Telling a story with a picture is intuitive. Using pictures for property insurance is widely accepted, yet historically this has been a manual effort. Having computers “see” and perform visual tasks that people have always done allows automation and scale. This is a next-level step change in analytics, using images as data—one where visual data come into play. Letting pictures tell their own story makes businesses more data driven and sustainably competitive.

Using visual data to tell a story from pixels in a picture

Better data power smarter risk-based, peril-specific pricing. These make you smarter—even with “all perils” contracts—and can accelerate your business with by-perils applications across the insurance value chain.

What insurers should do now:

• Expect data-driven image interpretation as the new way of working.

• Embrace remote data collection by first parties, robotic services, remote sensors, and data vendors, as well as traditional property inspection providers.

• Demand your image data “tell a story” for every property—a visual analytic.

• Create new analytic assets using clustering and “properties like these” stories.

• Use “ground truth” to calibrate features in each story and to learn over time.

• Create and act on an analytics strategy that consolidates your use of data from images across the insurance value chain.

• Innovate ways to create new value with this new look at an old data source.