How we use artificial intelligence at MAPFRE

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a pivotal driver of innovation across all industries, fundamentally reshaping the dynamics of how companies engage with their customers. It’s a significant part of different aspects of our everyday lives, and its economic, business, and social impact is immense.

Among its many facets, Generative AI (Gen AI) stands out for its ability to create new and tailored content from pre-existing datasets. The implementation of this solution in automating the generation of texts, images, music, and more, not only streamlines processes but also enhances the level of personalization in offerings, a trait increasingly prized by consumers. Companies incorporating these capabilities gain a substantial competitive edge while delivering optimal service to their customers.

The insurance industry is one of the sectors harnessing the full potential of AI, with companies like MAPFRE spearheading this transformation. Through the employment of AI solutions, it not only optimizes its operations but also enhances the overall customer experience. AI facilitates both claims management and risk assessment, and it makes it possible to create highly personalized policies that are tailored to customers’ needs. This kind of innovation streamlines services and increases customer satisfaction, which are key to standing out in a fiercely competitive market.

“AI is helping us to streamline internal projects as well as processes with our customers, improving their experience and increasing their level of satisfaction with the products they purchase,” says Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Cobos, Global Head of Innovation, MAPFRE. “Among the many uses we have for AI, we apply it to manage and understand customer emails, detect damage in images of vehicles when taking out a policy, and throughout the entire claims process, for example,” he adds.

MAPFRE demonstrates its commitment to AI by improving the quality of its services and generating a positive and lasting impact on society, always from the perspective of responsible, reliable, and sustainable use.

AI in general, and deep learning in particular, have had a major impact on MAPFRE by helping us to successfully complete different phases of our transformation.

Currently, the company has identified over 200 AI use cases and has more than 90 projects in development. Our focus prioritizes enhancing the customer experience. However, we’re also streamlining insurance management itself through solutions that automate processes such as claims processing, renewal, retention, and conversion, among others. All AI solutions (both proprietary and third-party) are subject to the MAPFRE Group’s AI governance model.

For instance, we recently embarked on a project between MAPFRE Brazil and Shift, implementing end-to-end automation with AI for processing home insurance claims. This innovative approach facilitates direct payment to the customer in a single interaction following validation.

In multiple countries where it operates, the company collaborates with ControlExpert to employ a pioneering deep learning algorithm for the automatic verification of car damage in real-time when taking out a policy.

When it comes to healthcare, MAPFRE España has a digital physiotherapy initiative in collaboration with Trak, which revolves around prescribing rehabilitation exercises and providing continuous patient monitoring, all facilitated by AI.

In the field of emerging risks, MAPFRE RE collaborates with Lobelia on a project to predict the impact of climate change on physical risks of insured portfolios. MAPFRE España has developed a cyberprotection pilot with Cyberwrite for SMEs, helping them to understand their vulnerabilities to cyberattacks, as well as providing a more accurate knowledge of the risk in the underwriting of cyberinsurance.

MAPFRE has 75 use cases under study for the application of generative AI, nine of which are already underway and operational on a daily basis. This technology enables innovations such as automated content creation for digital platforms, efficient document management, and customer service through virtual assistants. Thanks to these applications, MAPFRE improves the accuracy and speed of customer interactions and optimizes its internal operations.

Generative AI plays a key role in the creation of content aimed at improving the company’s search engine positioning and visibility on social networks. This strategy has resulted in a more than 40% increase in the rate of access to both networks and search engines. Consequently, interaction with users has intensified, leading to improvements in their assistance and satisfaction levels.

What’s more, MAPFRE employs MIA GPT, a virtual assistant that streamlines the management of queries in its network of agencies and optimizes the resolution of questions related to specific topics (conditioning factors, product sheets, operations, etc.). Since there’s an immense variety of questions and types of knowledge sources, this solution increases the satisfaction of employees, collaborators, and, of course, our customers by reducing response times and their effectiveness.

The company also kick-started a pilot program for code generation aimed at achieving greater efficiency in the daily work of internal teams and providers. This project demonstrates the complementary nature of these skills for employees. By freeing up specialized talent to focus more on higher-skilled activities, it not only enhances productivity but also leads to improvement and enrichment of the teams.

“For us, AI is an excellent booster of the internal talent we have. What we seek at all times is to provide people with the necessary tools so that they can freely develop their creativity, eliminating as far as possible manual tasks that do not provide direct value and moving towards a more dynamic, collaborative, and efficient corporate culture,” says Maribel Solanas, Group Chief Data Officer at MAPFRE.

At MAPFRE, ethical management of artificial intelligence is key, in line with the company’s commitment to accountability and transparency. The company has established a guidelines framework to ensure that the use of AI scrupulously complies with ethical principles and existing regulations. MAPFRE applies responsible policies for the use of AI in risk assessment, bias prevention, and data protection.

To reinforce ethics in its AI systems, MAPFRE employs advanced solutions from vendors such as Holistic AI that help identify and mitigate risks while ensuring transparency and fairness. In parallel, the company fosters a culture of ethics in AI through training programs that highlight the importance of an ethical approach to automation and data analysis.

“We strive to integrate AI in a responsible manner, with the objective of transforming and fortifying our operations while maintaining stringent control over data to unlock its full potential. By doing so, we ensure that innovation aligns with our corporate values and contributes decisively to a robust value proposition that meets market demands,” says Maribel Solanas.

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