Nationwide plans three-year $300 million AI investment; FIO reports on AI trends
Nationwide has announced plans to invest $1.5 billion through 2028 in technology innovation initiatives, with $100 million earmarked for advancing AI during each of the three years.
“The world is in the next industrial revolution,” said Nationwide CEO Kirt Walker, in a press release. “It’s happening now, and it’s powered by artificial intelligence that is transforming how all of us work. Our modern mutual structure, which combines the long-term vision of a mutual and the agility of a public company, allows Nationwide to capitalize on this revolution. We’re using new tools to drive deep partnerships, manage risk more proactively, innovate with agility, and engage our communities — focusing on the benefits for our customers.”
Nationwide says its technology and AI acceleration work will make it easier for customers and business partners to do business with it through deeper, more customized solutions with trustworthy data protection in today’s world of high-risk digital security.
Nationwide’s investment focuses on three priorities, according to the release:
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- Human-machine collaboration: Employees are encouraged to leverage AI in their everyday work. The company’s goal is to have 90% of employees actively using everyday AI platforms by next year.
- AI tools helping customers solve problems: The company has scaled six AI initiatives and identified 18 flagship use cases across its businesses, including telematics-based driver risk scoring and AI-powered claims summarization.
- Evolving operating model: Nationwide plans to establish an operating model that fuels decision-making agility, improves productivity and speed, and facilitates always-on customer service. This includes training, support, and reskilling for employees to thrive in an AI-driven economy.
Since 2015, Nationwide has invested $5 billion in technology modernization.
The company has two purpose-driven teams exploring AI capabilities: a Blue Team and a Red Team, the release says. The Blue Team creates and tests the benefits of AI, such as added efficiency, customer service opportunities, and new use cases to help its businesses support customers. The Red Team considers compliance, risks, and vulnerabilities.
“We have been advancing artificial intelligence capabilities for more than 15 years, and we believe that AI should be people-connected and machine-enabled,” said Nationwide Chief Technology Officer Jim Fowler, in the release. “This investment will help Nationwide deliver on its promise to harness AI thoughtfully and boldly, empowering employees to use AI productively and responsibly.”
In a Nationwide Q&A, Guru Vasudeva, the company’s P&C chief technology officer and senior vice president, explains how the investment will benefit the company’s Property & Casualty partners.
“This investment is going to transform how we serve our partners now and well into the future,” he said. “Today, we’re leveraging AI to improve modeling, streamline claims processing, and enhance customer experiences. Tools like ‘Claims Log Notes’ summarize thousands of claims weekly, allowing our associates to focus on empathy and judgment rather than paperwork.
“We are deploying digital twins of products to better predict risk, drive pricing, and develop new customer protection solutions. In turn, these innovations help our partners deliver faster, more accurate, and more personalized service to their customers. This $1.5 billion investment will scale up our AI capabilities even further, creating more growth opportunities going forward.”
He added that Nationwide has embedded security, resilience, and responsible-use governance into its AI architecture with enterprise-grade safeguards. The Blue Team and Red Team ensure that “every solution we deploy is secure, compliant, and aligned with our mission to be the most trusted protection company,” Vasudeva said.
Earlier this month, Allstate announced leadership changes centered on AI growth as part of its “Transformative Growth Initiative.” Allstate says the initiative aims to “increase market share in Property-Liability by expanding customer access, improving customer value, and investing in marketing and technology.”
Effective Oct. 1, Mario Rizzo is the company’s chief operating officer, responsible for the property-liability and protection services businesses. He was previously property-liability president.
Jess Merten, previously chief financial officer, is now president of property-liability and reports to Rizzo.
John Dugenske is interim CFO while an external search is underway, along with maintaining his role as investments and corporate strategy president.
“The Transformative Growth initiative has positioned Allstate to increase property-liability market share and expand protection offered to customers,” said Tom Wilson, Allstate Corp. president, CEO, and chair, in a press release. “These leadership changes are the next logical step to complete our Transformative Growth initiative and enable us to leverage artificial intelligence to better serve customers, earn returns for shareholders, and create opportunity for employees.”
An annual report released in September by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office outlines some of the AI use trends in the insurance industry, noting that the technology is modernizing underwriting, claims processing, fraud detection, marketing, and risk management.
The FIO says that AI’s potential benefits in insurance include streamlined operations and lower operational costs, improved underwriting efficiency, improved fraud detection, faster claims processing, and customization of insurance policies.
The Administration’s AI Action Plan, released in July 2025, prioritizes accelerating private sector-led innovation and enhancing U.S. leadership in AI, which may speed up the implementation of its modernization in the insurance sector, according to the report.
“FIO is engaging with the insurance industry, state regulators, and other stakeholders on AI adoption in the insurance sector,” the report states. “The NAIC adopted the ‘Model Bulletin on the Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems by Insurers’ in December 2023. This bulletin was developed as principles-based guidance that is intended to apply a state’s existing statutory framework, and reminds insurers that decisions impacting consumers that are made or supported by ‘advanced analytical and computational technologies, including AI’ must comply with all applicable insurance laws and regulations.
“The bulletin does not create new standards or obligations and serves as non-binding guidance to insurers, setting forth state regulators’ ‘expectations as to how insurers will govern the development/acquisition and use of certain AI technologies.'”
It also informs insurers about the steps state insurance departments could take to ensure that the companies follow the law. This could include documentation that insurers have set up governance and risk management frameworks for AI systems.
The NAIC’s Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Working Group is exploring the drafting of a model law to regulate insurers’ use of AI, according to the FIO report.
“The working group has also proposed an AI Systems Evaluation Tool to ‘enable regulators to identify and assess AI systems’ related risks on an ongoing basis with a scope that considers both financial and consumer risks,'” the report states.
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