By Richard Smith, Chief Product Officer at Verisk Specialty Business Solutions
From spreadsheet to strategy
For decades, Excel was the lingua franca of insurance pricing - transparent, flexible, and familiar. But as observed in at the Verisk Insurance Conference this year, those same strengths have become constraints. Manual data entry and fragmented workflows slow down decision-making and limit integration with modern underwriting systems.
The industry’s move toward connected, platform-based pricing has redefined actuarial work. With a seamless flow of data between underwriting, pricing and analytics functions, actuaries can spend more time providing real-time insight data and advising on strategy than building complex models.
This evolution marks a deeper cultural shift. The actuary is no longer the end of the analytical chain but a partner in live decision-making, helping underwriters and business leaders navigate uncertainty.
AI as an enabler, not a threat
Machine learning, Gen AI and large language models (LLMs) are already enhancing efficiency in numerous ways – automating repetitive tasks, speeding up data access, performing document analysis and more.
Nonetheless, the human role remains essential. AI’s value lies in augmenting human judgment, not replicating it. Actuaries are well-placed to champion responsible AI adoption, ensuring that automation operates within the boundaries of underwriting discipline and regulatory governance.
Richard Smith, Chief Product Officer at Verisk Specialty Business Solutions, framed this balance succinctly: “It’s about removing friction, not control. Our goal isn’t to replace actuaries or underwriters but to remove the noise - to automate repetitive processes so professionals can focus on higher-value work. We want to solve specific problems effectively, not claim to be the single solution for everything.”
Curators of insight and change
In a market where data is ubiquitous, one thing that can set a firm apart is how intelligently that data is interpreted and deployed. It’s possible that the future actuary’s power will rest in insight curation rather than model ownership, shaping strategic direction using their well-honed analytical skillset.
Meanwhile, in many pricing functions, the move from spreadsheet-based tools to integrated data platforms has reduced actuaries’ administrative burden. This allows them to focus on forward-looking analysis, such as scenario testing, portfolio optimisation and behavioural insight.
Their influence increasingly depends on collaboration. Successful teams blend actuarial expertise with data science, engineering and product knowledge.
Smith adds: “The key to success isn’t technology alone. Whether it’s actuaries, underwriters or vendors, we need to keep asking, “Why are we doing this, and who does it help?”
Governance in an era of automation
As AI adoption accelerates, regulators are struggling to keep pace. Frameworks such as Lloyd’s principles-based oversight offer greater flexibility, but firms are expected to maintain strong internal governance and accountability. This is where actuaries’ professional discipline comes to the fore. In many organisations, actuarial oversight is becoming central to responsible innovation, thus ensuring models are explainable, fair and properly understood by underwriters.
Smith described Verisk’s approach as one of “due diligence and transparency.” All AI projects are subject to group-level, formal certification. “We’re not building our own LLMs,” he explained. “But we use them responsibly through prompt engineering. By designing prompts to require explainable outputs, we can maintain transparency and help clients meet regulatory standards."
By creating a trusted data foundation for clients and partners to plug in their own AI and machine learning tools, Verisk’s Rulebook helps actuaries shift their focus from spreadsheet maintenance to guiding strategy and supporting faster, better decisions.
The new frontier of actuarial influence
As pricing and underwriting become more data-driven, actuaries are ideally positioned to guide the integration of human and machine intelligence, to move beyond spreadsheets and models and shape how data and AI can be used responsibly to create value.
Actuaries who evolve from model-builders to insight curators will define the next generation of insurance decision-making. Their leadership in responsible AI adoption will ensure efficiency does not come at the expense of control.
The future of pricing will be defined by how effectively the industry balances technology, data and human judgment. It’s not about replacing human judgment with algorithms, but in guiding how technology can strengthen it.
Meet us at GIRO 2025
Verisk will be attending the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ GIRO Conference in Liverpool from November 19-21. Join us to explore how actuaries are reshaping price models in specialty insurance for the new wave of AI-driven underwriting.
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