Data & AI
Insurance
4 min read
Our client is one of the world’s largest international underwriting agencies, specializing in providing innovative and tailored insurance solutions. As part of its commitment to operational excellence, the business continuously seeks opportunities to improve efficiency, enhance accuracy, and optimize resource allocation. In its Marine division, processing policy documentation and risk assessment data is a critical function, requiring precision and speed to ensure seamless contract administration.
The Marine division receives a high volume of emails from brokers, each containing multiple documents with essential risk details, such as Vessel IMO numbers, insured amounts, premiums, and rates. Previously, this information was extracted manually, requiring significant time and effort from underwriting teams. Inconsistent and complex documents with information embedded in unstructured, complex tables in broker submissions delayed pricing and increased manual effort for underwriter analysts.
This manual approach presented an opportunity to enhance efficiency in three key ways:
Time savings
Automating data extraction could reduce processing times and allow underwriters to focus on higher-value tasks.
Error reduction
Manual data entry carries a risk of inconsistencies, leading to rework and delays. Automating the process could improve accuracy.
Scalability
As document volumes fluctuate, a manual approach limits growth potential. Automation would allow the client to handle increasing workloads seamlessly.
Recognizing the potential for improvement, the organization sought a solution that would enable intelligent document processing to assist underwriter analysts and allow for seamless ingestion into its Marine Policy Administration System (PAS).
The client partnered with esynergy and Microsoft to address this opportunity, and in a joint effort, we designed and implemented a custom-built AI-powered automation solution on Azure, tailored to the client’s specific needs.
To provide a scalable, secure, and custom intelligent document processing solution, esynergy, in collaboration with Microsoft Insurance Solution Architects, developed a reference architecture featuring the following:
Automated document processing
The AI solution ingests complex broker documents and extracts key details from various document formats, ensuring uniformity in data capture.
Custom AI solutions
A custom Python program identifies and extracts critical data points such as Vessel IMO numbers, insured values, and premiums, improving accuracy and reducing the need for manual intervention.
Seamless PAS integration
Extracted data is structured, cleaned, and formatted for direct upload (with a human in the loop) into the Marine Policy Administration System, eliminating redundant manual steps.
Scalability, security, and cost optimization
Leveraging Azure’s flexible AI services—such as Document Intelligence, Functions, Managed Identities, and Key Vault—alongside a pay-as-you-go pricing model, the system scales dynamically and securely to handle both real-time processing and batch jobs, ensuring cost efficiency.
Data & AI
Insurance
Prasad Prabhakaran, Head of AI, esynergy
By developing a custom-built solution instead of relying on an off-the-shelf SaaS product, the business retained full control over its data workflows, ensuring seamless integration with its unique document formats and broker interactions. This approach also lowered total cost of ownership, leveraging Azure’s pay-as-you-go model for cost efficiency. Additionally, by keeping sensitive data within its own cloud environment, the company enhanced security and compliance, reducing reliance on third-party storage while maintaining full governance over its information. The custom build is also future-proof, allowing for rapid adoption of new capabilities from emerging large AI models.
The AI-powered automation solution delivered tangible benefits for the Marine division:
Potential cost savings
£173,008 in projected savings over three years, primarily through reduced manual processing costs and resource optimization
Operational efficiency
Ongoing system maintenance costs as low as £3,008 per year, ensuring a high return on investment
Scalability
Ability to process growing document volumes without increasing headcount, supporting business expansion
Backlog reduction
Faster data extraction and processing significantly decreased delays in marine contract administration
Error reduction
AI-driven accuracy improvements minimized rework, saving an estimated £9,600 per year in correction-related costs
Data & AI
Insurance
Group Head of Technology, [client name withheld]
By transforming document handling through automation, the organization not only streamlined its Marine policy workflow but also positioned itself for future innovation. The solution lays the foundation for broader AI adoption across underwriting operations, reinforcing the client’s commitment to delivering best-in-class insurance services.
