Neptune isn’t building AI to replace agents

Neptune Flood held its second-quarter 2026 earnings call on July 22. Here are the key takeaways.

Neptune isn’t building AI to replace agents

Neptune rejected the idea that AI will eliminate insurance agents. Instead, the flood insurance company is developing Atlas+ to help agents answer questions, explain coverage and complete sales tasks more efficiently.

“We’re not trying to build the AI that replaces them. We’re building the AI that arms them.”

Atlas+ is already being used by thousands of agents

The first version of Atlas+ is available inside Neptune’s quoting platform. It answers agents’ questions in real time, drafts client emails and explains the need for products such as excess flood coverage. Nearly 3,700 agents exchanged 33,000 messages with the tool during the quarter.

“We have placed the best flood underwriter sitting side-by-side with our agents.”

The next version will tell agents what to do next

Neptune plans to add a task-ranking capability that identifies the most valuable action an agent can take and helps complete the work. The company is using its data to shape agent behavior and increase sales across the more than 55,000 insurance professionals with verified Neptune accounts.

“Instead of an agent staring at a blank screen wondering what to do next, Atlas+ will hand them a ranked list of tasks with the single most valuable thing they could be doing right now as ranked by our data science team sitting at the top.”

AI is primarily a growth tool

Neptune had 59 employees at the time of the call, down from a peak of approximately 62. Management said the company is not focused on cutting costs because its workforce is already small. Its priority is using AI to help agents sell more policies.

“All of our effort utilizing AI is how we grow the top line, how do we find ways to help our agents become super agents to sell more, to close that protection gap.”

Neptune’s engineers are producing more without expanding the team

AI now helps Neptune’s developers write and review code, test software and investigate issues. With the engineering team remaining broadly the same size, it delivered more than twice as much work as in the fourth quarter of 2025 and over 50% more than in the first quarter of 2026.

“Our engineers still make every important decision. They’re simply spending far more of their time designing and building products, and far less on repetitive development tasks.”

Neptune says it has software-company economics

Revenue per employee reached $3 million and adjusted EBITDA per employee reached $1.8 million on a trailing 12-month basis. Neptune can scale without adding employees or insurance capital at the same rate because software handles underwriting decisions and third-party capacity providers assume the risk.

“We expand by writing policies and writing code, not by expanding the balance sheet or payroll.”

Neptune doesn’t carry the underwriting risk

Neptune operates as an MGA, with its capacity partners taking the insurance risk. This allows the company to grow without committing additional balance-sheet capital for every policy it writes.

“We carry no underwriting risk, our capacity partners do.”

Its lifetime loss ratio fell below 20%

The lifetime written loss ratio across business produced by Neptune fell to 19.5%, an improvement of more than 500 basis points from a year earlier. The performance covers eight completed storm seasons, the beginning of a ninth and 21 landfalling hurricanes.

“Our lifetime written loss ratio is now just 19.5%, down over 500 basis points from a year ago.”

Neptune’s growth opportunity is larger than taking policies from the NFIP

More than 55% of Neptune’s new business came from properties outside FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Areas, while more than 75% came from voluntary purchases rather than bank requirements. Neptune believes its larger opportunity is selling coverage to properties that previously had no flood insurance.

“The far larger opportunity is expanding the market, protecting properties that historically haven’t carried flood insurance at all.”

Modernized FEMA maps could create five million mandatory policies

Neptune estimates that updating FEMA’s flood maps could increase the number of properties subject to mandatory flood insurance requirements. Based on current purchasing rates, the change could increase mandatory policies from approximately 3 million to 8 million.

“So an additional 5 million mandatory policies plus added awareness for everybody else, we think it could have—that’s why we talk about it potentially having the largest impact.”

Neptune isn’t counting on FEMA

Although updated flood maps could significantly expand Neptune’s addressable market, the company has not included potential FEMA reforms or changes to the National Flood Insurance Program in its financial projections.

“The record quarter we’re discussing wasn’t driven by changes in government policy. It came from executing the same strategy we’ve followed for years: better products, better technology, empowering agents, and expanding distribution.”

Higher limits create a major advantage over the NFIP

Neptune increased its maximum building coverage to $15 million across all property types. For multifamily properties, it also offers up to $1 million in loss-of-rent coverage, compared with an NFIP building limit of $500,000 and no loss-of-rent coverage.

“The product differential is now so large versus the NFIP really calls into question why anyone would buy the NFIP policy.”

Neptune is selectively lowering prices to increase purchases

Its quote-to-buy model identifies properties where a lower price could meaningfully increase the likelihood of a sale. The model automatically reduces new-business pricing for those risks and is already having a positive effect on sales.

“This is lowering prices to get more people covered, which is part of our fundamental mission to help close this protection gap that exists.”

International expansion isn’t worth the distraction yet

Neptune said capacity providers are interested in using its technology for flood and other perils outside the United States. However, management believes the domestic opportunity remains larger, with an estimated 25 million US buildings at high risk of flooding and only about 4 million covered.

“Nothing has crossed the bar as a better use of our time than focusing on the United States.”