The “AI in Insurance” conference hosted by Handelsblatt in mid-September 2026—featuring a strong presence from the ITHM community on stage—impressively demonstrated where the insurance industry currently stands on the topic of AI. The phase of AI hype is giving way to the real task at hand: effectively scaling the use of AI. This requires building trust, taking regulatory considerations into account —and, above all, putting customers at the center.
Yesterday, CEO Dr. Klaus Driever (Allianz), Board Member Shirin Wiechers (ÖRAG), and Director of Partnerships Rosalie Kolb took the stage in Düsseldorf on behalf of the “ InsurTech Hub Munich .”
In her keynote address,Rosalie Kolb made itclear that successful AI strategies do not end at the company’s boundaries. Innovation arises in ecosystems: Those who engage the right partners can learn faster, scale more quickly, and develop new solutions.
Dr. Klaus Driever highlightedhow AI is transforming customer-centricity and sales. His perspective on the future of insurance sales revealed: “Technology enables, experience wins.”
During the panel discussion on the productivity promise of AI,Shirin Wiechers discussed what companies are actually seeing in practice and where the challenges lie. The general consensus: Success is not determined by the next use case, but by the ability to integrate AI sustainably into organizations and processes.
As ITHM Managing Director Dr. Joachim Ziegler summarizes: The time for experimentation is over. The time for scaling up has begun. Insurers now know pretty well what the technology is capable of—the task at hand is to transform their organizations so they can actually harness that potential.
