Strategic acquisition to significantly expand and accelerate the delivery of AI capabilities across Applied’s global product portfolio

CHICAGO, July 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Systems (“Applied”) today announced that it has acquired Planck, the leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) company for the insurance industry. This strategic acquisition will significantly expand Applied’s AI capabilities, accelerating its vision for the next generation of the digital roundtrip of insurance and creating more value at every stage of the insurance lifecycle for the benefit of agencies, carriers and their clients.

“We believe the time is now to take bold steps to lead the insurance industry in discovering and implementing the benefits AI has to offer,” said Taylor Rhodes, CEO of Applied Systems. “By acquiring Planck, we will be investing behind a world-class team of AI and Data Science experts to accelerate the application of leading AI capabilities to insurance workflows. With our unique set of insurance technology assets that span both the agency and carrier sides of the market, our investment in Planck will deliver a significant opportunity to create AI-driven value throughout the next generation of the digital roundtrip of insurance in ways that will help our clients know more, do more of what differentiates them the most, and win more often.”

Over the past 18 months, Applied has released our first versions of AI-powered features in select Applied and EZLynx products, while also experimenting with various AI capabilities through our Applied AI Lab in collaboration with some of the industry’s largest agents and carriers. These use cases have highlighted significant opportunities for the insurance industry to reduce inefficiencies from redundant tasks and unlock the value of data, creating a more accurate and comprehensive view of business operations to fuel additional growth. By leveraging AI capabilities, Applied aims to enhance the speed and quality of critical business processes, including marketing, sales, underwriting, renewals, servicing, and advisory services. This acquisition will further expand opportunities to harness AI's value in secure and practical ways, delivering intelligent automation throughout the insurance lifecycle.

“We started Planck with the belief that access to real-time data to get a full picture of a business is more crucial than ever when identifying the actual risk factors that are core to insurance,” said Elad Tsur, CEO and Co-Founder of Planck. “We are excited to build on the success of delivering our industry-leading AI capabilities to carriers by partnering with Applied to extend the power of AI to the agency and broker distribution side of the market.”

Hellman & Friedman, a preeminent global private equity firm with a distinctive focus on investing in high-quality growth businesses with a long-term approach, has been Applied’s majority shareholder since 2014, alongside minority shareholders Stone Point Capital, JMI Equity, and capitalG.

For more information on this acquisition, please click here.

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About Applied Systems

Applied Systems is a leading global provider of cloud-based software that powers the business of insurance. Recognized as a pioneer in insurance automation and the innovation leader, Applied is one of the world’s largest providers of agency and brokerage management systems, serving customers throughout the United States, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom. By automating the insurance lifecycle, Applied’s people and products enable millions of people around the world to safeguard and protect what matters most.

About Planck

Planck provides an AI-based data platform for commercial insurance, working with top US insurance companies and helping them increase premiums while reducing loss and expense ratios. Its mission is to empower commercial insurers by generating insights that streamline the commercial underwriting process, enabling insurers to instantly and accurately underwrite any policy. Planck was founded by a team of serial entrepreneurs with an extensive background in insurance and technology.