Written by Sabine VanderLinden

June 2025 – Chicago. As I step off the stage on the final afternoon of Reuters Events’ Future of Insurance 2025 conference, I feel a palpable energy buzzing through the halls. Over the past two days, I have had the privilege of moderating discussions with some of our industry’s brightest minds – regulators, CEOs, tech mavens, and innovators – all grappling with the same urgent question: how do we as insurance leaders rise to meet the future head-on? Organizations across the industry are coming together to drive change, recognizing that collaboration is essential for meaningful progress.

The conversations were bold and candid. We celebrated successes, confronted hard truths, and above all, issued a challenge to ourselves: it’s no longer enough to tweak around the edges. The insurance C-suite must lead bold change – rethinking legacy models, embracing responsible AI, democratizing innovation, and transforming our talent for the road ahead. The insurance industry holds significant influence on society, shaping not only economic outcomes but also the well-being and security of communities, and with that comes a responsibility to act with purpose and integrity.

In this commentary, I want to share the vision that emerged and personally challenge each of you – CEOs, CIOs, CROs, Heads of Transformation and R&D – to turn these insights into action and lead.

Explainable, Ethical AI: Earning Digital Trust

One of the clearest themes at the conference was the rise of AI in underwriting and claims – and the imperative that it be explainable and ethical. As we race to implement AI-driven models, that word “transparency” looms large. In her opening remarks, Ann Gillespie, Acting Director of the Illinois Department of Insurance, hit this point hard:

“We must focus on customer education and transparency – communicating clearly about products, pricing, and coverage – if we expect to keep the trust of our policyholders,” she urged.

In other words, AI can undoubtedly improve speed and accuracy, but black-box algorithms that we can’t explain have no place in an industry built on promise and trust.

Regulators are already watching: they expect our AI models to be fair, explainable, and accountable. And frankly, so do our customers. The message from the event was clear: ethical AI isn’t a “nice-to-have,” it’s a must-have for any insurer that hopes to thrive. If we can’t justify an AI-driven decision to a customer or a regulator, then we shouldn’t be using AI for that decision at all. Today, data is now readily available to support decision-making at every stage of the insurance value chain. A Deloitte survey revealed that 76% of US insurance executives have already implemented generative AI capabilities in one or more business functions, underscoring the urgency of addressing these ethical considerations and the expected impact of AI on the industry.

I fully agree. In practice, this means investing in AI governance, bias testing, refining processes for underwriting and claims, and human-in-the-loop oversight at every step of the underwriting and claims process. It means using AI to augment our experts – not replace their judgment – and being transparent about how decisions are made. A key goal is the reduction of algorithmic bias to ensure fair outcomes for all customers. Done right, AI could become a cornerstone of enhanced trust: imagine underwriters who can explain exactly why a customer received a certain rate, supported by AI insights, or claims adjusters empowered by AI to settle a claim fairly in minutes instead of weeks. But that future hinges on our willingness to demand explainability and ethics from day one. As leaders, we set that tone. We must insist that our tech teams and partners build solutions we can stand behind unequivocally. Responsible, explainable AI is how we rebuild faith in insurance in the digital age – by delivering consistency, speed, and fairness hand-in-hand.

People-Powered Innovation: Transforming Talent and Culture

All the cutting-edge tech in the world means little without a workforce ready to harness it. Panel after panel drove home that the grandest digital strategy will falter without an equally ambitious talent strategy. Automation and AI redefine insurance work, and our people must be prepared. That means training, reskilling, and a culture shift that democratizes innovation across the organization.

One glaring issue discussed was the looming talent gap – as seasoned experts retire, we face a knowledge drain at the very moment we need new skills in data science, AI and customer experience. As older people transition out of the workforce, it is crucial to support their transition and capture their expertise before it is lost. Focusing on targeted talent strategies is essential to address the skills gap and ensure a smooth transition to a more digitally skilled workforce. Brad Burke, Chief Information and Technology Officer at American Family Insurance, drove this point home. “Technology is only as powerful as the people behind it. We can invest in AI and automation, but we must invest equally in upskilling our teams to use these tools effectively,” he noted, emphasizing that companies must make continuous learning a core competency.

Brad described how his team leverages internal training and cross-functional projects to ensure innovation isn’t confined to one silo or department. In other words, innovation has to be everyone’s job. Zurich is using analytics to assess workers’ skills and future requirements for tailored learning opportunities, setting an example of how insurers can align workforce development with technological advancements.

I couldn’t agree more. To truly democratize innovation, we leaders need to flatten our org charts and invite ideas from everywhere – from the call-center agent who spots a pattern in customer complaints, to the young underwriter who codes a quick algorithm to flag fraud. Young people bring fresh perspectives to the industry, helping to drive innovation and adapt to new challenges. At the conference, we heard stories of hackathons, “innovation days,” and internal incubators that unlocked solutions no top-down strategy could have conceived.

