A new industry report has found that only 10% of property and casualty (P&C) insurers have successfully scaled artificial intelligence, creating a sharp divide between high performers and the rest of the industry.
The Capgemini Research Institute’s (Capgemini) World Property & Casualty Insurance Report 2026, now in its 19th edition, identified a small group of insurers it calls “intelligence trailblazers,” which have achieved up to 21% higher revenue growth and roughly a 51% greater increase in share price over three years compared with their peers.
The report surveyed 344 senior executives, 809 insurance employees, and 1,113 policyholders across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
A key finding points to a measurement problem at the heart of the industry’s lag. Forty-two per cent (42%) of insurers track no AI metrics at all, the report said, leaving 60% of the industry stuck in the exploration or proof-of-concept stage with no reliable way to determine what is working.
The “trailblazers” stand out for how they approach investment and accountability. According to the report, they are nearly four times more likely to invest in change management beyond basic training, nearly three times more likely to have explainable AI infrastructure across their organizations, and nearly twice as likely to embed AI responsibilities directly into employee job descriptions.
The broader industry, meanwhile, commits 72% of its AI investments to technology and infrastructure, with only 28% going toward change management. The report described this as an “architecture mismatch” – a pattern in which technology advances outpace an organization’s ability to integrate them effectively.
The human dimension of the challenge is equally significant. Fifty-five per cent (55%) of P&C insurers reported a lack of clear return on investment from AI initiatives, while the same share said it was unclear who owned those initiatives within their firms. Two-thirds of insurers reported a shortage of AI skills, and nearly half of employees with access to AI tools said their workday remained unchanged even after 18 months of use.
“The insurance industry is facing its moment of AI truth. Trailblazers are proof that when carriers embed AI into their business strategy from the outset it elevates from an efficiency play into a true competitive advantage that directly impacts the bottom line,” said Kartik Ramakrishnan, CEO of Capgemini’s financial services strategic business unit and group executive board member.
Ramakrishnan added that by “strengthening data foundations, clarifying ownership, and investing in skills and governance, insurers can move beyond pilots and unlock enterprise-wide value.”
A separate survey published in April by Insurity, a US-based insurance software provider. Consumer support for AI among P&C policyholders nearly doubled year over year, rising to 39% in 2026 from just 20% in 2025, while resistance – measured by consumers who said they were less likely to buy from an insurer publicly using AI – eased from 44% to 36%.
However, the same data revealed clear limits to that openness. Only 22% of consumers said they would feel comfortable with AI filing a claim on their behalf, and just 16% expressed comfort with AI canceling or renewing a policy autonomously.
