Skyward Specialty Leverages Gradient AI to Offer Unique Stop-Loss Solution

HOUSTON and BOSTON, Oct. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc.^™("Skyward Specialty"), a leader in the specialty property and casualty (P&C) market, has partnered with Gradient AI, a leading enterprise software provider of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in the insurance industry, to power its Accident and Health (A&H) division's latest technology driven stop-loss solution, SkyVantage.

As employer healthcare costs continue to rise, an increasing number of businesses are turning to self-funded health insurance models. However, lack of access to sufficient historical data leaves many companies unable to purchase stop-loss insurance, access necessary protection to self-fund employee benefits and take advantage of the value-added quality and cost containment solutions afforded to self-funded employers. These employers are relegated to the fully insured market to provide health benefits, resulting in double-digit annual increases and plan designs that leave employees functionally uninsured.

Skyward Specialty A&H met this challenge with SkyVantage, which leverages Gradient AI's SAIL medical underwriting solution. As a result, Skyward Specialty can evaluate group health risk at a deeper level by accessing Gradient AI's vast medical dataset and machine learning and then integrating this intelligence with their expertise in the underwriting process. Using the solution, Skyward Specialty leverages these data insights and more precise assessments to offer highly customized and cost-effective solutions for the self-insured market. This allows employers to provide employee benefits more cost-effectively while also enabling many employers to self-insure who may have been unable to do so otherwise.

"SkyVantage heralds a new era for the self-insurance market with an innovative, holistic solution that simply did not exist before," said Byron Way, CEO of Skyward Specialty's A&H division. "Our philosophy is when the employer plan wins, we win. Combining Gradient AI's group health data and advanced machine learning with our highly skilled and experienced stop-loss underwriters makes SkyVantage a true differentiator in the market."

"Skyward Specialty is a company known for leveraging technology to bring disruptive and innovative insurance solutions to market, solving previously unsolvable insurance challenges," said Stan Smith, founder & CEO of Gradient AI. "We're excited that Gradient AI's solution has enabled Skyward Specialty to build on its reputation for offering customized solutions to the self-insured market."

Gradient AI's SAIL solution leverages AI and a vast data set to offer deeper health and medical data and insights than its competitors. In addition, its ability to collaborate with customers to deliver solutions that meet the unique needs of its business model is a key reason Skyward Specialty chose to work with Gradient AI.

About Skyward Specialty
Skyward Specialty is a rapidly growing specialty insurance company, delivering commercial property and casualty products and solutions on a non-admitted and admitted basis. The Company operates through eight underwriting divisions – Accident & Health, Captives, Global Property, Industry Solutions, Professional Lines, Programs, Surety and Transactional E&S.

Skyward Specialty's subsidiary insurance companies consist of Houston Specialty Insurance Company, Imperium Insurance Company, Great Midwest Insurance Company, and Oklahoma Specialty Insurance Company. These insurance companies are rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company. For more information about Skyward Specialty, its people, and its products, please visit skywardinsurance.com

About Gradient AI
Gradient AI is a leading provider of proven artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for the insurance industry. Its solutions improve loss ratios and profitability by predicting underwriting and claim risks with greater accuracy, as well as reducing quote turnaround times and claim expenses through intelligent automation. Unlike other solutions that use a limited claims and underwriting dataset, Gradient's software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform leverages a vast dataset comprised of tens of millions of policies and claims. It also incorporates numerous other features including economic, health, geographic and demographic information. Customers include some of the most recognized insurance carriers, MGAs, TPAs, risk pools, PEOs and large self-insureds across all major lines of insurance. By using Gradient AI's solutions, insurers of all types achieve a better return on risk. To learn more about Gradient, please visit https://www.gradientai.com.

Media ContactHaley DoughtySkyward Specialty Insurance Group
713-935-4944
hdoughty@skywardinsurance.com

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