• Swiss Re launches an augmented version of its market-leading underwriting manual, Life Guide
• The new version comes equipped with Swiss Re Life Guide Scout, a Generative AI-powered underwriting assistant that aims to help increase efficiency and quality of underwriting

Zurich, 22 April 2024 – Swiss Re launches an augmented version of its Life & Health underwriting manual Life Guide. The new version comes equipped with Swiss Re Life Guide Scout, a Generative AI-powered underwriting assistant, developed by Swiss Re, that integrates Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service. Swiss Re Life Guide Scout aims to help increase the efficiency and quality of underwriting by generating swift answers compiled from curated expert knowledge in response to questions asked by the underwriter in natural language.

Life & Health insurance underwriting is a complex process that requires accurate and up-to-date information to assess an insurance applicant's risk. To make the right decisions, underwriters invest a significant amount of time to search and review information using standard search tools to identify relevant sources and facts.

Life Guide, the world's number one Life & Health underwriting manual, helps clients understand current and future risks, so they can make informed decisions, and build strong, sustainable portfolios.

The augmented version of Life Guide is now equipped with Swiss Re Life Guide Scout, a new functionality powered by Generative AI, that supports underwriters in speeding up risk assessment. Swiss Re Life Guide Scout allows underwriters to make professional queries, receiving an AI-generated answer and the source of information, within seconds. This facilitates them to make faster, more precise decisions and improves knowledge transfer. With a solid data foundation and advanced analytics capabilities, the integration of Azure OpenAI Service unlocks deeper insights for improved human decision making.

Swiss Re Life Guide Scout is launched as a pilot programme in English. A wider roll-out is planned for later this year. 

Julien Descombes, Swiss Re's Chief Underwriting Officer L&H Re, said: "We are excited to bring Generative AI to our clients who can now leverage this new feature to improve their underwriting process. Our ambition is to provide insurers access to the risk perspective we have built into Life Guide in an even more efficient and user-friendly way to help them continue to write sustainable business and deliver on their promises." 

Catrin Hinkel, CEO Microsoft Switzerland, said: "By integrating Microsoft Azure OpenAI, Swiss Re can unlock the power of advanced analytics and Generative AI to provide new capabilities to the insurance market through a secure, compliant, and reliable cloud environment. This powerful combination empowers Swiss Re to share their risk insights with clients, transforming the way they manage risk."

About Life Guide

Life Guide has continuously ranked the industry's number one global underwriting manual based on the NMG Consulting study. Its underwriting philosophy and embedded trainings are backed by Swiss Re experts who monitor the latest medical, regulatory and technological developments. Packed with up-to-date information, Life Guide combines medical and underwriting expertise with analytics and actuarial know-how to deliver confidence to the decisions clients make. Life Guide helps users understand risks and how they interact with each other through functionalities like the cardiovascular risk calculator, which is used, on average, every five seconds by an underwriter seeking to assess heart disease risk. Every day, thousands of underwriters in over 100 countries access Life Guide adding up to more than 23 million hits a year.