Amid ongoing macroeconomic volatility, climate‑related risks and accelerating technological change, KPMG International’s 2025 Insurance CEO Outlook reveals a sector that remains cautiously optimistic, underpinned by rising confidence in growth, scaled adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and a sharper focus on resilience, trust and value creation.
KPMG International’s 2025 Insurance CEO Outlook captures the perspectives of insurance CEOs across life, non‑life, reinsurance and composite insurers globally, including leaders from India, one of the key markets covered in the survey. The report is based exclusively on responses from 110 insurance CEOs, representing organisations across life, auto, home, property and casualty, health, reinsurance and insurance broking, providing a focused view of leadership sentiment across the global insurance sector.
For India, these global themes are particularly relevant. Insurers continue to benefit from strong premium growth, expanding protection and retirement needs, and rapid digitisation across distribution, underwriting and claims. At the same time, rising regulatory expectations, climate‑related exposures and growing cyber risks are accelerating efforts to strengthen governance, modernise operating models and invest in AI‑enabled capabilities.
Indian insurers are now moving from experimentation to enterprise‑wide deployment of AI, enhancing risk selection, claims efficiency, fraud detection and customer experience. This shift is accompanied by a sharper focus on workforce reskilling, responsible AI adoption and embedding sustainability into core business strategies—critical to building long‑term resilience in a rapidly evolving insurance landscape.
Kailash Mittal, Partner FRM, Head – Insurance & Head – Actuarial, KPMG in India said “As global insurance leaders contend with rising loss volatility, increasing regulatory complexity and evolving customer expectations; scale, technology and disciplined portfolio transformation are emerging as critical differentiators. In India, insurers are uniquely positioned to leverage digital public infrastructure, data‑driven underwriting and AI‑enabled operating models to expand protection, improve affordability and strengthen resilience. Strategic partnerships, selective inorganic growth, and sustained investment in talent and technology will be essential to building long‑term competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving insurance ecosystem.”
Key findings from the 2025 Insurance CEO Outlook include:
- 82 per cent insurance CEOs are confident in company growth, up from 74 per cent in 2024, and 78 per cent insurance CEOs are confident in industry growth today
- 83 per cent of insurance CEOs cite AI workforce readiness and upskilling as a key constraint on growth. At the same time, 79 per cent say AI is reshaping entry‑level skill requirements, while 83 per cent believe it is fundamentally transforming how insurance companies will train and develop employees,
- 83 per cent identify cybercrime and cyber insecurity as the biggest threat to organisational growth over the next three years.
- 73 per cent rank AI as a top investment priority, with 67 per cent planning to allocate 10–20 per cent of budgets to AI, analytics, automation and generative AI
- 67 per cent expect returns from AI investments within 1–3 years, up sharply from 21 per cent in 2024
- AI scale‑up remains constrained by trust and governance, with 56 per cent citing ethical challenges and 51 per cent pointing to data readiness and 77 per cent saying the pace of regulation could hinder success.
- M&A appetite remains strong in the industry, with 50 per cent expecting high‑impact deals and 41 per cent anticipating moderate‑impact M&A over the next three years
- 72 per cent say sustainability is embedded in business strategy with 81 per cent improving ESG reporting, and 77 per cent enhancing climate risk modelling.
Together, these insights point to an insurance industry, globally and in India, at a critical inflection point. Insurers that invest decisively in AI, talent transformation and sustainable business models, while reinforcing cybersecurity, trust and regulatory discipline, will be best positioned to lead the next phase of growth and redefine the future of insurance.
For more detailed insights, please refer to the attached copy of the report.
