Making Risk Flow News & Insights

Making Risk Flow: Topic Spotlight

This month we’re spotlighting a question most insurers are actively wrestling with: Build vs Buy in risk digitisation - and what it really takes to create decision-ready risks at scale.

Our latest two-pager guide breaks down the operational realities behind risk digitization and provides a practical framework for separating what should be built in-house from what should be bought as configurable, production-grade infrastructure.

Inside, we unpack:

• What insurers are actually solving for: transforming unstructured submissions into consistent, decision-ready risks that drive straight-through processing and predictable turnaround times
• Why demos don’t scale: where internal prototypes break when exposed to real-world complexity across lines of business, markets and formats
• The full workflow required: from classification to data extraction, enrichment, appetite routing and HITL - because value comes from digitising the entire flow, not a single step
• A clear Build vs Buy framework: buy the foundational infrastructure every insurer needs; build the proprietary logic that defines competitive advantage

For insurers looking to increase throughput, remove operational friction, and deploy underwriting capacity where it creates the most value, this resource offers a grounded, experience-based perspective.

Read the guide: Build vs Buy in Risk Digitization.

Making Risk Flow Podcast

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Making Risk Flow – Season 7 Highlights | Top Lessons & Expert Takeaways

Season 7 of Making Risk Flow brought together leaders from Arch, Beazley, Ki, Vantage, Aon and more to show how underwriting transformation is moving from ambition to reality. The season’s conversations revealed a market shifting toward speed, scale and data-driven consistency - with clear proof points that modernisation is no longer theoretical.

Key highlights from the season:

• Speed Wins in Underwriting: Arch reports a 50% higher bind rate when first to quote. Automated ingestion and triage collapse clearance windows from days to hours, while API submissions surge - pushing carriers to digitize all channels
• Digital-First Platforms Scale: Brit’s Ki delivers five-second quotes for 30,000+ risks annually, supporting 1,000+ brokers. Algorithmic underwriting at scale demonstrates how digital follow platforms are reshaping the London Market and enabling other carriers to plug in capacity
• Clean-Sheet Builds Unlock Agility: Vantage uses zero tech debt and cloud-native data to quote excess casualty risks in real time, even during broker meetings. Smaller balance sheets create constraints but also allow nimble workflows and cleaner data pipelines
• Standardisation Drives Efficiency: Beazley shows that cross-line standardization of intake, checks, and workflows is achievable. One flexible data model can adapt per line, but success depends on cross-functional adoption, not just technology
• AI & Analytics Transform Risk Insight: SCOR and Aon demonstrate how AI and unified data lakes enable predictive insights, frictionless workflows, and real-time risk discussions with clients. Conversations shift from policy placement to optimization of capital and risk management
• The Future of Insurance: Companies that successfully blend data, technology, and underwriting judgment will deliver faster, simpler, and more relevant risk experiences - building loyalty while navigating an increasingly digital and high-speed market

Listen to the full episode here.

Exploring the Ecosystem

From Hype to Hard ROI: Making AI Actually Work in Insurance I Matthew Grant, InsTech

In this week’s episode, Matthew Grant - CEO of InsTech and a 33-year veteran of catastrophe modelling - cuts through the noise around AI in insurance. He explains why the industry’s measured pace isn’t hesitation but risk intelligence, and why the biggest ROI comes from solving real bottlenecks rather than chasing hype.

Key highlights from the conversation:

• AI adoption isn’t slow - it’s smart: Carriers move deliberately because decisions affect capital, customers and regulatory exposure, not just efficiency metrics
• Real ROI comes from fixing friction: The most reliable wins are emerging in time-savings, reducing low-value manual work, and streamlining inconsistent workflows
• Outcome-driven data quality matters: It’s not about collecting more data, but using the right data to improve decisions, shorten cycle times and reduce uncertainty
• Consistency beats novelty: Keeping interfaces familiar helps underwriters adopt new AI capabilities without disrupting how they work
• Trust and explainability are non-negotiable: Carriers increasingly expect transparent model logic, validation evidence and clear risk boundaries before adopting new tools or data sources
• Culture shapes competitiveness: Organisations that encourage safe experimentation attract better talent and advance faster - without compromising control or governance
• The real winners will combine AI with underwriting judgment: Sustainable advantage comes from purposeful, incremental integration aligned with underwriting realities

Tune in here.

From Reactive to Predictive: The Proactive Advantage Reshaping Cyber Insurance Today

Cyber insurance is maturing into one of the most complex and strategically important lines in the industry, and Ross Wirth makes clear that its challenges are also its biggest catalysts for innovation. Unlike traditional P&C risks, cyber evolves in real time, has cascading single points of failure, and demands a far deeper understanding of technology dependencies. As underwriters shift from static views to live, data-driven insights, the industry is redefining how risk is priced, diversified and prevented - moving from a reactive repair model toward proactive protection at scale. The conversation underscores a pivotal truth: as cyber risk accelerates, insurers who harness data, transparency and AI-augmented decisioning will shape the future of risk transfer.

Key highlights & learnings from the episode:

• Cyber is the only line where risk actively learns and adapts - each attack builds on the last, making exposure cumulative, dynamic and exponential
• Single points of failure define cyber aggregation, and diversification requires visibility into shared technologies, not just geographies or industry classes
• The “two truths” problem (static applications vs. live security posture) means insurers must underwrite both point-in-time conditions and behavioural trends over months
• Recent systemic events like the AWS outage exposed how cloud dependencies can trigger losses even when an insured’s own security is strong
• Proactive monitoring is becoming part of the product, shifting insurers from repair-and-replace to “predict and prevent” models that reduce loss frequency
• AI is amplifying both attackers and defenders, creating an arms race - but one that also unlocks the ability to detect unknown vulnerabilities before they become claims
• Adoption hinges on trust and transparency - underwriters need clear visibility into model inputs, validation cycles, and performance over time to rely on AI-generated insights
• Human judgment remains essential, especially in navigating client relationships, blended coverages, long-term partnerships and the moral dimension of intervention
• Underutilised industry data represents a major opportunity, and greater willingness to experiment could meaningfully improve risk outcomes across the market

Listen to the full discussion here.

Meet Cytora at ITC London next Month

The Cytora team will be at ITC London on 26–27 January, connecting with carriers and industry leaders to discuss the future of insurance. Join us on Day 1 at 10:10 for our panel, “Reimagining the Blueprint: Business Models of the Future,” where we’ll explore how insurance business models are evolving under structural and strategic pressure — and what tomorrow’s carrier, MGA and hybrid models will look like as they reshape risk and capital flows.

If you’d like to connect with our team during the event, you can book a meeting via this link.

Inside the Cytora Platform

LLM-powered. Comprised of a comprehensive suite of advanced tools. Built upon foundational best practices. The Cytora Platform makes risk digitization faster, smarter, and more consistent.

This video offers a clear, holistic look at how the Cytora Platform works behind the scenes. It walks through the core building blocks - schemas, natural-language configuration, multi-source reasoning, and transparent explainability - and shows how submissions flow seamlessly through underwriting and claims workflows.

If you'd like to learn more about the Cytora platform, book a demo with our expert team.

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