Only 25% of insurers surveyed have fully adopted digitalization across their value chain, while 10% have made minimal use of digital technologies in their business processes, according to new research from ACORD.
The 2025 edition of ACORD’s Insurance Digital Maturity Study revealed that over half of insurers are still evaluating how digitalization fits their business models.
ACORD, a global standards body for the insurance sector, conducted the survey among 210 insurers representing all major business insurance in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region.
These insurers reported a combined gross written premium of $3.85 tn in 2023.
Bill Peroni, ACORD’s CEO, stated that artificial intelligence (AI) is widely acknowledged for its impact on the industry, and adoption is already underway.
We have observed a growing performance gap between digital competitors and laggards, with AI adoption further accelerating this divide.
Bill Peroni, ACORD’s CEO
“A clear strategy and commitment to AI, alongside a complete range of digital capabilities, are essential for insurers to remain competitive in the future,” Peroni said.
The report aimed to benchmark digital maturity among insurers, assess how digital capabilities drive value, and identify challenges and key actions for digital transformation.
The study found that higher levels of digital maturity correlate with greater value creation. Digital competitors more than tripled their share prices and significantly outperformed the study averages in both relative profit and total shareholder return.
Digital competitors also showed stronger growth in premiums and earnings compared to other groups.
ACORD noted that, while many factors influence growth, a well-executed business model supported by effective digital systems enabled these companies to surpass industry performance.
Companies with limited digital initiatives showed performance metrics similar to firms with broader digital ambitions, approaching the growth rates of digital competitors in premiums and earnings.
The report attributed this to two factors:
- first, many local digital adopters operate in a few business lines or markets where full-scale digitalization is less critical;
- second, the digital transition demands long-term investment, with financial results reflecting progress before capturing full benefits.
Digital laggards, on the other hand, reported below-average performance across nearly all metrics and faced negative cash flow in the post-COVID-19 landscape.
