Australia’s life insurers top global data readiness

Worldwide, data readiness was the primary obstacle to maximising AI.

Globally, Australian life insurers lead in terms of data readiness maturity, with organisational alignment – a company’s ability to leverage data effectively to achieve its business objectives – its redeeming quality.

Worldwide, the life insurance industry saw data readiness as the primary obstacle to maximising artificial intelligence (AI), according to 78% of survey respondents by Equisoft, LIMRA, and Universal Conversion Technologies (UCT).

Latin America outperformed global benchmarks with 82% categorised as “Progressive,” and the US lagged, with 66% of carriers feeling unready for AI. 

Canada scored the lowest regionally, citing sourcing and integration as its weakest area.  

Globally, nearly half (46%) acknowledged they are not prepared to implement AI initiatives, the "Assessing Data Readiness for AI in the Life Insurance Industry" showed.

Whilst many insurers rank themselves as “progressive” in data readiness, significant gaps remain in aligning data practices with AI strategies.  

The report’s Global Data Readiness Benchmark assessed insurers across six dimensions: organisational alignment, infrastructure, sourcing and integration, quality and integrity, governance, and analytics. Australian insurers emerged as leaders in data readiness, with 38% ranking as “Optimal.”  

Globally, 87% of respondents reported using AI in areas such as underwriting and operations, with machine learning as the most widely adopted technology. 

However, challenges persist, including scaling issues, technological hurdles, and flawed assumptions during project planning.