatives are underway at Allianz France and Allianz Commercial echo this success, highlighting a broader effort to revolutionize underwriting processes. Brian is expected to deliver a significant annual impact for Allianz UK and Allianz Commercial in time previously spent combing through documents.
“This is not about replacing decision making, but equipping people with better tools to access information they need, at the moment they need it,” says Blackie.
He notes that with the extra time saved, underwriters can focus on deeper risk analysis, enhancing customer relationships, refining pricing strategies and staying updated on emerging market trends and regulatory changes. BRIAN was developed as a collaboration between Allianz UK business, transformation and technology teams, together with datalab, the advanced analytics and data science function with the Data & Analytics unit.
Transforming underwriting with generative AI
By reducing inefficiencies and improving decision-making, BRIAN and similar tools empower underwriters to make better-informed decisions faster. These innovations transform traditionally cumbersome processes, enhancing agility, accuracy and confidence in underwriting practices and showing how generative AI addresses the complexities of modern underwriting.
But why is it called BRIAN? Is it an acronym? “It’s actually named after the first underwriter I sat next to who answered all my questions when I was a newbie at Allianz”, says Ben. “I still remember him and how great it was to have a knowledgeable, cooperative colleague. With agile working and hybrid options, not everyone gets to have a human Brian in real life, but at least we have BRIAN. This will help new starters to onboard themselves significantly.”
Further information
About Allianz
* Including non-consolidated entities with Allianz customers.
** As of December 31, 2024.
** As of December 31, 2024.
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