An ACORD study has revealed that only one-quarter of insurance carriers have fully digitalized their value chains, while more than 10% are not significantly incorporating digital technologies into their operations.
Meanwhile, more than half of the respondents are still assessing how digitalization can be applied to their business models.
ACORD has released its 2025 edition of the annual ACORD Insurance Digital Maturity Study. The report analyzed 210 of the world’s largest insurance carriers across property and casualty, life and reinsurance.
The study used the most current available data to evaluate each company’s digital maturity in comparison to industry peers and to measure the relationship between digital capabilities and value creation. It also identified key challenges, implications and necessary steps for successfully digitalization. The findings provide a framework for recognizing gaps and focusing on areas for improvement.
A new addition to the 2025 edition is the “AI & Digital Maturity” addendum, which examined AI’s potential impact on insurance enterprises and how AI adoption can help less digitally mature organizations overcome obstacles and accelerate development.
ACORD’s analysis found that integrating AI capabilities could reduce expenses for P&C insurers by up to 14.6%, representing potential savings of more than $480 billion annually across the industry. For life insurers, the estimated annual value potential exceeds $300 billion, according to the report.
“The reality of AI and its impact on the industry are widely recognized, and implementation is well underway,” said ACORD CEO Bill Pieroni. “We have seen the performance gap between Digital Competitors vs. Laggard steadily grow year after year – AI leverage is further accelerating that differentiation. A clear strategy and resource allocation around AI, as well as a full spectrum of digital capabilities, is necessary for any insurer to remain competitive in coming years.”
ACORD’s analysis also found that organizations with higher digital maturity levels generate greater value and consistently outperform the study average. Greater digital maturity is also linked to broader adoption of ACORD Data Standards, which support capabilities across the entire value chain.