When you empower employees to experiment, some experiments will falter – and that’s okay. The bigger risk is a culture of fear where no one even tries. We have to reward curiosity and calculated risk-taking. As one executive passionately said during a workshop:

“Innovation can no longer be a buzzword – it’s a strategic necessity. We must embed change as a muscle, empower people across silos, and prove every day that transformation is not just possible, but purposeful.”

In practice, this means giving teams the air cover to test ideas, providing the tools and data they need, and celebrating lessons from failures as well as successes. It also means bringing in fresh perspectives – recruiting for digital-age skills and diverse viewpoints that challenge the status quo.

Our workforce is not a cost center; it’s our future. If we invest in them, we not only future-proof our companies with the right skills, we also ignite a sense of purpose and ownership. People who are empowered to innovate don’t fear change – they drive it. In an age where intelligent machines will handle more tasks, our competitive edge will come from human creativity, empathy, and problem-solving. The C-suite’s job is to cultivate the talent and culture from which the next big breakthroughs will grow. Let’s actively nurture that soil.

Ecosystem Collaboration: Resilience at Scale

Another refrain at Future of Insurance 2025 was that no insurer is an island. The challenges we face – from climate risk to cybercrime – are simply too large and complex for any one company to handle alone.

The solution? Build ecosystems of partners and collaborators to drive scalable resilience. The combined strengths of carriers, reinsurers, technology firms, and governments create more effective solutions than any single entity could achieve. Dawn Miller, CCO Loyd's and CEO of Lloyd’s Americas, reminded us that true resilience is a team sport. In her words: 

“Whether it’s climate change, cyber threats, or a pandemic, no single insurer can tackle it alone. We need an ecosystem – carriers, reinsurers, tech firms, even governments – all working in concert.”

That call for collaboration echoed throughout the event. The old model of each carrier operating in its own silo doesn’t work when risks are interdependent and moving at digital speed. Instead, we heard about the power of partnerships to deliver value and scale that any one company would struggle to achieve on its own.

In one session, for example, speakers highlighted how insurers are teaming up with InsurTech startups to embed insurance services seamlessly into other platforms, reaching customers where they already are. We heard carriers share data with industry consortia to combat fraud and improve underwriting models collectively, pooling resources to maximize impact. There was even talk of public-private collaboration – regulators and insurers brainstorming together on solutions for disaster insurance gaps. All these approaches boil down to a simple truth: collaboration is a force multiplier. By sharing data, distribution, expertise, resources, and even risk, we can create solutions far more robust than anything we’d build alone. Collaboration also accelerates the adoption of emerging technologies, enabling the industry to innovate faster and address new risks more effectively.

Crucially, collaboration also helps rebuild trust at a systemic level. When we partner with customers on risk management (for example, using IoT sensors and analytics to alert them to losses before they happen) or work with governments on safety standards, we shift from being mere risk transferers to true risk mitigators. This not only makes our clients and communities safer – it also opens new business opportunities.

The takeaway is clear: the winning insurers of tomorrow will be those who cultivate ecosystems of innovation and resilience. For the C-suite, that means being open to co-creating products with non-traditional partners, integrating our services into broader platforms, and even teaming up with competitors when the issue is industry-wide, recognizing the collective efforts required to address these challenges. It means engaging regulators not as adversaries but as stakeholders in our innovation, keeping them in the loop on how new tech and models can benefit consumers. The conference made it clear that our biggest opportunities – from closing the protection gap to fortifying against emerging risks – will be unlocked together, not alone. Leaders should constantly be asking: Who else can we bring to the table to solve this problem? The answers to that question will define who thrives in the next decade. Investing in residential resilience can reduce weather-related claims losses for insurers, further emphasizing the importance of proactive collaboration.

From Risk Transfer to Risk Prevention: A New Value Proposition

The final theme I’ll highlight is perhaps the most profound: a shift in the insurer's role from simply paying claims to actively preventing and mitigating risks. Time and again, discussions came back to the idea that the future of insurance must be about prevention, not just cure. One CEO bluntly stated what many were thinking:

“I think we need to move away from just being at the back end, where we’re providing insurance after the fact. There are solutions we can help with that are much more innovative.”

In other words, we can no longer define success solely by how efficiently we pay claims; we must also define it by how well we help our customers avoid having to file a claim in the first place. Environmental risks, such as extreme weather events and pollution, are occurring more frequently, impacting both the environment and the insurance industry’s approach to risk.

A chief security officer and industry advisor put it even more starkly during a panel on emerging risks. “Insurance can’t just be about writing a check when disaster strikes,” he warned.

“Our greatest value lies in helping businesses and families prevent those disasters in the first place – or at least soften the blow. That’s how we remain indispensable.”

