A Bermuda market veteran with an expertise in claims has cofounded Elysian, a new insurance company based in Nashville, Tennessee.

Grace Hanson held claims leadership roles at AIG and Allied World Assurance in Bermuda between 2001 and 2008, and was group chief claims officer at Hiscox Group for three years until December 2021.

She and Dinyar Mistry have launched Elysian, which she described as “a ground-up AI-orchestrated [third-party administrator]”.

Ms Hanson is also chief executive of the company, while Mr Mistry is chief operating officer.

Backed by $3 million in pre-seed funding led by American Family Ventures, Elysian will handle commercial liability claims starting on January 1, and will be powered by its proprietary AI Claim Conductor.

On her LinkedIn page, Ms Hanson said: “We wanted to deliver something genuinely different. As a former CCO at Allied World, Homesite Insurance, Hiscox, and Hippo Insurance, I’ve engaged with over 500 TPAs. I know the varying quality in those services.

“We didn’t want to join the growing body of companies that provide limited AI capabilities. It’s relatively simple to build something with Anthropic, OpenAI or Google. It’s more challenging to rethink system design.

“As a former commercial insurance litigator, I know that using AI in complex claims handling demands unwavering commitment to ethical principles and expert human oversight.”

She added: “Elysian emerged from my experience that #insurance claims handling today is broken.

“Adjusters serve as data entry techs, customer service reps, lawyers, negotiators, report writers and psychologists — all with piecemeal technological support.

“As a result, handling costs remain high, liability loss costs continue to rise and adjusters are fleeing the industry.

“I’ve always loved #claims, and it has broken my heart to watch this happen.

“Elysian’s north star is simple — reimagining claims handling from first principles to create a hybrid intelligence system that is foundationally machine-driven, human-empowering.

“This combination allows us to deliver exceptional outcomes. Our system uses #AI to handle the ‘messy middle’ of claims, allowing our expert adjusters to manage only the ‘human’ parts.”