Michaël Bordeleau-Tassile developed the winning app for the Casualty Actuarial Society’s 2023 Hacktuary Challenge, a contest that encourages tech-savvy actuaries to develop a useful consumer-facing app.

Integrating property overviews, predictive analytics and insurance data insights, PropertInsight is an innovative platform that provides consumers with comprehensive features to make informed decisions about purchasing property while also giving insurers access to valuable data for risk assessment. The use case features Montréal, Canada.

In this exclusive Actuarial Review interview, I asked Bordeleau-Tassile about the inspiration behind the app, the challenges in creating it and the secret to successful implementation.

Baribeau: Tell us about PropertInsight. Which feature do you think consumers will find the most helpful? What do you want readers to know about it?

Bordeleau-Tassile: At first glance, I think customers will really appreciate the map search feature, especially with all its layers. Wondering where you can afford to live? Concerned about living in a heat hotspot where you would need to crank up the air conditioning to endure scorching heatwaves? Worried about the risk of flooding? How much noise can you tolerate?

I want readers to know that PropertInsight represents the future of technology in both the real estate and insurance industries. By seamlessly integrating property overviews, predictive analytics and insurance data insights, it streamlines the home-buying process while also revolutionizing how insurers evaluate risk. It’s a win-win for both consumers and insurance companies, bringing innovation and efficiency to age-old decisions.

Baribeau: What inspired your app?

Bordeleau-Tassile: The housing crisis across North America is having a severe impact. In the past few years, I’ve watched families desperate for homes jump at the first available properties, sometimes overpaying, and often buying without thoroughly checking out the place and its surroundings.

Baribeau: Was there anything particularly challenging about developing the app? If so, what was it?

Bordeleau-Tassile: Surprisingly, out of the 28 datasets I utilized, I was only familiar with one beforehand!

Everything else was entirely new territory for me. So, the initial hurdle was hunting down relevant data, grasping its intricacies, and figuring out how to leverage the value.

Then came the daunting task of seamlessly merging these diverse data sources. Integrating real estate, environmental and social data into a cohesive, user-friendly interface was quite the challenge.

Nevertheless, armed with a bottomless cup of coffee and an insatiable curiosity, no challenge, no matter how complex, will hold me back. That’s my little secret … I’m a bit of a data junkie, if you will. There’s always a rush of excitement when I get to dive into new data, uncovering patterns and discovering their significance.

Baribeau: Well, it is not a secret anymore! But what you are saying should inspire other actuaries: intellectual curiosity and dedication can lead to potentially game-changing innovations such as PropertInsight.

When developing the app, who tested it?

Bordeleau-Tassile: I asked my sister to give it a try, while I watched carefully to see if the navigation was intuitive enough to her. To some actuaries, I tried to explain the unique transformation process for the fire hazard model. It became clear that breaking down the process into a simple step-by-step example was necessary for the user to better understand it.

Baribeau: What future plans do you have with the app?

Bordeleau-Tassile: My future plans would involve some serious lobbying with the real estate board to pry open the gates to their coveted garden of data. Once we’ve got those keys, it’s game on for integrating even more juicy data into the mix!

“I want readers to know that PropertInsight represents the future of technology in both the real estate and insurance industries.”  – Michaël Bordeleau-Tassile

Baribeau: Anything else you would like to share?

Bordeleau-Tassile: Given the buzz surrounding artificial intelligence these days, I must give credit where it’s due.

First, as a French-Canadian, AI proved invaluable in refining certain sentences, making them sound more natural in English. Think of it as a sophisticated translator. Additionally, I utilized generative AI to craft the three-image slides featured on the app cover. Trust me, finding a free photo depicting a suburban aerial view with houses and shrubbery twisting into a maze pattern was like searching for a unicorn in a haystack!

Baribeau: But you did find yourself through the maze and look at the result! Thank you for sharing with us!