This is a call to action for every insurer to embed itself earlier in the risk cycle. It might mean offering predictive analytics to clients (say, identifying which properties are most flood-prone and helping fortify them) or providing value-added services like cybersecurity monitoring and guidance for small businesses as part of a policy. Some forward-thinking carriers are already moving in this direction. In one case discussed, a major insurer developed an innovative coverage for renewable energy projects that not only insures against physical damage, but actually protects the project’s revenue stream so that banks feel secure lending to it. This kind of solution blurs the line between traditional insurance and risk management, and it’s exactly where we need to head as an industry. These changes have contributed to improved outcomes for customers' lives, supporting them through various aspects of risk and uncertainty.

Why push for prevention? Because the world’s risks are escalating too fast for us to merely play cleanup crew. Look at recent years: record-breaking storms and wildfires, ever-sophisticated cyberattacks, a global pandemic – clients are navigating more volatility than ever. If the industry remains passive, insurance carriers' relevance will dwindle (and loss ratios will worsen). But if the insurers become proactive partners, we unlock new value and stronger client relationships. Imagine insurers being known not just for paying claims, but for keeping people and businesses out of harm’s way. That’s a powerful value proposition – and a profitable one, too, because preventing losses benefits everyone economically by reducing the financial impact of disasters and supporting long-term growth.

Of course, this pivot requires investment and ingenuity. It means harnessing IoT sensors, real-time data and AI to predict and detect risks before they become claims. It also involves implementing new processes for risk detection, prevention, and reduction, ensuring that operational workflows are optimized for early intervention. It means retraining underwriting and claims teams to think like risk advisors and consultants, not just policy issuers. It might even mean new business models where the industry earns revenue from subscription services or risk-prevention consulting, in addition to traditional premiums. Importantly, it will require working hand-in-hand with regulators so they understand these new approaches and appreciate the benefits for consumers. I sense that leaders like Ann Gillespie or Commissioner Andrew Mais welcome initiatives that increase transparency and customer well-being – and proactive risk mitigation does exactly that. Insurers are transitioning to a data mesh architecture for better data management, which will be critical in enabling these innovative approaches.

For industry leaders, the mandate is clear: don’t get comfortable as mere payers of risk. The greatest insurance companies of tomorrow will be defined by how well they prevent and reduce risk for their customers. That’s a shift in mindset that must start at the very top. This transition from traditional risk transfer models to prevention-focused strategies is reshaping the industry. We should begin measuring our success not just by premiums written, but by losses avoided, reflecting the trend toward valuing prevention over remediation. We should incentivize teams not only to sell policies, but to find ways to help policyholders stay safe. It’s a challenge, yes, but one worthy of our finest talent and technology. Ultimately, it’s how we make good on the fundamental promise of our industry – not just to be there when things go wrong, but to help prevent things from going wrong in the first place. The expected future impact of these prevention strategies will touch all aspects of the insurance business, from customer experience and operational processes to economic performance and environmental stewardship.

A Call to Action: Lead with Purpose

My call to action to every CEO, CIO, CRO, Chief Transformation Officer and innovation leader reading this is straightforward: lead. Lead the change that our industry so urgently needs. Don’t wait for permission or perfect conditions – customers and communities can’t afford timidity. Here’s how you can start leading, not just adapting, in the wake of Future of Insurance 2025:

• Rethink Legacy Models – Don’t let decades of precedent cloud your vision. Whether it’s shifting from purely risk transfer to risk prevention, or reinventing products for the digital economy, be willing to break with “how we’ve always done it.” Encourage your team to challenge outdated assumptions and explore new business models that create value beyond the traditional policy.

• Embrace Responsible AI – Champion ethical, transparent AI usage from the top. Invest in governance and talent to ensure your AI systems are fair and explainable.. By doing so, you’ll build customer and regulator confidence while unlocking AI’s potential to improve underwriting, claims and customer service. Don’t shy away from AI – but deploy it with care and accountability.

• Democratize Innovation – Make innovation everyone’s job. Create channels for ideas to flow from every level; tear down silos. When your frontline employees feel empowered to experiment, you tap into an entrepreneurial energy that no ivory-tower strategy can match. Build a culture where change is embraced and where failing fast in pursuit of learning is celebrated, not stigmatized.

• Invest in Talent Transformation – Budget for people, not just technology. The skills gap is real, and the only way through it is to reskill and upskill your workforce at scale. From underwriting veterans learning to leverage AI, to new hires versed in data and design thinking, ensure your people see a future for themselves in this industry. Your tech is only as good as the talent behind it – so develop that talent relentlessly.

I said it on stage, and I’ll say it again: the future of insurance will not be shaped by the timid. It will be shaped by those who dare to adapt, innovate, and lead with purpose. Our customers, our communities, our colleagues – everyone who depends on the insurance ecosystem – are counting on us to rise to the occasion.

The risks of tomorrow aren’t waiting, and neither should we. So let’s seize this moment. Let’s take the insights and momentum from these past two days and turn them into concrete action. It’s time for us to step up as the architects of a more resilient, transparent and inclusive insurance industry.

It’s time to lead – not just adapt. The future of insurance is ours to shape, if we have the courage to do so.

Let’s get to work.