Markel Insurance launched Cortex, a new business unit developed with Bain & Company to reimagine underwriting for hard-to-place U.S. casualty risks, CEO Simon Wilson said during the company's second-quarter 2026 earnings call. The launch comes as the insurer reported a 40% surge in adjusted operating income to $376.5 million, with underwriting profit in its core specialty division more than doubling to $142.1 million.
Wilson told investors that each business unit has been challenged to find ways to speed up product delivery by examining every stage of their processes and identifying where AI can add value. "AI provides Markel Insurance with tools that allow us to reimagine how work gets done," he said.
Building Cortex from scratch
The Cortex project began in March as a partnership with Bain & Company. The goal was to build a new business model using market-leading AI tools, designed jointly by Markel and Bain experts. "It combines the team's underwriting expertise, built over decades, with the data we have amassed over that time," Wilson said.
Last week, the unit launched within the wholesale and specialty division. Wilson noted the speed of execution: "We moved quickly, learned a great deal, and believe we have created something of genuine value in an area of the market where Markel has a right to win." The Cortex initiative reflects a broader push to apply AI for Insurance underwriting, where decades of data and expertise meet new tools.
AI deployment philosophy
Wilson stressed that AI is only valuable if it improves customer service and generates attractive returns on capital over time. For that reason, business unit leaders determine how best to deploy the technology. Leadership's role is to challenge those leaders to think differently and to share the best ideas emerging from across the organization.
"We are increasingly confident in our deployment of AI and remain committed to using it to transform our business," Wilson said. The approach keeps decision-making close to the customer while pushing for cross-unit learning.
Financial results
Markel Insurance's adjusted operating income reached $376.5 million in Q2 2026, a 40% increase from the prior year. The specialty insurance division's underwriting profit rose from $63.2 million to $142.1 million. The segment posted a combined ratio of 93%, even after absorbing a two-point impact from net catastrophe losses tied to the Middle East conflict and another two-point drag from the runoff of its exited Global Reinsurance division.
Why this matters for Executives & Strategy
For executives, the Cortex launch demonstrates a disciplined approach to AI for Executives & Strategy: business unit leaders decide where AI fits, and the technology must prove its value through customer service and returns. Markel's rapid build-from project kickoff to launch in a few months-shows that incumbents can move quickly when they combine in-house expertise with external partnership. The key takeaway is not the AI tools themselves, but the organizational design that ties deployment authority to those closest to the work, with leadership pushing for fresh thinking and cross-pollination of ideas.
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