InsurTech NY: Feathery on AI Transforming Intake

At InsurTech NY, Alex Backart from Feathery explains how the company is tackling one of the most time-consuming parts of the insurance process: submission intake.

Backart says Feathery is focused on solving the labour-intensive front end of underwriting, where carriers receive and process incoming submissions. This stage often involves collecting, reviewing, and structuring large amounts of data much of it manually. According to Backart, this is where inefficiencies can quickly build up and slow down response times for customers.

Feathery’s approach is to bring AI directly into this process.

Backart explains that by using AI, the platform helps carriers ingest and organise data more quickly, allowing them to respond to customers faster and with greater accuracy. The goal isn’t just speed, but also improving how information is handled at the earliest stage of the insurance journey. By structuring data earlier, insurers can make better decisions downstream in underwriting and servicing.

He emphasises that the value of AI in this context is practical.

Rather than replacing roles, Backart says AI is being used to support teams and improve productivity. By reducing manual work, teams can focus more on decision-making and customer engagement, rather than spending time on repetitive administrative tasks. In his view, AI should be seen as a tool that enables people to do their jobs better, not something that removes the need for them.

Backart also reflects on the importance of events like InsurTech NY.

He describes the conference as a key gathering point for emerging technologies in the insurance space, where companies can see what others are building and how innovation is evolving across the market. For Feathery, it provides an opportunity to engage with customers, explore new ideas, and understand how different solutions can come together to better serve the industry.

Overall, Backart’s perspective is grounded in execution.

AI may be a widely discussed topic, but in this case, the focus is on applying it to a specific, high-friction part of the insurance workflow improving efficiency, accelerating response times, and helping insurers handle data more effectively from the very start.