Cytora, a digital risk processing platform, has partnered with ZestyAI, a company that leverages artificial intelligence for risk assessment, to bolster commercial property underwriting with integration of climate models.
According to the announcement, the integration of ZestyAI into the Cytora platform will equip commercial insurance underwriters with the analytics and risk scores they need to assess and manage climate-related risks.
Losses from natural disasters like wildfires, severe storms and hail – that were once considered “secondary perils” – have become a growing concern for commercial property insurers.
By harnessing AI to assess risk exposure at the property level, ZestyAI aims to offer comprehensive climate risk models that account for all factors impacting a property’s value and its susceptibility to natural disasters.
Attila Toth, Founder and CEO of ZestyAI, said: “Climate risk is threatening the stability of the insurance industry, costing hundreds of billions of dollars annually. By offering an approach rooted in materials science and atmospheric science to major challenges like wildfires and severe convective storms, we are bringing greater understanding and accuracy to underwriting and enhancing the insurance industry’s ability to manage these risks effectively. We are honoured to be able to make our climate models available to Cytora customers.”
Through the integration, ZestyAI’s climate models will be accessible within the Cytora platform, providing insurers with a holistic view of a property’s risk exposure to natural disasters, such as severe convective storms and wildfires.
The platform will also benefit from enhanced risk management.With a more accurate understanding of climate risk, commercial carriers can reduce loss ratio through superior control over risk selection and offer tailored insurance solutions based on the insights provided by ZestyAI’s climate models.
Additionally, the integration of ZestyAI’s climate risk models into Cytora expedites commercial carrier workflows by facilitating straight-through processing of low risks, auto-declining high risks, and scaling underwriting capacity to where it’s needed most.
Juan de Castro, COO of Cytora, commented: “At Cytora, we are committed to empowering insurers with the most advanced tools for assessing and managing risks. Our partnership with ZestyAI and the integration of their climate models into our platform is a testament to this commitment. It equips insurers with a powerful resource for understanding and mitigating climate-related risks, ultimately helping them provide superior insurance solutions.”
