The world of insurance is evolving, with an estimated US$343 billion total annual cost of economic losses linked to natural disasters. The fact that these risks are intertwined rather than existing in isolation makes them increasingly complex to manage. The role of insurance companies, traditionally paying compensation following an adverse event, remains essential but is no longer sufficient, inspiring AXA to lead the way with the AXA Digital Commercial Platform (DCP). Its goal was to assist companies and policyholders anticipate risks in complex and evolving environments. For AXA, this meant analyzing a multitude of data points and finding solutions to prevent threats, empowering its clients to confidently continue in their daily lives and business activities.
Building cutting-edge technologies for optimized risk management
To build DCP, AXA needed to pick the perfect collaborators. “We chose to develop the platform in [collaboration] with MongoDB and Amazon Web Services,” said Emanuele Pecorari, DCP Solution Architect at AXA. He highlighted the fact that the two companies work closely together to integrate their services and enable the creation of ready-to-use intelligent applications with the flexibility, scalability, and high availability required by end customers. Thus, AXA decided to work with MongoDB and Amazon Web Services (AWS) teams to create next-generation risk management solutions, jointly developing AXA DCP as well as the associated software services.
Delivering innovative services to meet business needs
The development of AXA DCP, implemented in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) environment, involved forging close relationships with the world’s leading providers of real-time geospatial data and with recognized cybersecurity companies. As a result, DCP can help customers ensure business continuity and manage risks effectively by offering them a range of services, notably cyber-, property, and maritime intelligence.
- Cyber-intelligence: Human error is the cause of approximately 95% of cybersecurity breaches. AXA has developed integrated training and educational programs that help create a human firewall, in addition to monitoring risks and using best-in-class technologies.
- Property intelligence: By combining detailed historical data and visual tools, such as real-time mapping, DCP enables businesses to monitor a wide range of risk factors—from natural disasters and climate change to geopolitical threats—and be ready to act on any potential vulnerabilities.
- Maritime Intelligence: The DCP system uses real-time positioning data and multilayered risk analysis to provide a vivid picture of a maritime fleet’s security. It identifies vulnerabilities or proximity to natural hazards, war zones, and areas under sanctions, providing the information necessary to effectively protect assets.
Enriching the platform with data
The multitude of data contained in the database comes in unstructured form and from various sources, such as satellite images, figures, research, and weather. While the entire information bank can be used by AXA and its clients, DCP can go even further. With the property intelligence service, clients have a global map of their assets and can perform analyses, obtain recommendations, observe the results of a virtual interaction on the map, and delineate zones. What’s more, the cyber-intelligence service, reserved for internal underwriters, enables them to define scores related to vulnerabilities on client sites.
Gaining multi-cloud openness
“From the outset, our goal was to build a multitenant SaaS platform,” explained Pecorari. “This meant an application that would [enable] multiple clients to operate within the same environment and on the same infrastructure.” As a new and independent entity within AXA, DCP had the flexibility to make its own technological choices, which enabled it to be codeveloped by the technical teams at AWS and MongoDB. One of the most critical aspects of this collaboration was the question of where to store DCP’s data within an international insurance group like AXA. “This is where sharding comes into play, combined with the use of a virtual private cloud,” explained Pecorari.
For example, European data remains in Europe, while American data is housed in the United States. And when a new storage space is needed in the United Kingdom, there is no need for DCP’s IT teams to intervene, due to automation. The platform is fully managed by MongoDB and AWS with simple and automatic scalability based on application workloads. As a result, AXA developers are freed from platform management and can provide added value by creating new integrated AI services.
Achieving AXA’s vision for environmental impact
Always future looking, AXA plans to use DCP to support clients’ environmental commitments. By tracking their emissions and impact on biodiversity, it can assist in helping companies meet their environmental, social, and governance objectives. AXA’s next steps are to open the platform to more companies, cover more threats, refine existing tools, and continue to expand its expertise through new collaborations.
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