Working With the AI Underwriter
Melissa Butt, Vice President E&S Brokerage, Property, at Skyward Specialty, has spent more than 20 years underwriting commercial property. She's been using the AI Underwriter on live submissions and we asked her what that’s been like.
First impressions
Melissa's assumption going in was that AI in underwriting meant workflow or operational automation, scrubbing data, prefilling fields. That assumption wasn't wrong, exactly. The tool does cut out a lot of manual legwork:
"It eliminated the screen jumping. You don't have to go from one system to another. Instead, it’s putting it all together so that you're reviewing the pertinent information, with the flexibility to align that information to your viewpoint."
For Melissa, what really changed her day-to-day life was what the AI Underwriter does after it's pulled relevant facts together, when it gets to the real underwriting work. It arrives with underwriting knowledge already built in, then layers in what it learns about a specific carrier's appetite and each underwriter's way of working. That combination is what builds a narrative shaped to underwriters’ own judgment:
"It applies what it knows and what it’s learned from you into a narrative aligned with your individual underwriting point of view."
That narrative comes paired with recommended next steps, and Melissa said she's acting on the next step recommendations more often than not. The AI Underwriter isn’t stopping at an appetite-aligned score or summary, it’s working through real underwriting considerations and next steps: declining a bad fit, flagging what's missing from a broker, initiating a referral.
"I frequently agree with the next steps. Maybe you have missing information and need to reach out to your broker, or an exposure is in a gray area and you should consult a peer or your guidelines. It can trigger a referral and help you narrate it, saving time, energy, clicks. All underwriters want to save clicks."
"Wow, it really knows underwriting” moments
When asked what moments stood out that made her excited to continue using Sixfold, here’s what Melissa had to say.
On a rare occupancy type her market doesn't see often:
"I got a very rare occupancy in one of my submissions, food irradiation. We don't see those a lot, even in our market. What really surprised me was not only did it understand what the food irradiation process was, it allowed me to understand the process, too. It said here's some additional information you may want or need, and here's some questions to go back and get answered from your broker."
On a routine loss-history check, where the AI Underwriter pulled in some surprising research:
"The system scrubbed the loss history we received, but it also went out and looked at the web for additional information. What it discovered was that the property was one of the few buildings on the block that did not recently have a fire, which was significant when writing property insurance."
A favorite feature
Melissa was most excited about the AI Underwriter’s chat interactivity:
"The chat interaction is huge. If I had to point to one thing that makes this tool the most functional, it’s the chat."
The reason: it lets her resolve a question the moment it comes up, without leaving the platform. The chat is connected to the same underlying analysis built for that submission, so digging deeper or providing additional context feeds right back into the narrative and next-step recommendations, as well as the AI Underwriter’s overall memory.
On one submission, the initial read on a recycling-related exposure was that the business was a metal processor. Melissa concluded it was actually a transfer station, and used the chat to guide the AI Underwriter in a new direction:
"I let the chat know it isn't a true recycling exposure, it's actually a transfer station, and asked how that changes the loss history, the rating, the narrative. It's similar to talking to a peer: hey, I'm not sure, what do you think? And the system responds."
Advice for a skeptical peer
We asked Melissa what she'd say to another underwriter who isn't sure what to make of something like this:
"Don't be afraid. Yes, it's technology. Yes, it's new. But it's not here for your job. It's here to make your job more efficient and to make your experience stronger. Treat it like you've treated every other tool in your arsenal as an underwriter: challenge it, try to break it, because then it's just going to become stronger. It's a tool. It's a peer. It will interact with you so that you are a stronger underwriter."
Learn more about Sixfold’s latest P&C offering, the AI Underwriter.
