A valuable article in HBR by Thomas Burbel CEO of AXA. Taking an insurer's view of its goal to prevent risk rather than just mitigate it is a useful framing. It can avoid the potentially ‘inbred’ views of insurtechs and technology partners (including me!).

My own analysis covers these areas: -

1. Systemic risks and how to protect clients
2. Rebalancing client portfolios
3. Transformative shifts required
4. The challenges to overcome
5. Further Reading including partners in transformation

1 Systemic Risks

Burbel describes the priority at AXA to tackle: -

• Climate Change
• Geopolitical Instability
• Public Health Crises
• Social Tensions
• Economic Inequality

This is the context of helping companies and individuals thrive by preventing and distributing risk. AXA aims to protect customers through the effectiveness of its underwriting combined with the power of its investments. It envisages itself as an orchestrator and facilitator for a ‘Community of Customers’. I've written elsewhere on the aspect of underwriting which you can find in the appendix Further Reading below. Data, identified by AXA and many others, is a challenge being unavailable, or at least patchy, for the new economy. Even when it comes to electric vehicles (EVs) many brokers and MGAs still seek cover for customers without sufering excessive premiums. 

AXA has a business unit- AXA Climate- researching the risks of global warming.

On investments, AXA is committing €5BILL p.a. to invest in ESG, low carbon and environmentally positive companies. Putting its money where its PR mouth is.

Adapting to a more uncertain environment is part of AXA's stated transformative shift.

2 Rebalancing AXA's portfolio of clients

Since becoming CEO, Thomas Burbel has in consultation with its global staff left 22 markets to focus on the 16 currently providing the majority of profit. It is targeting higher return, high impact geographies and businesses with which it can be a partner. Businesses that require world-class expertise and servicing leveraging data, technologies and expertise to help avoid risks.

It is not forgetting the market consisting of lower income customers requiring simpler and more flexible products. It terms this ‘Emerging Customers’ which might be lower margin but still profitable for AXA. It describes the self-employed, migrant and blue-collar workers in this market segment.

3 Transformative shifts required of AXA

To adapt to a more uncertain environment AXA recognises the need to re-organise operations to promote a more entrepreneurial culture and talent pool. This emphasis on entrepreneurship seems the opposite of what many associate with insurers and maybe a challenge for many of them.

AXA is moving from a predominant presence in Life & Savings to more Property & Casualty underwriting and risk prevention particularly in commercial insurance. Today, AXA has moved to 50% Commercial and 50% Retail.

AXA aims to reduce its customers' environmental risks, costs and adverse impacts

4 The Challenges

Data is, unsurprisingly, a key issue especially to prevent risk. And a great opportunity once solved. AXA is creating a ‘Data Ecosystem’ delivering real-time analytics by combining data networks, satellites, drones and sensors. It has built a ‘Digital Commercial Platform’ that supports the data ecosystem and strategically partnered with AWS which provides the cloud infrastructure and AI plus Machine Learning capabilities via Amazon Bedrock. I believe it has also partnered with Risk Solved contributing risk management and analytics capabilities. AXA's open ecosystem strategy also allows for further strategic partnerships.

That is not to say that legacy technology and new legacy like Guidewire is not deployed across some of AXA's global operations. It therefore appears to be a hybrid strategy as AXA balances its portfolio of clients and geographies.

Pierre du Rostu, CEO of AXA Digital Commercial Platform, stated: "We're building the next generation of risk management services for our clients, integrating innovative technologies to enhance the quality and precision of risk data available to our clients, underwriters and risk consultants".

In other articles I have written how modern MACH ( Micro-Services based, API rich, Cloud Native and Headless) architected core platforms can help achieve similar goals for other insurers. AXA seems to have built such a platform with its strategic technology partners whilst still having to cope with some non-MACH systems.

AXA reportedly partnered with Accenture to deliver better claims outcomes from its Guidewire core systems. Despite the shift to prevention of risk AXA still delivers risk mitigation and claims management via this hybrid approach. Payment and settlement of claims is still a core function and again a topic of lively discussion with further reading in the appendix below.

