A data point buried in new industry research carries a direct message for brokers: most policies in the market were never written with AI liability in mind, and that wording gap is now closing whether brokers have raised it with clients or not.
Willis's latest Risk and Resilience review found that more than 700 million people now use leading AI systems every week, with the technology embedded across underwriting, claims and executive decision-making faster than governance frameworks can keep pace. That finding is at the heart of one of today’s latest insurance industry moves.
AIQA Global, LLC has formed its first Advisory Board to support the AIQ Score, a 0–200 evidence-based assessment of enterprise AI governance quality measured across 250 factors.
"Enterprise AI adoption has advanced much faster than enterprise AI governance. Self-attestation is not governance," said James E. Malackowski, co-founder and chairman.
AIQA said the score is intended to feed into procurement review, underwriting, financing diligence and regulatory examination as adoption continues - which, if it gains traction, is the kind of documentation brokers could soon be asked to produce or interpret on a client's behalf.
The board follows AIQA's Chicago Principles for Independent AI Assurance and includes four founding advisors: Jon Held, chairman of J.S. Held LLC, whose clients include 70% of the Forbes Top 20 Insurance Companies, 81% of the Global 200 Law Firms and 65% of the Fortune 100 Companies; Mike Hrabik, CEO of SecureSky and formerly Americas regional CEO of NTT Security; Michael Mitzenmacher, a Harvard computer science professor and author of more than 250 publications; and Albert D. Napoli, an entrepreneurship instructor at USC.
Chase Malackowski, AIQA's co-founder and head of product, linked the launch to recent AI incidents: "AI models under test escaped their sandbox and broke into a live company's systems... Boards need a score they can check and compare."
Regulators are moving in step with that shift. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is running an AI Systems Evaluation Tool pilot across twelve states - California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin - from March through September 2026, feeding directly into market conduct and financial exams.
It builds on the NAIC's Model Bulletin on AI systems, adopted in December 2023 and since matched by 25 states and the District of Columbia, bringing the total number of jurisdictions with AI governance expectations to 29. For brokers placing business in any of those states, an underwriter asking pointed questions about a client's AI governance is no longer a hypothetical.
The commercial consequence is already visible. Aon recently launched an AI Risk Diagnostic, built by its Global Risk Consulting team, after firms without documented AI oversight frameworks began facing coverage denials at renewal - a concrete case of governance gaps costing coverage rather than just inviting scrutiny. Its arrival also lines up with the EU AI Act's high-risk obligations, which take effect in August 2026.
Old Republic International Corporation has appointed John Paulk chief operating officer of Old Republic Excess & Surplus, reporting to Ralph Sabbagh, president of the unit.
Craig Smiddy, Old Republic's president and CEO, said Paulk "brings over 20 years of executive experience, a deep understanding of the specialty E&S space, and a track record of leading high-performance teams."
The appointment lands in a market wholesale brokers are watching closely for the same reason as AI coverage: which lines are moving, and how fast. The wider E&S market logged $47.6 billion in premium across 15 stamping-office states through the first half of 2026, up 2.8% year over year, according to the Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association's midyear report - but property rates are softening while liability lines continue to harden, meaning brokers face two different negotiating positions within the same client's account depending on the line.
Old Republic reported second-quarter 2026 net income of $322.3 million, up from $204.4 million a year earlier.
Its specialty segment, which includes Excess & Surplus, has become the company's largest business line - a scale that matters to brokers weighing which E&S markets have the capacity and stability to hold a program through a hardening cycle.
Crawford & Company, the world's largest publicly listed independent provider of claims management and outsourcing solutions, has added the professional team from Asegúrate, led by Mauricio Pinzón, to its Colombia claims operation, covering P&C, marine, loss control and risk management.
For brokers with clients holding Latin American exposure, claims-handling capacity in the region is a real factor in market selection, not just a company update: Andrew Bart, CEO, International Operations, Crawford & Company, said the move "reflects our long-term confidence in the country's insurance sector."
The addition also comes as Crawford's wider international segment, spanning multiple regions, posted a strong quarter: operating earnings rose 48.2% to $10.9 million in Q2 2026, even as its US claims business softened - a reminder that Crawford's overseas operations, of which Colombia is now part, are where the company's momentum currently sits.
Inszone Insurance Services has promoted Nathaniel Jackson to director of IT and development, continuing a pattern of internal promotions at the firm.
For independent agency owners, the more relevant fact may be Inszone's standing as an acquirer: data compiled by Tracxn puts its cumulative deal count at 137, and the firm ranked among the three most active US broker buyers in 2025, alongside BroadStreet Partners and World Insurance Associates, together accounting for 19.4% of 753 announced broker M&A transactions that year - a scale that makes Inszone a name wor
