SIRC 2025: Insurers emphasize the human touch during AI rollout

Insurance executives at the recently concluded 2025 Singapore International Reinsurance Conference stressed the importance of the human element as the industry aims to fully leverage the benefits of artificial intelligence.

AI doesn't always make the best decisions, the human does, said Tony Gallagher, CEO for Asia Pacific at Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC. AI provides options, including ones that the human has not thought of, to help find solutions, Gallagher said, emphasizing that brokering is a "people business."

Approximately 3,000 employees use AI daily across more than 115 use cases, said Miguel Rosa, CEO at MAPFRE RE Compañía de Reaseguros SA. This allows employees to focus on "things that really matter," such as being with clients.

"We were the first insurance company releasing an AI manifesto where AI will be hybrid, that amplifies and combines human intelligence and artificial intelligence and where empowering people is a focus," Rosa said. "We are not forgetting how important humans are."

Distribution-focused insurtech Bolttech also stressed this hybrid model.

"It's not replacing people for the vast majority of functions," Bolttech APAC CEO Philip Weiner said. "A lot of our AI initiatives is about upskilling the team."

Challenges for AI adoption

At an earlier panel, executives identified legal concerns, achieving scale and getting employee buy-in as some of the challenges the insurance industry faces as it adopts AI.

AI creates legal uncertainty, said Beth Diamond, group chief claims and litigation officer with Beazley PLC. Insurance is a heavily regulated industry and there is a lack of clarity from regulators on how they will approach the use of AI on issues such as bias, Diamond said, noting there are also concerns about intellectual property rights, as well as privacy and security.

"The industry is just worried about the unknowns in terms of facing liabilities whether in a regulatory scheme or in a courtroom for the use of AI," Diamond said.

Kyndryl Holdings Inc.'s head of AI and innovation, Vishnu Nanduri, discussed the challenges of scaling AI models, stating that it is an architectural issue not inherent to AI.

"I think it's a problem of technological debt that most insurance companies carry," Nanduri said. "You have silo systems, you have numerous datalinks and of course the legality of data sovereignty."

Still, reinsurers and insurers can overcome these challenges, and many companies are working to establish the proper architecture to begin achieving scale.

Regulators are asking the right questions about data protection, said Glen Riddell, CEO for Asia Pacific at Berkley Re, including issues like whether decisions based on AI are ethical.

"This has caused the industry to take a step back and make sure protections are in place," Riddell said. "I think we'll get ahead of it, but the regulators are certainly [focused on this]."

Employee anxiety

Bertrand Romagne, CEO for international reinsurance, at Axa XL, sought to allay fears that AI could lead to job cuts.

"There's a lot of people thinking AI is going to replace us, I don't think so," Romagne said. "AI will help us do a better job. Just like when went from a calculator to a computer, I mean a lot of the things we do are not fun, and that's our chance. We can use AI to make our job a job of decision, a job to criticize what AI is doing "

Many organizations focus on the savings from AI rather than its potential to create and develop, which causes anxiety that people might lose their jobs, Diamond said.

AI is a huge enabler that allows employees to focus on "much more interesting things" by handling the boring tasks.

Reinsurers' role

Reinsurers will play a major role when entire industries are "flipped on their heads" by AI, Weiner said, highlighting potential risk changes in auto insurance when people switch to automated cars.

"Why is the human paying for the insurance? Now the types of risks are different, and that's where reinsurers will have a big role to play in helping the industry manage the transition from individuals paying for insurance to companies that are driving the cars paying for the insurance," Weiner said.

Rosa noted that AI will connect the "different steps" of the industry, from brokers to reinsurers, adding that sharing massive amounts of data will enhance the effectiveness of insurance.