What of the role of AI? 

Thomas Burbel describes the goal to utilise AI to accelerate the management of routine tasks and free up time to focus on the bigger challenges and opportunities identified. Evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Augmenting its claims, underwriting, supply chain management, broker and MGA distribution teams. A practical approach avoiding the hype of many AI technology vendors and consultants as I interpret the scenarios written in this article.

Burbel may have applied a little artistic licence in his descriptions of the transformation AXA is making but on the other hand when you look at his bio in the full article you can see he is implementing plans long in the making.

How does the AXA Digital Commercial Platform compare?

I remember six or seven years ago reading investor presentations by Allianz which emphasised the connected world it sought to insure. Like AXA it built out a core system, named Allianz Business System (ABS) in partnership with Microsoft Azure that worked with an Allianz Insurtech - Syncier. A slide showed ABS connecting Allianz, its customers and supply chain partners.

Allianz made at least some of ABS open-source with the original intention of enabling other insurers to modernise their core systems and legacy technology via The Microsoft Azure marketplace. I do not know of any that have.

Esure in the UK, Ageas, Liberty Mutual in the USA have all deployed the EIS MACH architected core platform whilst smaller insurers have deployed Simply Health with Genasys, and you can see other use cases on the websites of Instanda. Ice Technologies.

My own experience is that another Tier One or smaller insurer would probably choose a MACH platform provider than a global competitor for its core platform on which it must rely for competitive advantage.

ABS is a hybrid system, and the global mix of Allianz affiliates have resulted in a complex mix of technology stacks that are a barrier to flexible and faster innovation.

Allianz also deployed another core platform named ‘Fusion Core’ an "ancillary revenue optimisation platform " used by Allianz Worldwide Partners for travel insurance and related products which suggests that ABS is in itself unable to host all products.

The AXA DCP seems ahead of the Allianz ABS, but that opinion is more subjective than objective. Both companies may be ahead of other Tier Ine insurers such as Zurich or Progressive but again that is a subjective view.

Future Trends

Other Tier One and Two insurers and the large global brokers may well choose a specialist technology core platform provider like EIS whilst smaller ones choose partners such as Genasys, Instanda, ICE or FintechOS rather than build themselves.

Nevertheless, the HBR article by Thomas Burbel sets out ambitious goals that add up to a coherent strategy, business and operational plan that has buy-in from AXA employees and anticipates changing market conditions and the shift from mitigation to risk prevention.

Futher Reading

Underwriting trailblazers outgun mainstream insurers  InsurtechWorld with link to Calgemini's comprehensive report on digial underwriting

Johnson & Johnson Pivots Its AI Strategy-its CIO Jim Swanson Chief Information Officer Jim Swanson said the move ensures that the company allocates resources only to the highest-value generative AI use cases, while it cuts projects that are redundant or simply not working, or where a technology other than GenAI works better.

McKinsey July 2025 playbook ‘Seizing the agentic AI advantage’. You'll have to scroll down to find it as well worth the effort with other interesting surveys and articles.

Capgemini World Property and Casualty Insurance Report 2025  They'll send the report, and no paywall either.

Short-term tactics v long-term transformation strategy from Insurtech World

The aging demographic pivot demands strategic P&C insurance transformation

AI, systems infrastructure, and Three Little Pigs

Which partners can you trust?

The list below  is neither exhaustive and is based on my own engagement with the companies listed  and having had to place my own job and reputation on the line managing a large $17million transformation project that delivered over target, under budget and only a little late. 

Modern MACH architecture core and PAS platforms will be part of an integrated ecosystem in which data flows across the whole value chain. Insurers have mostly relied on the gorillas in the market but even modern legacy platforms will limit an insurer's ability to leverage AI fully. 

 The UK's FCA industry regulator has stated that the “regulatory foundations” for the first Open Finance scheme are to be in place by the end of 2027. Prioritising small business lending, “so these engines of growth can better access capital”. That perhaps gives insurance a chance to get ready, and lay some new foundations first. 

