Allianz Italy is set to digitise agents’ network with the development of a new digital advisor, Allianz Virtual Advisor, using iGenius’ artificial intelligence (AI) platform.

Allianz Italy

Image: Allianz to use iGenius’ AI-powered technology. Photo: Courtesy of Garik Barseghyan/Pixabay.

The new platform will provide Allianz agents with real-time information on everyday business activities on their smartphone screens.

Allianz Virtual Advisor, which forms part of Allianz’s digital ecosystem developed for agents’ network, is expected to process data based on the company’s own key performance indicator (KPIs).

To be available to agents from 1 July 2019, Allianz Virtual Advisor will answer insurance agents’ questions via voice or typing through the natural language processing system. It will offer live advice to the agents and will also monitor their business activities anywhere.

Agents of the insurance company can access the virtual advisor through their smartphones and access data such as income monitoring, performance of a particular product and client profiles, with no need for specific training.

Allianz chief operating officer Agostino Ferrara said: “This is a great example of open innovation, spearheaded by a big group such as Allianz in collaboration with the Italian AI company, with the potential to radically innovate business and commercial operations.

“The new virtual advisor is an extra colleague for our network of professional Agents, an always-available coworker able to process vast amounts of data in a very short time and effectively support our Agents in their day-to-day operations, tapping into the extraordinary potential of conversational artificial intelligence.”

iGenius founder and CEO Uljan Sharka said: “We are enthusiastic about collaborating with a leading insurance and financial group. Data is an essential competitive asset in today’s market and success depends heavily on it.

“With our first-to-market technology we are spearheading the data intelligence revolution. For the first time, companies can enable anyone to make data-driven decisions in real time, instead of relying on technical solutions accessible by a small percentage of the workforce.

“Our virtual advisor can access complex, siloed data and process it rapidly, providing advice and proactive notifications in natural language to help users make effective decisions and guide data-driven business strategies.”

Founded in 2016, iGenius is a native AI company, which aims to reimagine data interaction. Its first product was ‘crystal’, an AI-powered advisor for data intelligence.

crystal was available in six languages including Italian, English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. The product has a particular focus on financial services, insurance, pharmaceutical and utilities sectors.