Uncertainty as a catalyst: how insurers combine resilience and growth

Uncertainty is rising, but so are opportunities. Insurers that modernize systems and use AI strategically boost both resilience and growth.

In brief

• Rising uncertainty from climate, cyber and geopolitics makes resilience a strategic priority for insurers.
• Digital transformation and modernization of IT and data are key to agility, innovation and improved customer experience.
• AI can create real value in core processes such as underwriting and claims, provided data, architecture and culture are aligned.

The insurance sector is navigating a period of increasing uncertainty. Climate change, cyber threats, geopolitical tensions and economic volatility are creating an environment in which risks emerge faster, reinforce each other and are harder to predict. At the same time, technology, new capital flows and the rise of non traditional competitors are rapidly reshaping the playing field. According to the EY Global Insurance Outlook 2026, insurers worldwide are therefore exploring new growth strategies, with digital transformation and the strategic use of artificial intelligence playing an increasingly important role.

Insurers are used to dealing with uncertainty. It is, after all, the core of their business: assessing risk and calculating what might happen. But today’s uncertainty is harder to predict than in the past. Extreme weather follows extreme weather, cyberattacks are no longer incidents but a constant threat, and geopolitical tensions ripple unexpectedly through markets and value chains. At the same time, regulators are raising the bar. This means resilience is no longer a contingency or an afterthought, but a strategic imperative. It is not a scenario for when things go wrong, but a capability embedded at the heart of the organization.

No scalable AI without strong systems

That foundation is also essential for deploying AI strategically. Many insurers are already experimenting with AI. Employees use copilots, chatbots support customer interactions and analytics are partially automated. These are valuable steps, but they often remain at the edges of the organization and are still limited in driving commercial growth.

EY’s Global Insurance Outlook identifies this as a key focus area for boards and executive teams of international insurers, and it should equally apply to the Dutch market.

The real value emerges when AI reaches core processes such as underwriting, claims handling and customer interaction. This requires more than applying AI to existing processes. It requires redesigning those processes altogether. To create value, high quality data, modular architecture and integrated processes are essential. This is precisely where many organizations still struggle. Platform modernization is therefore not a luxury, but a necessary first step toward scalable and future proof AI.

DORA as a stress test

With the European DORA regulation, digital resilience is being tested in practice. What happens if a critical IT supplier fails? If a cyber incident lasts longer than expected? Or if multiple links in the value chain are disrupted at the same time?

DORA acts as a stress test. It exposes dependencies and reveals whether an organization truly has control, or is relying on assumptions. This requires close collaboration between IT, risk, legal and business functions, which in many organizations have historically operated in silos.

But resilience goes beyond compliance. It is about continuity of service as well as making strategic choices that not only manage risk but also leverage it. In this context, ESG initiatives also play a role, not just as a compliance requirement, but as a broader approach to sustainability and risk management.

Are people keeping pace with change?

Another key theme from EY’s Global Insurance Outlook is culture and human behavior. Ultimately, success is determined not by systems or regulations, but by people. Technology can enable and regulation can guide, but without the right culture, change stalls. Insurers are competing in a tight labor market for data analysts, AI specialists, actuaries and cyber experts. At the same time, existing employees must be brought along in new ways of working. This requires a culture centered on learning, where teams collaborate rather than operate in silos, and where leadership provides both direction and space.

An organization that freezes in uncertainty becomes vulnerable. An organization that continues to learn and adapt strengthens its resilience. Agility is not a buzzword, but a prerequisite for staying relevant.

Using uncertainty as an accelerator

Customers expect speed, simplicity and personalized service. They compare their insurer not only to other insurers, but to digital platforms that operate in real time and function seamlessly. Those who strengthen their foundations now can meet these expectations. Not despite uncertainty, but because of the choices it demands.

The question is not whether another shock will occur, but who will be ready when it does. Insurers that modernize their systems, deploy AI strategically and strengthen collaboration will not only endure. Like their international peers, Dutch insurers can use uncertainty as an accelerator of transformation and ultimately of competitive advantage.