The risk is that the industry is once again caught napping, and the potential left untapped. Seamless data sharing across the whole financial ecosystem like that laid out in the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) Blueprint report will require operational data models, and integration capability that doesn’t really exist yet in insurance.

This will take new insurance business models built on technologies that make this possible. MACH based, event data streaming and AI harnessed as needed. Change will need to happen across the industry, but I am confident this change will come. 

Examples include (alphabetical order) : -

• EIS- describes its deployment of AI for esure. Chief Strategy Officer Rory Yates is well known in the industry for his insights and advice, including the pros and cons of deploying all AI tools, including GenAI. Describes the success with esure on its website. 
• FintechOS- strength and focus initially on banking; now expanding into insurance and AI deployment. Scott Thompson is the insurance lead
• Genasys- clients include Simply Health and many MGAs. Group CEO is Andre Symes; the CRO is Gavin Peters
• ICE has many insurance customers listed on its website. ERS Motor Insurer, Ticker,  Provident Insurance, The Hood Group (travel insurance). ICE is part of the Actuaris Group. CEO Andrew Passfield
• Instanda has`` many insurance clients, including Vitality for its core platform and transformation services.  CEO Tim  Hardcastle and Group CRO Derek Hill

AI and Data Management technology partners that can steer you through the AI, GenAI, AgenticAI, SpacialAI and AGI journey of experimentation with safety and complaince as a priority:- 

For larger Tier One and Two Carriers,Global Insurers, Reinsurers and the large global Brokers and  emerfging large MGA groupings as US MGAs scoop up British MGAs

• EY - proof is in the esure use case quoted on its website- Chris Payne heads up the insurance practice; you'll see him at many industry events
• Service Now acquired Moveworks to extend generative and agentic AI. Able to scale and operationalise across the whole enterprise like EY. Nigel Walsh heads up the insurance practice
• Capgemini publishes valuable survey insights and has partnered with AI-powered pricing and underwriting insurtech Hyperexistenial, which claims to validate every data source used to allow insurers to validate for adherence to compliance and regulatory standards before deploying. on July 7th Capgem announced the acquisition of BPO WNS Group which many Tier One insurers outsource parts of the value chain to. WNS has a strategic partnership with digital claims platform insurtech RightIndem to transform claims in a transformative ecosystem.  Luca Russingan is the Capgem Senior Director, Insurance Intelligence.
• Accenture acquired Altus Consulting, which analyses an insurer's  digital maturity and how to fill gaps for future innovation- Mark McDonald  heads the Insurance practice in the UK
• BCG  is well known, though I have no direct experience. It has shared the stage with with AgenticAI tools partner Kore.ai
• KPMG- Hew Evans is Head of Insurance in the UK and Matthew Smith is the Partner for  Strategy & Transformation and Global Claims Lead
• Salesforce.com- acquired Informatica to deliver AI across insurers; good fit with customers of its CRM, Sales, SaaS, and marketing platforms
• Publicis Sapient- growing its insurance customer base. Was the implementation partner that I chose in the hotel project from a short list, as they proved more collaborative and put skin in the game. Dan Cole runs the Insurance Practice
• Hitachi Digital Services- Hitachi is part of a massive global implementer with strong experience in Building Management Systems (integrate with insurers for preventative maintenance) and strong AI  and other capabilities. Stuart Reeder heads up the Insurance Practice
• Palantir made its name and dizzying valuation delivering AI to governments, particularly defence in the USA and the NHS in the UK. Licensing a tad expensive even for Tier One insurers, but they offer some compelling solutions and a test-learn-iterate-prove culture and workshops. Value, as with the other partners I list,must be in the eye of the beholder.
• CGI- well respected in government, CGI has ten of the top UK insurers as customers of its Ratebase Insurance rating and pricing platform , and its Underwriters Workbench.  Darren Rudd is Head of Insurance and technology business consulting, and will listen to your requirement and be realistic about satisfying them.
• PCW's insurance practice includes Automation, AI, and digital ecosystems: product design, underwriting, pricing, and claims.
• Maarten Ectors - I first met Maarten when he was Chief Digital Officer at Legal & General General Insurance. He invited innovators to a 5 day workshop with the L&G Teams for 4 streams one of which was claims transformation. He rejected the RFP/POC process and instead wanted the innovators to present their solutions to The CEO and C-Suite Friday morning. One outcome was a team of well trained L&G claim handlers augmented by technology winning a Smart Claim award for L&G , satisfied customers and better GI ratios. Maarten transferred to L&G Group as Chief Innovation officer, won more innovation awards, and now runs AI start-ups. He can certainly advise and oversee large, medium and smaller insurers. His pace of innovation may be a challenge to the cautious! Currently founder of Greentic.ai an open source platform  “To create armies of digital  workers". Worth meeting

