Regardless of the adoption of digital expertise, insurance coverage stays one of the crucial conventional sectors in finance. Its continued use of legacy techniques has hampered its improvement. Nevertheless, organisations like Tensorflight are actually doing extra to make sure the business begins to catch up.
Tensorflight gives structured property information for the insurance coverage business by immediately analysing aerial, satellite tv for pc and avenue view imagery. Robert Kozikowski is the corporate’s co-founder and CPO; he has over a decade’s value of expertise within the tech subject and is now utilizing his experience to speed up the digitisation of insurance coverage.
We sat down with Kozikowski to study extra concerning the firm:
Inform us extra about your organization and its providing
Tensorflight is an AI imaging-based insurtech automating business property inspections and claims processing. Our mission is to make high-quality information accessible to the insurance coverage business to allow knowledgeable, well timed and correct choices.
We use three sources of images – satellite tv for pc, aerial and floor stage – to automate the sluggish and costly strategy of in-person property inspections. We additionally assist insurance coverage corporations consider business and residential properties and danger as a part of the underwriting course of. Lastly, we assist them to higher perceive their portfolio exposures.
We’re a Polish/US insurtech with workplaces in Warsaw, New York and London. We’re proud to work with most of the largest international business property insurers together with Zurich Insurance coverage Group and QBE.
What downside was your organization set as much as clear up?
In-person property inspections are time-consuming and costly. The business property business is at present poorly served and has to make choices based mostly on inaccurate property infrastructure information. These are the issues we’re fixing.
As talked about, we use three sources of images – satellite tv for pc, aerial and floor stage – in addition to information from public, contributory and proprietary sources and we are able to present detailed protection of 99 per cent of properties in developed international locations.
Our options routinely assess a spread of property attributes: constructing footprints, building kind, roof pitch and geometry, variety of tales, and might even detect the presence of ACP panels – the layer of highly-combustible plastic recognized as the first explanation for the rapid-fire unfold at Grenfell Tower.
With our AI and pc imaginative and prescient expertise we’re capable of decide what a human assessor can carry out trying on the similar imagery – albeit on a a lot higher scale and with no need to go to the property. With our options, purchasers can considerably lower each the price of, and time spent on inspections within the insurance coverage course of. On common the price of in-person property inspections might be decreased by over 1 / 4, and our options can significantly improve the effectivity of the claims operate.
Since launch, how has your organization advanced?
Our firm was based in 2016, with a really scientific, engineering mindset. We have been a crew of PhDs and ex-Google engineers seeking to apply our experience in deep studying. The primary breakthrough occurred in 2019, when Nephila Capital, the very first firm from the insurance coverage business, invested in our product. We’ve continued investing in analysis and engineering, step by step growing the product but additionally creating the corporate that we’re immediately.
Our Sequence A fundraise led by QBE Ventures in October final 12 months was an enormous milestone for us. Since then we’ve signed a lot of strategic partnerships which have enabled us to additional improve our providing. This 12 months, for example, we partnered with the Intelligence Enterprise of Airbus Defence and House, a worldwide chief in geospatial information, intelligence and defence options. This allowed us to ramp up our property evaluation and evaluation capabilities.
The partnership means we now have entry to the very best business decision imagery accessible in the marketplace. We additionally profit from information with the most effective geolocation accuracy. The state-of-the-art satellite tv for pc imagery will allow us to collect building-related data and detect adjustments to properties.
This ranges from details about roof situation and asbestos detection, to break evaluation and appraisal following pure disasters, reminiscent of hurricanes, and inside battle zones the place on-the-ground inspections are unattainable and different sources of imaging are unable to supply the extent of element required for the insurance coverage course of.
We’ve additionally not too long ago made some notable senior appointments and hires. Jakub Dryjas, one among our longest serving members and our former chief of progress accountable for spearheading the corporate’s growth throughout our key markets of the US, UK, Europe and Australia was promoted to CEO in the summertime. We’re excited for the following chapter in our enterprise underneath his management.
What has been the most important problem or most ‘tough second’ to beat?
Digital transformation within the insurance coverage business is by far one of many largest challenges. It’s nonetheless very a lot within the toddler levels and legacy techniques proceed to impede progress. The pandemic emphasised the necessity for the property insurance coverage sector to undertake technological innovation, to alter how the property inspection and insurance coverage course of is managed, and to scale back friction within the buyer expertise.
In consequence, we’re seeing a shift in mindset with insurers more and more searching for out sooner and extra streamlined options and starting to embrace rising applied sciences reminiscent of AI and machine studying which supply richer information insights and sooner and extra environment friendly providers.
What are your largest achievements or ‘proudest second’ thus far?
We’re very pleased with our pro-bono work with the Kyiv College of Economics (KSE) Institute offering and analysing satellite tv for pc imagery to evaluate the harm brought on to infrastructure inside Bucha, Irpin and Mariupol.
For the reason that onset of the Ukraine battle in February 2022, the KSE Institute, a number one assume tank and the analytical unit of the Kyiv College of Economics, has been spearheading an initiative backed by the Ukrainian authorities. The initiative analyses data on the harm inflicted to civilian infrastructure and is successfully an open-source information mission to judge and observe the price of battle.
Via analysing satellite tv for pc imagery and rooftop geocoding data, we’ve been providing insights into the extent of the harm brought on to a specific constructing within the analysed areas, whereas additionally offering the precise geographic coordinates of the buildings. Our crew of AI specialists skilled a deep neural community mannequin to detect and classify war-damaged buildings on satellite tv for pc photos and thus far virtually 70,000 buildings in Mariupol, Irpin, and Bucha, have been recognized and analysed utilizing our mannequin.
The mission can be serving to the Ukrainian authorities assess the reconstruction necessities of the nation. For instance, the intelligence will assist inform whether or not to prioritise the rebuilding of an influence station to arrange for the winter months, or a hospital or college based mostly on the wants of residents in affected areas.
Our subsequent plan is to analyse satellite tv for pc imagery protecting Lysychansk, Melitopol, and Popasna. Nevertheless, satellite tv for pc imagery is extraordinarily expensive. We face upwards of €5 million to scan the 100,000 sq. kilometres of Ukraine nonetheless awaiting harm evaluation. Moreover, this information turns into out-of-date rapidly when additional harm is inflicted, so we’re at present on the lookout for sponsors and companions to assist finance and proceed the mission.
How would you describe the tradition of your organization?
At Tensorflight we’ve got an enterprising tradition and our firm is a meritocracy which values creativity, concepts and innovation. We consider this strategy permits us to remain on the innovative and helps to disclose the most effective concepts. It additionally retains our workers motivated and engaged whereas additionally fostering management.
As an organization, we’re casual and we’ve got a “people-first” strategy. We even have a flat construction the place everybody within the crew has the suitable to precise their opinions. They’re inspired to share them overtly and infrequently. And from the insurance coverage sector, we’ve got adopted a deal with reliability, safety, consistency, and professionalism.
What’s in retailer for the longer term?
We now have large plans forward. We’re investing much more in product improvement in addition to in growing our folks, hiring the most effective expertise and increasing our international attain. By way of product improvement, we’re at present engaged on enhancing the accuracy of a lot of key attributes that we assess, together with geocoding and sq. footage.
Our plan is to allow digital insurance coverage for business underwriting and make residential digital insurance coverage extra environment friendly and cost-effective. We’re working to allow all the vital items insurers want.
We’re additionally gearing up for a Sequence B fundraise subsequent 12 months. This may permit us to additional develop and improve our providing.
