Crop insurance might seem like a tiny niche, but Ceres Imaging's work in the field highlights the perfect example of innovation in the development of better insurance solutions.

The company has used data science combined with agriculture knowledge to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) solution for the crop insurance business.

The company uses a patented camera system to capture and extract aerial and satellite imagery across multispectral bands which are calibrated for each use case.

Its proprietary AI models, refined over 10 years and with more than 11 billion individual plant-level measurements, enable Ceres to quantify the extent and severity of crop damage remotely.

In advance of sending claims adjusters, insurers can also use Ceres analytics tools to triage multiple claims and verify that total acres match the policy coverage and terms.

A small area on the field can be used to generate a holistic representation of overall damage, with the number of representative samples determined by the insurer and claims adjuster.

The technology has helped insurers to improve the accuracy of underwriting by ensuring total acres and crop type meet policy terms; receive early indications of crop damage across a portfolio and avoid discrepancy with policyholders regarding total crop acres and crop establishment timing during a claims incident.

"Our AI has the ability to identify over 40 different plant and crop types and it has learned that over the last 10 years," says Ramsey Masri, chief executive at Ceres Imaging. "We are able through our imaging technology to see all the way down to 10 centimeters and granularity. We can give that precision and that actuarial accuracy which allows the insurer to not only pay out very quickly to satisfy the farmers immediate needs, but also, to give it a very fine point, so that the insured doesn't overpay."