Michigan State University

Science at the Edge

October 25, 2019

11:30 a.m., Room 1400 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building

Refreshments served at 11:00 a.m.

Tony Szedlak

Analytics R&D

Auto-Owners Insurance

Innovation in Industry: Machine Learning and Data Analytics at Auto-Owners Insurance

Nearly every industry has been affected by the recent explosion in machine learning algorithms and computing power. The information trapped in the mountains of data accumulated by financial companies, including insurance companies, over many decades makes the industry particularly ripe for disruption. We at Auto-Owners Insurance embraced this challenge and created a data science group dedicated to applying modern machine learning innovations to our own stores of historical and new data.

I will first give a brief overview of the company and my (seamless) transition from academic physics at MSU to industrial data science at Auto-Owners Insurance. I will then cover my two largest deep learning projects over my extensive 18-month career at A-O: a pipeline for extracting odometer readings from dashboard photos, and a pipeline for quantifying tree coverage around our insureds' houses using aerial imagery.

Students interested in working in industry are especially encouraged to attend.