Outcomes

Data, Trust & Competitive Advantage in an AI-Driven Market – Event Highlights

Senior underwriters, actuaries, pricing specialists, risk leaders and technologists from across the London Market gathered on 25th November for a compelling and collaborative breakfast roundtable, “Data, Trust & Competitive Advantage in an AI-Driven Market.” Hosted by Roger Oldham, CEO & Founder of London Market Forums (LMF), and supported by Earnix, the session explored the Market’s readiness to embrace the future of AI-driven underwriting, pricing and risk analysis.

From dynamic pricing and catastrophe modelling to the emerging power of multi-agent AI, the conversation centred on one shared truth: the Market’s future competitiveness and reputation depends on the integrity, accessibility and governance of its underlying data that will fuel the success of AI generated output.

A Marketplace on the Edge of Change

Opening the session, Roger emphasised the importance of bringing together disciplines that rarely find themselves in the same room.

“Bringing underwriters, actuaries, pricing specialists, risk leaders and technologists together doesn’t happen often enough,” he said. “But when you do, the real barriers become clear — and the solutions even clearer.”

He recalled a similar AI session held just weeks earlier where frustrations were expressed as professionals revealed the structural, cultural and data-related challenges blocking progress. This latest forum promised, once again, an open and honest exploration of the issues that genuinely matter.

Reading the Room: Polling Reveals a Market in Transition

Throughout the morning, live polling helped illuminate the collective sentiment. Attendees confirmed that while AI experimentation is happening across the Market, most initiatives remain at proof-of-concept stage and largely focused on operational efficiency. Underwriting and front-office adoption remains limited, with data quality identified as the single biggest obstacle.

One theme quickly emerged: a lack of strategic coordination is preventing firms from accelerating their AI agendas. As Roger noted, “There are some fantastically passionate individuals pushing AI forward inside Market firms, but too often it’s being driven by these individuals only, with more localised support, not organisational strategy.”

Attendees also expressed strong agreement that human oversight must remain a permanent fixture in an AI-enabled workflow. As one participant remarked, “We’re nowhere near replacing judgement. We’re augmenting it.”

Expert Insight: Dr Marcus Looft on AI’s True Trajectory

Marcus Looft, Director of Strategy at Earnix and a veteran of Allianz, AXA, Milliman and WTW, shared exclusive findings from Earnix’s global survey of more than 400 insurance professionals. His message was clear: AI has already overtaken many of the industry’s most pressing themes — including inflation, labour shortages and ESG — in its potential long-term impact.

“What stood out,” Marcus explained, “was how consistently data quality appeared as both the most important enabler and the most significant challenge. Every function, every region, every line of business said the same thing.”

He highlighted that modern insurers are no longer deciding whether to use AI, but how. Traditional predictive models now sit alongside agentic and generative techniques, offering new ways to automate decisions, understand customer behaviour and create more personalised products.

Yet the future, he cautioned, must be approached responsibly. “Control must remain with people,” he said. “Machine intelligence should support decision-making, not determine it. That’s why explainability, governance and oversight must be built in from the start.”

A Candid Roundtable: Where Innovation Meets Reality

After a delicious hot cooked breakfast, the discussion broadened into a lively and wide-ranging roundtable. Attendees spoke openly about the promise and pitfalls of AI, and the deeper cultural issues shaping progress.

One participant captured the underlying challenge succinctly: “The Market isn’t short of data. It’s short of trusted data.”

Others described the persistent reluctance across organisations to properly input, validate or own data. As another attendee observed, “People simply don’t want to put the data in. If they’re not bought in, you can have the best governance in the world and it still won’t work.”

Integration challenges surfaced repeatedly. Legacy systems, inconsistent structures and decades of mergers have created what one contributor described as “different species of data — one’s a monkey, one’s a human, one’s a gorilla.” Without alignment, the Market will struggle to scale even the most promising AI pilots.

Examples of early AI application were shared, from contract-review automation and code interrogation to data ingestion and claims-related prompts. Yet each came with stories of unreliability, hallucinations and inconsistent performance. As one attendee put it, “It’s helpful — until it isn’t. And in regulated insurance work, that matters.”

Regulatory expectations also weighed heavily. Firms recognised that AI tools must be audit-ready and fully transparent. “We have to show our workings,” one contributor said. “A black-box model simply won’t fly.”

A Shared Vision for the Future

Despite differences in maturity and experience, the room repeatedly returned to a common theme: the Market’s ability to harness AI depends not on the sophistication of the technology, but on the strength of its culture, governance and collaboration.

As Roger concluded, “Across every LMF discussion — regardless of topic, seniority or business line — the answer always comes back to people. Culture, leadership and clear coordination will determine how successfully this Market uses data and AI to build competitive advantage.”

He thanked Earnix, and Marcus Looft in particular, for their valuable contributions, and expressed his appreciation to the attendees for their openness and insight.

Looking Ahead

This session forms part of a broader programme of conversations shaping the future of EC3. Upcoming LMF events include the Cyber Summit on 26th November, the Technology & Innovation Summit on 9th December, the LMF Annual Christmas Party that same evening, and a final session on 16th December at the Old Library at Lloyd’s, exploring third-party supply chain risk.

For more than a decade, London Market Forums has placed Market professionals at the centre of the discussion — and this latest roundtable has reaffirmed that the path to a truly AI-enabled, data-driven Market will be shaped not by algorithms, but by people.

If you’re not yet part of this growing community of practitioners, now is the time to join the conversation.