Mumbai: Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a pivotal role in transforming India’s insurance sector and strengthening the country’s risk management framework, Dr. Debasish Prusty, additional secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, said while addressing the India Insurance Summit 2026 in Mumbai on Saturday.
Organised by Asia Insurance Post under the aegis of New India Assurance with PwC as the knowledge partner, the summit was themed “AI and Insurance: Transforming India’s Risk Landscape.” It brought together insurance leaders, policymakers, actuaries, brokers, academicians and corporate executives to deliberate on AI’s growing role in the industry.
In his address, Dr. Prusty underlined insurance’s critical contribution to India’s economic resilience, describing it as indispensable in anticipating risks, implementing preventive measures and enabling faster recovery from disruptions.
He said the India AI Mission, launched following the India AI Summit earlier this year, aims to build a comprehensive AI ecosystem encompassing digital infrastructure, skilled manpower and ethical governance to support the country’s vision of achieving complete financial inclusion by 2047. AI, Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics, he noted, would significantly improve risk assessment, underwriting and cyber-risk management.
“The rapid deployment of AI by the insurance industry will not only transform the sector but also contribute to the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Maximum Governance, Minimum Government’,” he said.
Delivering the first keynote address, Girija Subramanian, CMD, New India Assurance and IRDAI Member-designate, said AI has the potential to reshape every segment of insurance—from customer acquisition and policy servicing to claims settlement.
She called for greater investments in AI-driven digital infrastructure to help insurers achieve higher standards of scale, service quality, simplicity, speed and trust.
Stressing responsible adoption of technology, she said AI must enhance accountability, operational excellence and accessibility, particularly in expanding insurance penetration across rural India.
In the second keynote address, B.C. Patnaik, Director of the National Insurance Academy and former IRDAI member, described AI as “an idea whose time has come,” borrowing from French writer Victor Hugo.
Patnaik said India’s growing digital economy, vast data resources and expanding computing capabilities provide an ideal foundation for large-scale AI adoption in insurance. While AI has already demonstrated its ability to improve operational efficiency, productivity and profitability, he cautioned that successful implementation would depend on addressing challenges around human oversight, skills development and trust.
“The deployment of AI requires two ingredients—data and computing power. India has both,” he said, urging insurers to invest in workforce skilling so AI complements human expertise rather than replaces it.
He concluded by observing that while AI’s full impact remains uncertain, its transformative potential for the insurance industry is undeniable, much like the internet in its early years. “Today we are standing on the shore of AI. Nobody can say for sure how it will evolve, but its influence will be profound,” he said.