BRIAN the AI Brain Giving Allianz’s Commercial Underwriters a Head Start

Allianz UK has introduced a cutting-edge generative AI tool – named BRIAN – to transform the way underwriters respond to customer enquiries, enhancing both speed and confidence in decision-making processes.

In an increasingly complex environment, with increased regulatory pressure and emerging risks such as cyber liability and climate change increasing in profile, it’s an interesting time to be an underwriter. Technical excellence is a key part of the Allianz UK strategy, and the underwriting teams can face the challenge of navigating through extensive guidance documents, which can be as lengthy as 600 pages. 

Although necessary to produce accurate and insightful answers, this approach can lead to slower response times, impacting the quote experience for brokers and customers.  

BRIAN, the Underwriter Guidance Tool, addresses these challenges by simplifying information retrieval. After a successful pilot phase involving nearly 3,000 questions from 190 users, BRIAN is now fully operational, digesting underwriting guides for Property and Casualty (P&C) and Specialty lines, allowing underwriters to ask specific questions and receive concise, accurate responses sourced exclusively from uploaded documents. 

Since roll-out in January, there have been more than 13,000 questions asked of BRIAN. This hasn’t only saved time – an estimated 65,000 minutes or 135 working days saved in information gathering – but also gives great insights into what the underwriters are asking and why. Named in honour of a knowledgeable colleague who guided Benjamin Blackie during his early career at Allianz, BRIAN represents a commitment to teamwork and innovation.   

BRIAN is particularly beneficial for junior underwriters, accelerating their familiarity with vast documentation and ensuring smoother navigation. The tool is currently used by all Property and Liability Underwriters across Allianz UK commercial offices, with plans to expand to all underwriters by the end of the year.