Exclusive: Axa and Allianz at the forefront of AI adoption, Evident AI Index reveals

By Mia MacGregor

June 18 - (The Insurer) - Axa has emerged as the global leader in AI adoption within the insurance sector with Allianz a close second, according to a new report from AI intelligence platform Evident.

The inaugural Evident AI Index for insurance placed both companies at the forefront of AI innovation, with the pair holding a commanding lead over their competitors.

The rankings highlighted Axa's and Allianz's strong positions across all four index pillars: talent, innovation, leadership and transparency.

Property and casualty insurers USAA and Intact Financial secured third and fourth places, while life insurers Manulife and MassMutual made it into the top 10.

TEN INSURERS ACCOUNT FOR OVER HALF OF INDUSTRY'S AI TALENT

Just 10 insurers account for over half of all AI talent in the industry, according to Evident. The report highlighted that U.S. insurers such as USAA, Liberty Mutual, The Hartford and Travelers have demonstrated significant AI capabilities relative to their headcount.

Additionally, Evident found that property and casualty carriers are outpacing their life insurance peers in AI adoption due to structural advantages such as shorter policy cycles, higher-frequency customer interactions and access to abundant structured data.

In contrast, life insurers face longer-term policies and lower-touch engagement, resulting in a slower-paced environment for AI innovation. Evident noted that the strong performance of Manulife (#5) and MassMutual (#8) is particularly impressive.

P&C insurers also dominate the talent pillar, contributing seven of the top 10 performers. USAA leads the talent pillar overall, with nearly 5% of its workforce focused on AI, almost three times the index average.

Evident’s research indicates that insurers are primarily deploying AI to automate claims, enhance customer service, streamline underwriting and accelerate internal knowledge retrieval.

ONLY THREE INSURERS REPORT ROI FROM AI USE

Despite the widespread adoption of AI, only three insurers – Intact Financial, Zurich Insurance Group and Aviva – have reported return on investment (ROI) in monetary terms.

Intact Financial, which Evident ranked as the Canadian leader in AI maturity, is the sole insurer providing a comprehensive estimate of ROI across all use cases, reporting that its 500-plus AI models deliver over $150 million in annual benefits.

“Axa and Allianz stand out for their clear commitment to reorienting their organisations around AI, and have established early-mover advantage thanks to their deliberate, incremental investments in AI for many years,” said Alexandra Mousavizadeh, co-founder and co-CEO of Evident.

"Our data shows that the gap between the leading performers and the lagging insurers is expanding, with the top 10 enhancing their AI capabilities at a faster pace than the rest of the field,” Mousavizadeh added.