For Mid-Size Insurers Tier Three and smaller, Brokers and MGAs 

• Aiimi Limited; Aiimi made its name enabling Water Utilities locate and reduce water leaks by accessing unstructured data using its AI-powered data management platform that will also make data AI-ready. It counts the FCA as a client and Riverstone International as an acquirer of legacy books of business.  JLR and The Cabinet Office are named clients. It names PwC as a business partner. The CRO is Mark Drayton 
• Kore.ai is a US-headquartered Agentic AI partner with a European presence and support in London. Johnson and Johnson and Morgan Stanley are two of many global clients. The Chief Strategy Officer is Cathal McCarthy 
• AI Risk: a community of innovators that develops and deploys AI. It has built an agentic AI platform for a broker and is demonstrating a production version of this. On its website an operational deployment is described in a case study. I have a feeling it's a smallish broker ( 6 or so humans). The CEO is stated as being unable to recruit key people (humans)  and has replaced all with digital agents. I have a feeling that can work better for a broker or MGA, whilst large insurers data issues will be a challenge. AI Risk certainly advises large insurers  so worth talking with Simon Torrance who  is the founder and CEO
• Outlier Technology Limited. A blog on LinkedIn caught my eye. 'The best thing a business can do is forget AI exists' - tech CEO  I called CEO David Tyler and found he had delivered a major data and AI project for a large utility that had spent £4m on a POC to meet regulatory compliance demands by a fixed date- a real problem. The POC failed despite it being a technical success. That pilot purgatory in action! The human end-users found it useless and rejected the deployment.  Outlier was retained to make it work and ensure the users embraced it, which they did successfully. Outlier can collaborate to deliver even large projects cost-effectively as long as you share domain knowledge and collaborate with all your stakeholders. Outlier can build out a test, learn, and iterate MVP process until you are happy with the result. Worth a chat with David and his team.
• There will be many other potential partners- I have listed those I have personal experience with and those insurers have used.

Most insurer's cash flow is managed via the claims operation until recently mostly considered a cost centre rather than a business. A few CEOs of UK insurers have been shown the exit door as claims inflation adversely impacted ratios and company losses grew beyond the patience of shareholders. Claim technology partners in aphabetical order:- 

• 360 Globalnet
• Claims technology with Synergy Cloud
  • Home and Property focus
• Cotality, the CoreLogic rebranding
  • Home, contents, property, and supply chain ecosystem 
• Five Sigma- transforming insurance with its AI claims adjuster is similar to RightIndem, and years of research made me list the two as the best for insurance to shortlist 
• RightIndem launched its AI-powered claims assistant that guides claimants to more accurate and detailed eFNOL solututions faster. It names WNS Group as a strategic partner delivering Rightindem embeded as part of its outsourced services for insueres like \howden Group and Zurich. CEO is Julie Rodilosso and CSO Rich Massingham

My research over the last few years suggests that RightIndem and Five Sigma offer the ultimate option for multiple lines of business, digital FNOL, full management from FNOL to settlement, and the ability to deploy GenAI and other AI tools. Combined with the MACH architecture core platforms, the combination offers cost-effective solutions.