Koïos Intelligence, a Quebec-based start-up that provides insurance professionals with a conversational assistant powered by artificial intelligence (AI), announced today to have concluded a $6.5 millionfinancing round with the participation of Propulia Capital, Canada Economic Development, Export Development Canada, Caisse Desjardins des Technologies and other private investors, who are convinced that natural language processing is poised to revolutionize the operations of organizations. This financing includes equity and other financial instruments such as debt instruments and call options.
This new investment will allow Koïos to rapidly expand into new markets, while continuing to develop its virtual assistant, making it easier than ever for insurers to do business.
Revolutionizing the way people shop for insurance policies and update insurance contracts
By combining insights from experts in insurance, finance, and AI, Koïos identified a disconnect between the way brokers currently sell insurance, and the way consumers want to buy it. In fact, in 2022, the overwhelming majority of insurance sales were still done over the phone or in person and required an average of over an hour. However, new generations of consumers have increasingly sophisticated expectations and, according to a survey conducted by Koïos Intelligence, 75% of them expect a response from an agent in less than 5 minutes. Moreover, 65% of consumers prefer online platforms to call centers when shopping for insurance.
Koïos’ Olivo conversational assistant is AI-powered and acts as a virtual intermediary between the insurance broker and the consumer, allowing the consumer to shop for different coverage options, and even complete insurance purchases, all while asking the virtual assistant questions. Olivo is interconnected with leading insurance industry systems such as Applied and the Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO). These integrations allow Koïos Intelligence to be part of the insurance value chain and to retain clients such as PMA Insurance, Tardif Group Insurance, Intact’s partners in the Virage Group, and Rogers Insurance, one of the largest insurance brokers in Canada. This connectivity streamlines the pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase processes for all types of insurance products through data automation.
The standardization of processes allows for greater efficiency throughout the value chain, a 30% reduction in administrative costs for insurance brokers or agents, and a potential 400% increase in sale conversion rates. In parallel, Olivo offers consumers fast and personalized service, available 24/7 in the language of their choice with a 30% shorter waiting time than if they had to contact a call centre.
Olivo uses multimodal AI, a type of artificial intelligence in which multiple channels of information transmission (text, voice, image) are used to train interlocking algorithms to better understand consumer interactions.
Google Announces A New Cybersecurity Training Program
Posted in Commentary with tags Google on May 4, 2023 by itnerdCyber attacks increased globally by nearly 40 per cent last year, but despite the pressing need to address this threat, research shows that there are currently more than 25,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in Canada.This highlights the need for more experienced cyber security professionals in Canada,
Today, Google Canada announced the launch of the Google Cybersecurity Certificate as the newest addition to the Google Career Certificates program, which provides job seekers with paths to careers in data analytics, IT support, project management and more. The course can be completed online and prepares learners for entry-level careers in cybersecurity in less than six months with no prior experience required.
To help create new opportunities and bring more diverse talent to the cybersecurity sector, Google is working with non-profit partners Canada Learning Code and ComIT to build bespoke training programs and grant 1,500 scholarships to learners in their networks who identify as women, newcomers and underrepresented Canadians.
About Google Cybersecurity Career Certificates
The Cybersecurity Certificate builds on the success of Google’s Career Certificate Programs in Canada, which offer job seekers affordable pathways to careers in data analytics, IT support, business intelligence and more.
76% of Canadian graduates from Google Career Certificate Programs report positive outcomes, including securing new jobs, higher pay or promotions within six months of completion.
Google Career Certificates were developed by Google employees as part of Grow with Google, a global initiative designed to create economic opportunities.
Certificate programs are available in Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, Project Management, UX Design, IT Support and more.
Google’s latest blog post has more details.
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