Innovation intelligence brief

GVB Berna (AI claims voicebot)

SwitzerlandPart of a larger portfolioCantonal building insurance (fire and natural hazards)

Traditional Insurance Company

Swiss Innovation · 2021–2026

Added by the 2026 Swiss InsurTech research (issue #41) from public sources, not by the original academic study (Stoeckli, Dremel & Uebernickel). Its 2016 and 2017 classifications apply the original taxonomy definitions but were not validated by that study. All innovations in this cohort · Methodology ↗

AI voicebot 'Berna' that takes building damage reports (initially storm and hail) by phone in Swiss German, transcribes them into standard German and compiles a structured claim file for GVB specialists, answering many calls in parallel during large-loss events; callers can be transferred to a human at any time.

Research profile · Swiss Innovation · 2021–2026

The innovation at a glance

Company: Gebäudeversicherung Bern (GVB)
Launched: 2025-12 · Earliest dated evidence is the Netzwoche report of 11 December 2025 describing Berna in use; implementer Adnovum and vendor Spitch case studies (undated) confirm the deployment. No go-live date published.[1][2][3]
Swiss connection: headquartersGVB is the public-law building insurer of the Canton of Bern; technology by Swiss speech-AI vendor Spitch, implemented by Swiss IT firm Adnovum.[1][2][3]
Target customers: Building owners insured with GVB in the Canton of Bern.
Value-chain position: Claims (first notice of loss).
Business model: Operational capacity tool within GVB's building insurance; no separate revenue.
Key technologies: Swiss German speech recognition and transcription, guided voice dialogue, automatic claim-dossier generation and call triage (Spitch virtual assistant).

Classification notes · GVB is a public-law cantonal monopoly insurer rather than a private incumbent; coded corporate-initiative as an initiative run by an incumbent insurer. Technology ai-enhanced (AI augments conventional claims intake).

What became of it

2026 evolution

Completed · Medium confidence · Last verified 2026-10-18

Status: Corporate initiative
Current brand: Berna
Owner: Gebäudeversicherung Bern (GVB)

At launch

Swiss-German-capable AI voicebot dedicated to surge capacity for claims intake after natural-catastrophe events.

2026 reality

In use as of December 2025 for claims intake; recordings are deleted after 30 days. According to Adnovum, it can handle up to 2,700 calls a day in major loss events, and GVB plans to extend it to 24/7 operation, further claim types and French.

What changed

The original model remains substantially intact.

What remains distinctiveAnalysis

addresses a specific pain point of cantonal building insurers (call peaks after hail and storm events); dialect capability is a local differentiator.

Key milestones

2025-12 GVB's AI voicebot Berna reported in use for claims intake.[1]

Third taxonomy

InsurTech Evolution (2026)

Company status: Corporate initiative
Strategic evolutionchange: Original model retained
Business model (2026): Risk transfer / capacity
Insurance value chain: Claims
Technology evolution: AI-enhanced
Market positioning: Insurer / carrier
Innovation maturity: Experimental
Current relevance: Limited

Explore the 2026 taxonomy →

Open questions

Exact go-live date and actual call volumes handled.
Whether the 24/7, further-claim-type and French extensions have been delivered.

REVIEW · Added two implementation-partner sources (Adnovum client page, Spitch case study) to the single Netzwoche source; added call-capacity and roadmap facts (attributed to Adnovum); launch date narrowed to 2025-12 (earliest dated evidence). No GVB-own publication found.

Research sources (3)

[1] Gebäudeversicherung Bern setzt bei Schadenmeldungen auf KI-Voicebot · Netzwoche · 2025-12-11 · press · accessed 2026-10-18
[2] The AI voicebot Berna at GVB · Adnovum · official · accessed 2026-10-18
[3] Claims Processing Without the Wait: GVB Relies on Spitch's Virtual Assistant · Spitch · official · accessed 2026-10-18

Research interpretation

Taxonomy position

Classified by the Swiss Innovation · 2021–2026 research, applying the original models' definitions. Not a classification by the original study.

Value Chain (2016)

Claims Management › Exploiting digital claims handling › Digital claim submission
Customer Relationship › Having digital conversations › New tools and techniques

Value Network (2017)

Digital Service Provisioning › TC4 Offering services digitally › Digital claim submission and notification
Digital Service Provisioning › TC4 Offering services digitally › Digital conversations

Explore the complete taxonomy →

GVB Berna (AI claims voicebot)

SwitzerlandPart of a larger portfolioCantonal building insurance (fire and natural hazards)

Traditional Insurance Company

Swiss Innovation · 2021–2026

The innovation at a glance

Company

Gebäudeversicherung Bern (GVB)

Launched

2025-12 · Earliest dated evidence is the Netzwoche report of 11 December 2025 describing Berna in use; implementer Adnovum and vendor Spitch case studies (undated) confirm the deployment. No go-live date published.[1][2][3]

Swiss connection

headquartersGVB is the public-law building insurer of the Canton of Bern; technology by Swiss speech-AI vendor Spitch, implemented by Swiss IT firm Adnovum.[1][2][3]

Target customers

Building owners insured with GVB in the Canton of Bern.

Value-chain position

Claims (first notice of loss).

Business model

Operational capacity tool within GVB's building insurance; no separate revenue.

Key technologies

Swiss German speech recognition and transcription, guided voice dialogue, automatic claim-dossier generation and call triage (Spitch virtual assistant).