Zesty.ai opens AI research center in Canada for insurance industry

US-based artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Zesty.ai has opened a data science centre of excellence in Montréal, Canada will focus on research and development of new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for the insurance industry.

With this investment, Zesty.ai aims to accelerate digital transformation in the property & casualty insurance industry using powerful data and cutting-edge AI technologies.

Under the leadership of Bryan Minor, an executive with more than two decades of experience in AI, Zesty.ai lab will develop new risk insights for data-driven underwriting, rating, and digital consumer and agent experiences.

Zesty.ai Lab serves as a cornerstone for the company’s AI development. By choosing Montréal, the emerging AI hub in North America, Zesty.ai said it is well positioned to attract local talent in computer vision and data science, which is both plentiful and of high quality in the city. The research centre, under the leadership of Minor, will build a sizable team of data scientists with the unique skill sets that are required for the digital transformation of the insurance industry.

“Bryan’s deep experience in data science makes him the ideal executive to lead Zesty.ai Lab. His hands-on experience in building data-intensive products and proven track record in rapidly scaling talented teams in AI is a rare combination,” said Michael Ulin, head of machine learning at Zesty.ai.

Minor, head of Zesty.ai Lab, said: “We’re in an incredible position to create risk insights that have never before been available to the insurance industry and to the communities impacted by disasters. AI is quickly changing the way we understand the world around us and there is no doubt that Montréal will be at the forefront of that change. In partnership with Montréal International, Investissement Québec, and the support of our colleagues in Silicon Valley, Zesty.ai Lab is set to scale up quickly and build cutting-edge risk assessment products powered by AI.”