CB Insights has launched the Insurance AI Readiness Index — a ranking of 50 of the largest insurance companies in the Americas and Europe by market cap and premiums written, based on their demonstrated ability to develop or acquire novel AI capabilities as well as execute AI initiatives.
The index calculates innovation by analyzing CB Insights data on acquisitions, dealmaking activity, and patent filings for each player, and it calculates execution based on earnings transcript mentions, partnership & licensing agreements, and product launches.
Below, we look at how prepared the top 50 insurance companies (inclusive of subsidiaries) are to adapt to a rapidly evolving AI landscape across 2 key pillars: innovation and execution.
- Innovation: The innovation score measures an insurance company’s track record of developing or acquiring novel AI capabilities. This score is based on CB Insights data including patents, acquisitions, and dealmaking activity.
- Execution: The execution score measures an insurance company’s ability to bring AI-powered products and services to market, as well as deploy AI internally across corporate functions. This score is based on CB Insights data including business relationships, product launch media mentions, and earnings transcripts.
Want to dive into key data featured in this index? CB Insights customers can check out the links below:
Leaders
Cigna leads in AI readiness, primarily due to its relatively high level of AI innovation. For example, the company is actively patenting AI-related tech. It has also funded companies with diverse AI use cases (like digital twin leader Aitia) and acquired AI-enabled solutions (like care navigation platform Bright.MD). When it comes to execution, however, Cigna lags behind some of its peers — this is due in part to lawsuits over alleged AI-guided claims denials.
Travelers and Munich Re round out the top 3. Notable AI initiatives for these companies include Travelers’ $435M acquisition of AI-powered cyber insurance startup Corvus Insurance. Meanwhile, Munich Re actively invests in and partners with AI-enabled companies like Augury.
GenAI-powered products are increasingly coming into focus for leaders in the space. More than 10 of the assessed companies have publicly announced genAI products, many of which are focused on operational improvements, such as claims processing and document summarization.
Innovation
Most assessed companies have demonstrated measurable AI innovation across various focus areas, although innovation scores generally lag behind execution scores.
Only 4 of the top 50 insurance companies — Cigna, Centene, Travelers, and Willis Towers Watson — have made an AI acquisition since 2019 (as of 2/16/24). Additionally, one of these acquisitions has since been divested: Centene sold Apixio to investment firm New Mountain Capital last year. However, 2 of these deals occurred just last quarter amid a boom of executive attention on AI. Travelers acquired Corvus Insurance and Cigna’s Evernorth picked up Bright.MD.
UnitedHealth Group and MassMutual lead in AI startup investments, as each company has inked 25+ deals since 2019. In fact, among assessed insurance companies, MassMutual was the most active AI investor in 2023 with 4 investments, most of which were focused on cancer treatment.
Just 5 companies — State Farm, UnitedHealth Group, Allstate, Cigna, and The Hartford — have accounted for the vast majority of the 900+ US AI patents filed by the evaluated cohort. State Farm alone has filed 300+ patents, including over 50 related to computer vision.
Execution
While AI execution scores vary among assessed companies, no player has emerged as a singular leader in this capacity.
Twenty-eight of the top publicly traded insurance companies have discussed AI strategies on earnings calls at least once since 2019. AI mentions surged in 2023, underpinned by discussion of genAI adoption from companies including Aon, Travelers, and UnitedHealth Group.
Meanwhile, 34 of the 50 insurance companies analyzed have entered into partnership or licensing agreements with AI startups. To highlight a few:
- AXA partnered with Kayrros to launch a wildfire risk management service last year.
- Munich Re partnered with EvolutionIQ in 2022 to support AI-enabled claims guidance for disability insurance carriers.
- Last year, Swiss Re and One Concern forged a strategic partnership focused on business interruption underwriting for natural catastrophe-related risks.
Many of the evaluated companies have also launched AI-enabled products. These efforts have commonly centered on opportunities within claims, operations, and underwriting. For example, Elevance Health is using genAI to analyze health data and provide members with care recommendations, while Liberty Mutual is analyzing loss data with AI. Multiple companies — including AXA and Manulife — are implementing internal genAI tools for employees.
Even so, a few insurance companies have faced lawsuits over their use of AI, which has weighed on their execution scores. For instance, separate lawsuits were filed against Humana and UnitedHealth Group in Q4’23 over their alleged use of AI to deny care for older adults.
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