AI Moves from Opportunity to Core Business Risk
Artificial intelligence is becoming embedded in underwriting, claims, customer service, operations and decision-making. In 2026, however, the conversation has moved beyond productivity. AI is now being recognised as a material operational, legal and reputational risk.
The Allianz Risk Barometer 2026 placed AI second among global business risks, rising sharply from tenth position in 2025. Key concerns include unreliable outputs, inadequate data, biased automated decisions, intellectual-property disputes and uncertainty over responsibility when an AI-supported process causes loss.
For insurers and reinsurers, the issue is not simply whether AI is used, but where it influences decisions. Automated underwriting, portfolio analysis and claims triage can improve efficiency, yet poorly governed systems may create hidden concentration, inconsistent decisions or liability that is difficult to trace.
The World Economic Forum also identifies adverse AI outcomes as a rapidly increasing long-term risk, closely connected with misinformation, cyber insecurity, employment disruption and uneven access to digital infrastructure.
The reinsurance implication is clear: AI-related exposure must be assessed across both individual risks and the wider portfolio. Governance, human oversight, model validation, data quality and accountability should form part of the underwriting discussion.
AI can strengthen risk management, but only when innovation is supported by clear controls.