This week's roundup of InsureThink thought leadership examines how to adapt to a shifting hurricane forecast, AI's impact on natural resources, and how the technology can improve underwriting and cybersecurity.
Adopt gen AI in underwriting, claims to stay competitive
P&C insurers should move beyond pilot programs and embed generative AI directly into underwriting, claims and customer service workflows to capture measurable efficiency gains, writes Abhishek Peter, manager of digital marketing at FECUND Software Services. Automating document analysis and risk summaries can speed policy approvals, while AI-powered claims tools cut processing time and support fraud detection, freeing staff for complex, judgment-based work. Deploying 24/7 chatbots and personalized recommendation engines improves customer retention and query resolution. Peter cautions that scaling these tools requires parallel investment in data privacy, regulatory compliance and model transparency to avoid operational and reputational risk.
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Carriers need a plan for AI's resource footprint
AI governance debates in insurance focus almost entirely on data privacy and decisioning transparency, but a resource dimension is going largely unaddressed, writes Jim Girard, vice president of engineering at Benekiva. AI depends on infrastructure, electricity and water, and resource-strained states like California could eventually cap AI capacity, require energy and water footprint reporting, or ration access during shortages. Carriers should map which claims workflows — summaries, document review, fraud flags, payment recommendations — truly require AI versus those where it's merely convenient, and build fallback processes so operations continue if access is limited or priced higher.
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Storm forecasts aside, insurers must plan for impact, not frequency
NOAA's below-average 2026 Atlantic hurricane forecast shouldn't ease preparedness efforts, since a single storm can still disrupt travel hubs, infrastructure and business operations for weeks. Insurers and brokers should clarify coverage limits on weather cancellations, trip and business interruption, evacuation and medical assistance before hurricane season peaks, not after a storm forms. Duty-of-care planning should extend beyond departure: track travelers in real time, prearrange rerouting and lodging contingencies, and coordinate travel, HR, security and insurance teams ahead of disruption. Felipe Wagner, Americas regional intelligence analyst at Healix, argues that operational dependency and traveler exposure — not seasonal storm counts — should drive continuity planning.
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Connected data can close life insurance knowledge gap
Nearly 100 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured, and 40% overestimate term life costs — only 4% of adults under 30 correctly estimate premiums, per LIMRA. Carriers should unify planning, underwriting and service systems so consumer data moves seamlessly across the policy lifecycle, enabling personalized guidance at each life stage. Aligning compliance, distribution and tech teams on data governance and consent is critical before layering in AI. Agentic AI could boost annualized life premiums 11% by 2030, adding $2 billion annually, writes Loren Brockhouse, chief revenue officer at iPipeline, but only with connected data foundations in place.
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Weak credential controls drive up cyber insurance costs
Credential-based attacks now shape cyber insurance pricing, with Microsoft finding 97% of 2025 identity attacks involved password-spraying and breach dwell times often exceeding 290 days, driving up claim severity. Carriers increasingly require multi-factor authentication, least-privilege access and Dark Web credential monitoring as underwriting criteria. Gaps in this data can trigger higher premiums, restricted coverage or denied claims. With U.S. breach costs topping $10 million and rules like the SEC's four-day disclosure mandate amplifying exposure, auditing access rights and integrating Dark Web intelligence to catch compromised credentials early is becoming essential, says Ken O'Brien, CTO of Enzoic.
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This roundup was created with AI assistance. A Digital Insurance editor reviewed each item before publication.
