New York Life has appointed Zhen Zhao as chief AI officer, placing him in charge of the insurer's AI strategy, platform development, and deployment of agentic AI and machine learning tools. Zhao joins from Chubb, where he served as senior vice president and global head of AI Platform.
The move signals that carriers are competing for AI leadership with experience operating inside insurance-specific governance and product environments. At Chubb, Zhao led global teams across AI platform development, governance, and large language model operations.
From central banking to insurance AI
Earlier in his career, Zhao held AI and data platform roles at Barclays and Comcast. He began as a software engineer at the People's Bank of China.
Zhao holds a Ph.D. in computer engineering from Drexel University and serves as an adjunct associate professor at Temple University. His new role sits separately from the chief information officer post held by Deepa Soni. "The company intends to apply AI to how agents and advisors serve clients over the long term," Soni said.
A standalone CAIO at a major mutual insurer reflects how AI has shifted from a technology initiative to a board-level strategic priority. IBM's 2026 CEO Study of 2,000 chief executives found 76% of organizations now have a chief AI officer, up from 26% a year earlier. The hiring pace across insurance has accelerated as carriers move from AI pilots to production deployment.
Agentic AI for agents and advisors
Zhao's mandate explicitly includes agentic AI development. Agentic AI refers to autonomous systems capable of completing multi-step workflows without human intervention at each stage. New York Life said the focus of his role includes developing tools to help agents and advisors serve clients.
An Accenture study found that 86% of insurance organizations plan to increase AI spending in 2026, with agentic AI topping the investment list. The most relevant carrier-level agentic AI applications for insurance brokers are in placement workflows and advisor support tools.
As carriers build out these capabilities, broker clients are raising expectations in parallel. Zywave's 2026 Broker Services Survey found that AI adoption entered the top reasons employers say they would switch brokers for the first time. For insurance professionals navigating this shift, the competitive pressure is no longer theoretical - clients are making decisions based on it. Understanding how carriers like New York Life are structuring AI leadership offers a window into where the market is headed, and AI for Insurance coverage tracks these developments as they unfold.
Why this matters for insurance professionals
The appointment is a concrete signal that agentic AI is moving from vendor pitches to carrier roadmaps. For brokers and advisors, the practical effect will be faster placement workflows and more capable support tools - but also higher client expectations, since AI adoption is now a stated reason employers would change brokers. The CAIO role at a mutual insurer also suggests AI decisions are being made at the strategy level, not just in IT departments. Professionals who understand how carriers are deploying agentic AI will be better positioned to evaluate their own tools and respond to client questions about AI readiness. For those tracking leadership moves and strategic priorities in this space, AI for Executives & Strategy resources offer context on how these roles are shaping organizational direction.
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