As insurers move into 2026, boardrooms are confronting a different set of questions than they were even two or three years ago. The discussion is no longer whether transformation is required, but whether leadership capability is keeping pace with the scale and speed of change now underway.
Technology investment continues to accelerate across the sector. Risk profiles are shifting in real time. New operating models are emerging alongside legacy ones. Yet in many organisations, leadership structures and succession plans remain anchored in a world that no longer exists.
For insurance boards, 2026 represents a critical inflection point. The agenda is increasingly defined by three interconnected priorities: technology, talent and transformation. How boards oversee these areas, and how effectively leadership is aligned to deliver against them, will determine which insurers move forward with confidence and which struggle to execute.
The 2026 board agenda at a glance
Before exploring these themes in depth, it is worth pausing on what is already clear from boardroom conversations across the global insurance market. While strategies differ by geography, line of business and operating model, the pressures shaping board agendas are strikingly consistent.
As insurers look ahead to 2026, several signals stand out:
- Productivity and execution remain stubborn challenges, with McKinsey estimating that underwriters can spend 30–40 percent of their time on administrative tasks, limiting the impact of technology investment and highlighting gaps between ambition and delivery.
- AI and automation are already reshaping core insurance activities, with McKinsey’s Insurance 2030 research indicating that a significant share of claims and underwriting activities can be automated or augmented, changing how risk is assessed and decisions are governed.
- Technology risk has become a board-level issue, as AI, cloud platforms and advanced analytics increasingly influence underwriting accuracy, regulatory exposure, operational resilience and capital efficiency.
- Talent availability and leadership capability are now material growth constraints, with PwC’s Global CEO Survey consistently identifying the availability of people with the right skills as one of the most significant threats facing financial services organisations.
- Leadership requirements are shifting faster than succession pipelines, as Deloitte’s research on the future of underwriting highlights growing demand for leaders who can combine human judgement with automation, analytics and model governance.
Taken together, these indicators point to a clear conclusion. The insurance board agenda for 2026 is no longer shaped by isolated initiatives or individual transformation programmes. It is shaped by the organisation’s ability to align technology, talent and leadership capability in a way that enables sustained execution.
What follows examines how these pressures are reshaping board priorities, and what they mean for leadership oversight and hiring decisions across the insurance sector.
Technology is no longer an IT discussion
For much of the past decade, digital transformation in insurance was framed as a technology or operations issue. That framing is no longer adequate.
McKinsey’s research into insurance productivity shows that underwriters can spend as much as 30–40 percent of their time on administrative tasks, reducing the time available for judgement-driven work where value is created. Automation and AI offer clear potential to address this imbalance, but only when deployed with strong governance and leadership oversight.
Technology decisions now carry direct implications for underwriting discipline, regulatory compliance, operational resilience and reputational risk. AI-enabled pricing models, automated claims handling and real-time data ingestion affect how risk is assessed and how decisions are justified to regulators and customers alike.
As a result, technology oversight has become a core board responsibility. Effective boards heading into 2026 will not need to be technologists, but they must be sufficiently fluent to understand trade-offs, challenge assumptions and evaluate the broader implications of technology-led change. Where boards lack this fluency, the risk is not slower progress, but strategic blind spots.
Talent as a board-level execution risk
Alongside technology, talent has emerged as one of the most significant constraints on transformation in insurance.
Across financial services, leadership capability and skills availability continue to rank among the top threats to growth. PwC’s 28th Annual Global CEO Survey highlights ongoing concern around access to people with the right skills, particularly as organisations adopt new technologies and operating models.
In insurance, this challenge is rarely about headcount alone. It is about leadership readiness. Transformation initiatives often stall not because strategy is flawed, but because leadership teams are not equipped to operate across legacy systems, emerging technologies and heightened regulatory scrutiny at the same time.
Boards are increasingly recognising that talent is not a downstream consideration to be addressed after strategy is set. It is a central execution risk. The ability to attract, assess and develop leaders with the right balance of experience, adaptability and judgement is now fundamental to long-term performance.
The leadership profiles shaping the future of insurance
As operating models evolve, so too do the leadership profiles boards must prioritise.
In underwriting, claims, risk and technology functions, the most sought-after leaders are no longer defined solely by deep technical or domain expertise. Instead, boards are looking for executives who can combine technical fluency with commercial decision-making and who are comfortable leading through uncertainty.
Deloitte’s research on the future of insurance underwriting points to a growing reliance on automation and advanced analytics to augment human judgement rather than replace it. This shift places new demands on leadership. Executives must understand how models work, where their limitations lie and how to govern their use responsibly, while still making sound underwriting decisions.
Similar dynamics are evident in risk leadership. Climate risk, cyber exposure and systemic threats require a broader, more forward-looking perspective. Experience remains essential, but learning agility, adaptability and strategic thinking are increasingly what differentiate effective leaders from competent ones.
Transformation and the limits of traditional governance
Despite growing awareness of these challenges, many boards continue to struggle with execution.
Common issues include over-reliance on a small number of legacy leaders, limited internal succession pipelines and misalignment between strategic ambition and leadership capability. In large and complex insurers, transformation responsibility is often fragmented, with multiple initiatives running in parallel but lacking clear executive ownership.
McKinsey’s work on insurance productivity underscores that transformation efforts frequently fall short not because of insufficient investment, but because organisational structures and leadership models are slow to evolve. By the time execution issues surface, momentum has often been lost.
The most effective boards approach transformation not as a programme, but as a leadership capability. They focus on how executive roles interact, where accountability sits and whether the organisation has the depth to sustain change over time.
How boards are responding heading into 2026
Boards that are navigating these pressures successfully share several characteristics.
They treat leadership discussions as ongoing rather than episodic. Talent strategy is considered alongside risk, capital and performance, reinforcing its status as a core governance issue. Leadership capability is stress-tested against future scenarios, not just current results.
Importantly, these boards recognise executive search as a strategic lever rather than a reactive solution. By engaging early with the market and benchmarking roles against global standards, boards gain clearer insight into how leadership expectations are evolving and where capability gaps may emerge.
Looking ahead: the board agenda is a leadership agenda
As insurers move into 2026, the pace of change shows little sign of slowing. Technology will continue to evolve, risk landscapes will become more complex and regulatory expectations will remain high.
In this environment, the differentiator will not be access to capital or technology, but leadership capability. Technology enables transformation, but leadership determines whether it delivers value.
For insurance boards, the agenda is clear. Oversight must extend beyond systems and strategy to encompass leadership readiness, succession depth and cultural alignment. The insurers that succeed will be those whose boards take talent and leadership capability as seriously as they take risk and capital management.
As boards look ahead, one question stands out:
Does the leadership structure reflect the future being governed, or the past being defended?
