Shift Technology: transforming the insurance industry

“Ask people what they think of insurance companies and nearly half the time they’ll tell you that insurance is an unavoidable evil and carriers are never willing to pay claims,” says Jeremy Jawish, CEO and co-founder of Paris-based Shift Technology. And much of this lack of trust is due to fraud. “Up to 20% of claims involve an element of fraud, which often goes undetected. Most individuals who try to defraud insurance companies do it because they are convinced that the insurance companies are ripping them off in the first place. This has plagued the sector for far too long.” Jeremy is convinced that at Shift, they can fix this problem.

Shift’s solutions help detect fraud by integrating AI-enabled, machine-learning models into insurance companies’ processes. The automated tool flags potentially fraudulent claims across all lines of business with a 75% hit rate. “We analyse multiple data sources giving the insurer the best recommendations for suspicious claims. Not only can we help save endless hours spent scrutinising documents but also ensure that claims professionals can dedicate their time to satisfying customers’ real needs and guide them through often-complicated processes. Once you are confident that a claim is legitimate, the relationship becomes more human and sincere and insurance companies can focus on really being there for their clients.”

Jeremy founded Shift in 2014 with two friends. “We had spent many years working in insurance. Fraud was our biggest headache and solving it was difficult because nothing was automated. We knew AI could bring enormous benefit, so we put our computer science and machine learning knowledge to work...” Unsurprisingly perhaps, the first year was tough, as shifting mindsets, particularly when dealing with fraud and risk, is no simple task. “It’s not easy to convince the industry that machine learning is the way forward,” he adds. But backing from Elaia Partners, a venture capital firm backed by the EIF, gave the company a boost. “It changed the way people saw us, gave us credibility. They helped us build up muscle and develop our products.”

Today, the company is expanding its solution set to cover processes outside of fraud including claims automation, and subrogation, underwriting fraud, and financial crimes detection. It is active in 25 countries and works with some of the biggest names in the property & casualty, travel and health insurance sectors. “We are seeing a shift in people’s perception of insurance in general. AI, big data and machine learning are driving that change.  I am convinced that this transformation will have a phenomenal impact on the customer experience. For me it is the only way forward for solving fraud and other challenges facing the global insurance industry.”

Company: Shift Technology (France)

Type of business: ICT

EIF financing: RCR, own resources

Financial intermediary: Elaia Partners

For further information about EIF intermediaries in France, please refer to http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/fr