Advanced analytics: Turning promise into profit

Executive Summary

Advanced analytics^[1] have become table stakes for competitive advantage in the global insurance industry. North American P&C insurers that currently lead in advanced analytics maturity have delivered superior financial results in recent years. Pricing and underwriting remain the most mature domains, while claims, distribution, and marketing are rapidly catching up as data foundations, governance, and operating models improve.

However, data concerns—such as inadequate quality and limited accessibility—along with IT bottlenecks, remain the biggest obstacles to expanding insurers' use of advanced analytics. At the same time, the performance gap between analytics Leaders and analytics Learners continues to widen, with Leaders achieving stronger growth and profitability.

To compare how advanced analytics maturity relates to business performance, we categorized survey respondents into two segments:

• Leaders — Insurers with advanced use of analytics and AI across multiple functions and lines of business that demonstrate broad, scalable deployment, more sophisticated techniques, modern data environments, and stronger culture and governance.
• Learners — Insurers are earlier in their analytics journey, typically using analytics on a narrower scope or at a smaller scale, as core capabilities in data, tools, and governance are still under development.

Leaders are larger and have grown faster than Learners

Leaders are more profitable than Learners, with a widening gap

Footnote

1. In this survey, the term “Advanced Analytics” refers to the use of sophisticated data techniques—including artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive modeling, simulation, and data engineering—to enhance decision‑making across the insurance value chain. This includes applications in underwriting, distribution, pricing, claims, and catastrophe modeling. Return to article