Manulife Sets Industry Benchmark for AI Maturity Among Life Insurers in New Global Index

Manulife Leads in AI Maturity Among Life Insurers in New Evident AI Index

Manulife has earned the top spot among life insurers for artificial intelligence (AI) maturity in the first-ever Evident AI Index for Insurance. Evaluating 30 major insurance carriers across North America and Europe, this index measures how firms adopt and scale AI technologies across multiple insurance sectors.

Manulife also ranked within the top five across the entire insurance industry, which includes life, property and casualty, composite, and reinsurance companies. Notably, it is one of only three insurers to appear in the top 10 across all four key categories: talent, innovation, leadership, and transparency.

Strong Leadership and Transparency

The insurer’s highest scores came in Leadership and Transparency. This reflects active senior management involvement and clear commitments to responsible AI use. Manulife follows its Responsible AI Principles as a framework for integrating AI in its global operations, ensuring ethical and trustworthy application.

Early AI Adoption Drives Results

Phil Witherington, Manulife’s president and CEO, attributes their strong showing to early AI investments and embedding AI throughout the business. “We were an early adopter of AI and have worked to embed it across our business,” he said. “This recognition provides confidence that we are positioned to benefit from the technology in the years ahead.”

Jodie Wallis, Manulife’s global chief AI officer, emphasized the practical use of AI to improve customer service and operational efficiency. “We’ve integrated AI into the core of our operations to drive results,” she explained.

Industry Benchmark Set by Manulife

Alexandra Mousavizadeh, Co-CEO of Evident, highlighted Manulife’s balanced performance as evidence of a strategic, long-term approach to AI. “As the leading life insurer on our index, Manulife is scaling its AI capabilities in a way that sets a benchmark for the industry,” she noted.

Manulife projects a threefold return on its digital investments by 2027. In 2024 alone, the company reported $600 million in benefits from its global digital customer initiatives, showcasing tangible returns from AI-driven transformation.

What This Means for Insurance Professionals

• AI maturity is increasingly tied to leadership engagement and transparent practices.
• Early and strategic AI adoption can lead to measurable business benefits.
• Responsible AI principles provide a foundation for ethical integration in insurance operations.
• Scaling AI capabilities across talent, innovation, leadership, and transparency is key to industry leadership.

For insurance professionals looking to deepen their AI knowledge and skills, exploring targeted AI training can be a practical next step. Resources like Complete AI Training’s courses by job offer tailored learning paths to help advance AI capabilities within insurance roles.