NTT DATA’s Insurtech Global Outlook 2026 report argues the insurance sector is approaching an inflection point as cyber and climate-related losses grow faster than insurers’ ability to absorb or price risk, while many organisations struggle to move artificial intelligence (AI) from experimentation to production.
The report estimates cybersecurity is now the largest source of uninsured risk in business insurance, projecting uninsured cyber losses to rise from $171 billion in 2023 to more than $700 billion by 2030. It also puts climate-related uninsured losses at $180 billion, and says liability claims have risen by 57%.
NTT DATA links the widening protection gap to a broader environment of accelerating risk, including increased use of AI and ongoing cyber threats. In Australia and New Zealand, the report’s release follows a recent agreement between the Insurance Council of Australia and the Insurance Council of New Zealand to form the Resilient Insurance Markets Initiative, which warned that cyber threats and rapid AI advances were destabilising traditional regional risk.
Despite growing adoption of AI among staff, the report says insurers are finding it difficult to scale AI safely and consistently. It found 66% of insurance employees use AI tools, but only 22% of insurers have scaled AI into production. NTT DATA attributes the gap to issues including trust, governance and operating models not designed for AI, rather than technology limitations.
The report also points to changes in the insurtech funding landscape, stating that US insurance initial public offerings reached a 20-year high, while debt financing totalled $9.5 billion and exceeded equity funding.
In guidance to insurers, the report outlines four focus areas: building resilience into operating models; deploying responsible AI at scale with explainability, compliance and human accountability; shifting customer experiences toward prevention-first approaches; and developing partner ecosystems, citing the embedded insurance market exceeding $116 billion in 2025.
“The insurance industry is facing structural shifts in the face of unprecedented market volatility and uncertainty. There are, however, clear opportunities for insurers to embrace AI-driven solutions to bolster trust and resilience,” said Bruno Abril, Global Head of Insurance, NTT DATA, Inc. “In this report, we identify the key shifts that are shaping insurance in 2026 and translate them into actionable imperatives that can help insurers build long-term value for their businesses, their customers and society.”
NTT DATA said the report is based on analysis of industry data, market trends and risk indicators from global sources, including insurer disclosures, third-party research and NTT DATA insights, covering 2023 to 2025.
You can read the full report here.
