Bruce Eisler: Insurance Insider Video Interview During WSIA

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the insurance industry, but “natural intelligence” remains, says Bruce Eisler, Aspen U.S. CEO and Aspen Insurance Chief Underwriting Officer.

In an exclusive interview with Meg Green, Senior Editor, Multimedia, for Insurance Insider, Bruce provided his insights on some of themes discussed during the recent WSIA Annual Conference in San Diego, California.

Bruce said that while there’s a recognition that some markets have softened or plateaued on a relative basis, the industry is still in a good place with rates remaining adequate. He added: “It’s steady as she goes, and I think there’s still optimism in the market.”

On the subject of nuclear verdicts and social inflation, and what the industry should be doing, Bruce commented that the industry spends a lot of time talking about this topic and feels it’s time to start focusing on what we should be doing about it. Bruce said: “You can’t just sit still and continue to be surprised by the same issues still occurring.”  He mentioned that the industry has taken some good, first steps but more needs to be done, including properly investing in claims handling and claims expertise.

Another topic during WSIA was AI, which is bringing transformative efficiencies to the insurance industry.  While AI has the potential to make us better decisionmakers, Bruce noted that judgement and emotional intelligence still matter, and we must not let AI alone cause us to become desensitized to the issues impacting our industry. He said that you can’t replace natural intelligence in a relationship business like ours, explaining that machines by themselves do not fully capture what is needed to partner successfully with sophisticated risk managers and brokers.

Watch the full interview.