The Great Insurance Knowledge Transfer: How AI Can Preserve Decades of Expertise

Fifty years ago, the insurance world faced a critical challenge. Catastrophic losses in high-risk industries like oil and gas, chemical manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals demanded a new approach to risk management. Thus, Risk Engineering was born: a discipline designed to understand and mitigate the hidden dangers lurking in industrial operations.

Risk engineers became the unsung heroes of corporate safety, developing sophisticated methodologies to map and minimise potential hazards. More than number-crunching, risk engineers combine deep industry experience with specialised training in fire protection, safety management, and comprehensive risk analysis. They are part engineer, part detective – identifying both obvious and obscured threats that could spell disaster for businesses.

A Demographic Time Bomb

Now, the industry faces an existential threat more complex than any single industrial risk. A recent study reveals a stark reality: approximately 40% of current Risk Engineers will retire within the next five years. This isn't just a staffing challenge – it's an irreversible loss of knowledge.

Becoming a true Risk Engineer is no simple task. It requires:

• Several years of industry experience

• 1-2 years of intensive mentorship

• Specialised training in hazard analysis

• Deep understanding of multiple industrial processes earned through conducting countless inspections

The recruitment and training of these professionals is both demanding and expensive: the total additional cost to fully train a risk engineer over 2 years comes to approximately $214,000 - beyond their base salary. With such a significant portion of institutional knowledge about to walk out the door, the industry stands at a critical crossroads.

The nettle Approach: Revolutionising Risk Assessment

Enter nettle, an innovative solution that promises to transform how industrial risk is assessed and understood. By leveraging artificial intelligence, nettle has developed a comprehensive workflow solution that also captures irreplaceable expertise, safeguarding an entire profession's knowledge base for the future.

The platform revolutionises risk assessment through three key stages:

1. Preparation: Automatically aggregating historic reports, industry standards, and internal and third-party data to provide a comprehensive site overview and ensure the inspection is focused (in some cases, the entire assessment can be done remotely)

2. On-Site Assessment: Capturing critical insights through a mobile app that preserves nuanced observations

3. Reporting: Using AI to transform field notes and evidence into polished reports in a fraction of the traditional time

Most critically, nettle doesn't replace human expertise - it amplifies it. By eliminating tedious administrative tasks, the platform allows Risk Engineers to focus on what they do best: building client relationships and providing life-saving recommendations.

Beyond Efficiency: Preserving Institutional Knowledge

For insurers, nettle represents more than a productivity tool. By allowing insurers to effectively mine decades of historical reports for insights and selectively surface these each time an engineer prepares for an inspection, nettle acts as a generational knowledge transfer mechanism, bridging the gap between retiring experts and incoming talent. The solution appeals to a new generation of professionals already comfortable integrating AI into their daily work.

The stakes are higher than one might imagine. This isn't just about maintaining an industry; it's about preserving a critical risk management infrastructure that protects businesses, workers, and entire communities from potential catastrophes.

As the first generation of Risk Engineers prepares to retire, artificial intelligence offers an unexpected lifeline. The Great Insurance Knowledge Transfer is no longer a challenge to be feared but an opportunity to be seized.