Verisk Extreme Event Solutions
Catastrophe-risk modelling platform for insurers, reinsurers, and brokers. 100+ models spanning natural and man-made perils across nearly 100 countries. Founded as Applied Insurance Research in 1987; acquired by Verisk in 2002; rebranded from AIR Worldwide to Extreme Event Solutions in January 2022.
www.verisk.com/solutions/extreme-event-risk/ ↗Score
- Traction (named carrier deployments)3 carrier deployment(s) with public source.
- 2/5
- Maturity (years since founding)39 years since founding (1987).
- 5/5
- Coverage (insurance lines supported)5 line(s) supported: auto, home, commercial, specialty, reinsurance.
- 4/5
- Analyst recognition (Celent / Gartner / Forrester / Everest / ISG)2 mention(s).
- 2/5
What it does
Verisk Extreme Event Solutions is the catastrophe-risk modelling division of Verisk Analytics, operating the incumbent-era platform for global insurers, reinsurers, and brokers. Founded in 1987 as Applied Insurance Research by Karen Clark, the company was acquired by Verisk (then Insurance Services Office) in 2002 and operated as AIR Worldwide for two decades before rebranding under the Verisk parent in January 2022.
Industry founding moment. Karen Clark developed the first commercial probabilistic hurricane model in 1987. The company's validation came during Hurricane Andrew in 1992: AIR's loss estimates proved accurate against actual insured losses (~USD 15.5 billion) while competing approaches were rejected as scaremongering. That track record accelerated adoption across the industry.
Scope and market footprint. 100+ models covering natural perils (hurricane, earthquake, wildfire, flood, winter storm, severe convective storm) and man-made perils (terrorism, cyber, casualty aggregates) across nearly 100 countries. The Touchstone and Touchstone Re platforms house the modelling engine and portfolio rollups. Verisk claims that the top ten U.S. P&C insurers and nine of the top ten global insurers use Touchstone.
Recent carrier deployments. Named deployments include Convex (UK specialty reinsurer; 2021), CNA (cloud-based Touchstone adoption; July 2020), and American Family Insurance (on-premise Touchstone for enterprise risk; April 2016). Since 2015, more than 30 (re)insurance carriers have migrated to AIR's platforms, representing more than USD 80 billion in non-life reinsurance premiums.
Next generation models. In 2024, Verisk released a suite of 100+ Next Generation Models, the first successful effort by a catastrophe modelling firm to port its full catalogue to a modernized financial modelling framework intended to reflect anticipated insured losses more precisely than prior versions.
Competitive position. Cat modelling is a near-duopoly with Moody's RMS. Both vendors have 30+ years of calibrated model catalogues as a structural moat. AI-native disruption is active at the edges — new hazard models, ML emulators of physics-based simulations, AI-driven vulnerability curves — but has not displaced the incumbents' model depth.
Named deployments
Known limitations
- Catastrophe modelling is a near-duopoly between Verisk Extreme Event Solutions and Moody's RMS. Per-carrier deployment footprints are rarely published outside reinsurance broker placement announcements; the traction axis reflects named carrier case studies rather than a comprehensive customer census. (Artemis)
- Verisk Extreme Event Solutions has not achieved major analyst coverage in Gartner/Celent/Forrester leader quadrants for insurance AI in publicly indexed 2023-2025 reports. Recognition is concentrated in trade press (Artemis, InsuranceERM) and vendor announcements. (Artemis)