AI is a top priority but preparedness lags for insurers

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Artificial intelligence is a top technology and innovation priority for more than half of insurance executives, according to the 2024 Global Priorities Survey published by The International Insurance Society.

Inflation was the top issue for the third year. Product innovation, cybersecurity, targeting new and underserved customer segments and enhancing trust and consumer engagement are also a focus for respondents of the IIS study. 

More than a third of executives however, report their companies aren’t prepared for AI. There are also concerns around the industry’s ability to adapt to new technology and reskill the workforce. 

It’s likely a majority of technology jobs will be impacted by AI, according to Transformational Opportunity of AI on ICT Jobs, which found that 92% of the analyzed jobs would undergo a transformation because of AI. 

The report was released by Cisco and the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium, including Accenture, Google, IBM, Microsoft and SAP. 

Certain skills will be more important including AI ethics, responsible AI, AI literacy, prompt engineering, large language models architecture and more, according to the report. Some job functions will become less relevant such as basic programming content creation and data management. 

Francine Katsoudas, EVP and chief people, policy and purpose officer, Cisco, said in a statement: “AI is accelerating the pace of change for the global workforce, presenting a powerful opportunity for the private sector to help upskill and reskill workers for the future.”

Climate change also continues to be a priority for executives, 60%, said it was a priority for the year, according to the IIS study. But about a quarter of respondents said they’re not prepared to tackle the increasing severity and frequency of natural disasters. 

As previously reported by Digital Insurance, Aon’s Global Catastrophe Recap report reveals that natural disaster-related claims from the U.S. made up 80% of global insured losses, totaling almost $46 billion, in the first half of 2024.