Federato’s Insurance Leadership Summit brings Goldman Sachs, Anthropic, Reuters, and the Financial Times together with P&C carriers and MGAs to discuss what separates the winners from the rest
The insurance industry has crossed a threshold. AI is now the operating system separating carriers and MGAs that are capturing the best risks from those left competing for the rest. That was the consensus at Federato’s inaugural Insurance Leadership Summit, where more than 100 CEOs and senior executives from leading carriers, MGAs, and MGAAs convened with Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Anthropic, Reuters, and the Financial Times.
The insurance industry has crossed a threshold. AI is now the operating system separating carriers and MGAs that are capturing the best risks from those left competing for the rest.Share
A recurring theme throughout the day was the cost of inaction.
“Most organizations aren’t struggling with the technology. They’re struggling with the mindset. Scattered pilots rarely scale since they seldom align with what truly matters to the business. Instead, start with a vision and value, then work backwards from there.”
— Cassie Kozyrkov, Former Chief Decision Scientist, Google
Jared Klyman, Global Head of Insurance Asset Management, presented a midyear update to Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s 14th Annual Global Insurance Survey showing the number of respondents currently using AI increased by 14-percentage points year-over-year and 33-percentage points since 2024. The study surveyed more than 400 senior investment professionals representing over $14 trillion in assets.
“American insurers were already concerned about inflation, closely followed by the risk of US economic slowdown or a possible recession. Insurers need to find AI growth, preserve margins, and avoid strategy drift, but how it’s executed is critical.”
— Jared Klyman, Global Head of Insurance Asset Management, Goldman Sachs
Combined ratios are diverging
Industry data shows that combined ratios, which historically have converged industry-wide, are diverging. This bimodal distribution suggests that some insurers are gaining real advantage from AI while others are not.
In a recent study, Federato learned that among large carriers with over $5 billion in annual premiums, 37 percent report wasting up to half their underwriting effort on submissions that fall outside their portfolio appetite. The risk selection race is zero-sum: organizations that evaluate and act on submissions faster are capturing the most attractive opportunities; slower competitors get what’s left.
Early lessons learned from other industries
A session on lessons learned from banking revealed as much as 80% of bank IT budgets still go to legacy system maintenance, limiting funds available for innovation. Laggards maintained legacy systems while trying to bolt AI onto incompatible foundations. By contrast, leaders made an executive commitment to multi-year modernization.
Data architecture is destiny. Legacy infrastructure carries technical debt and inherent latency that point solutions cannot fix.
“While the essential insurance capabilities of the core remain useful and fit, the context in which they operate has changed markedly. AI-driven, data-intensive solutions tease out new opportunities, new risks, and fill important traditional gaps. Your whole tech ecosystem, from core-out, has to integrate, interoperate, and flow flawlessly in real time, all the time. You need solutions that are up to the task. Must-have, not optional.”
— Robert Pick, EVP & Chief Information Officer at Tokio Marine
