Applied Systems announced the acquisition of Planck, an AI company for the insurance industry. The acquisition aims to expand Applied’s AI capabilities and enhance the digital insurance process for agencies, insurers, and their customers.

Over the past 18 months, Applied has launched AI-powered features in select Applied and EZLynx products, and has also piloted various AI capabilities through the Applied AI Lab. These initiatives, conducted in collaboration with some of the largest agents and carriers in the industry, have shown significant opportunities to reduce inefficiencies and unlock the value of data.

Applied said it aims to leverage AI to enhance critical business processes, including marketing, sales, underwriting, renewals and advisory services. The acquisition of Plank will expand opportunities to harness the value of AI and deliver intelligent automation across the insurance lifecycle.

Read more: Developing insurance with digital efficiency

“By acquiring Plank, we will be investing in a world-class team of AI and data science experts to accelerate the application of leading AI capabilities to the insurance workflow,” said Taylor Rhodes (pictured above), CEO of Applied Systems. “With our unique set of insurtech assets spanning both the agency and carrier sides of the market, our investment in Plank will provide a significant opportunity to create AI-driven value throughout the next generation of insurance’s digital journey in ways that help our customers know more, do more of what sets them apart, and win more often.”

Elad Tzur, CEO and co-founder of Plank, expressed his excitement about the partnership with Applied.

“We are excited to build on the success of delivering industry-leading AI capabilities to carriers by partnering with Applied to extend the power of AI to the distribution of agencies and brokers in the market,” said Tsur.

Hellman & Friedman, a global private investment firm, has been Applied’s largest shareholder since 2014, along with minority shareholders Stone Point Capital, JMI Equity and CapitalG.

What do you think of this story? Feel free to share your comments below.