Machine learning

The firm's hire of Mike Schuster to work on AI may have implications for the small-business insurance platform it partially owns.

Due to retirement and outsourcing, insurers are facing a steep drop in institutional knowledge about the industry, their products and processes.

The insurer will leverage the university's research in the Internet of Things, data science and machine learning to help improve the life underwriting process.

The technologies are top of mind for the carrier in its efforts to modernize underwriting and claims management, says Puneet Bhardwaj, SVP of digital analytics.

Those investing in artificial intelligence should consider exactly what the company will most benefit from, and which technology will help it reach those goals.

Machines are taking over much of the grunt work associated with tasks, elevating the roles of humans to adopt more strategic roles.

Voice assistants provide carriers with another digital channel for engaging their policyholder customers, but the platforms remain somewhat limited for now.

The new program, "Zara," was developed in partnership with Spixii, a graduate of the carrier-sponsored Startupbootcamp accelerator.

More human processes are being automated, including the writing of software, which computers will soon start to do themselves, says Future Today Institute.

There will be widespread adoption of AI and especially of robotic process automation, as organizations look to boost the value of data, says Christopher Mazzei.