The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with around 128 million* private and corporate customers in nearly 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 776 billion euros** on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage about 1.9 trillion euros** of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we are among the leaders in the insurance industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2024, over 156,000 employees achieved total business volume of 179.8 billion euros and an operating profit of 16.0 billion euros for the group.
AI at Allianz
Turning data into action : Allianz’s AI advantage
Insurance has always revolved around numbers, but Edmund Halley – he of the comet – highlighted the power of data. Before he became famed as an astronomer, Halley used information from Wroclaw in Poland to create a life table in 1693. This laid the groundwork for life insurance calculations – turning what was once an unscientific gamble into a systematic, reliable tool. To this day, life tables are one of the data sources in life insurance.
Halley’s use of data revolutionized risk assessment. As Halley showed, raw numbers lack meaning until structured and contextualized to form data that can become the foundation for analysis and decision-making. Allianz has long recognized the importance of data in delivering competitive premiums and efficient claims handling. Now, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), the quality and management of data have become even more critical.
For decades, Allianz has placed data at the core of its strategy – long before the current surge in interest surrounding AI. With nearly all of its operating entities (OEs) led by Chief Data Officers (CDOs) and supported by a robust framework for data quality, governance and architecture, Allianz has established a strong foundation to unlock AI’s potential.
Driving progress with data value, maturity and fitness
The CDOs play a pivotal role in aligning data strategies with business objectives, fostering a data-driven culture and ensuring compliance with governance frameworks. Their impact has been transformative, making high-quality data more accessible across Allianz’s OEs. By enhancing data management practices, CDOs have accelerated the implementation of AI use cases, improved the accuracy of insights, and strengthened the foundation for AI-driven decision-making.
To ensure data initiatives are linked directly to measurable outcomes, Allianz has introduced the ‘Data Value’ metric, which quantifies the financial impact of data projects. This enables the company to prioritize high-return initiatives. In 2024, 39 Allianz entities participated in the assessment, which revealed that almost every third of AI and data asset within the insurer is directly linked to quantifiable dollar values.
Continuous improvement is a cornerstone of Allianz’s Data & AI strategy, driven by two key assessments: Data Maturity and Data Fitness. The Data Maturity Assessment evaluates OEs across 16 dimensions, focusing on data consumption, production and culture, with high performers like Allianz Brazil and Allianz German Life setting benchmarks. Conducted annually, the Data Fitness Assessment examines data accessibility and quality for major global use cases.
Such advanced data initiatives are significantly improving the insights derived from vast datasets. One notable example comes from Allianz RE, which maintains a database containing over 125 million data points related to catastrophes. In November 2024, this data enabled Allianz to issue an early warning to customers in Valencia, Andalusia and surrounding regions, alerting them to a high likelihood of severe weather. The warning was sent hours before massive flooding occurred, demonstrating the value of data-driven risk prediction in enhancing preparedness and resilience.
Selection of data initiatives
To support its data-driven ambitions, Allianz has also developed three initiatives designed to ensure consistency, transparency and usability of data across the organization. The Global Business Glossary defines all globally relevant core data, including harmonized terms, concepts and associated business owners. This provides a standardized foundation for data usage across diverse use cases.
The Global Data Model maps the relationships between business terms and data attributes, ensuring alignment and coherence throughout the data ecosystem. Complementing these is the Data Catalogue, which identifies data sources, tables and columns while tracing the data flow from source to target, including all transformation steps.
Ensuring clarity around data provenance, ownership and applicable policies is essential for effective data management. Beyond the data itself, metadata plays a crucial role in providing context, tracing the data’s lineage, and defining attributes.
Such data reliability enhances accuracy and consistency, while lineage helps organizations meet privacy regulations and maintain accountability. Understanding a dataset’s origin also provides critical context, enabling correct interpretation and integration across systems. For AI and analytics, trusted data sources are essential to producing accurate insights and foster confidence in outcomes.
Allianz Data Platform
Central to Allianz's Data & AI strategy is the Allianz Data Platform (ADP), which enables data from various sources to be integrated. ADP allows data to be integrated from various sources while maintaining high standards of governance. It enables employees across the organization to discover and use data seamlessly, fostering faster decision-making and innovation. One of the AI initiatives that uses ADP is the Underwriter Guidance Tool BRIAN.
Allianz is working towards a system where data is even more accessible and intuitive to use. The goal is to make data accessibility a reality – where employees can simply ask for the data they need and immediately gain access to high-quality, well-contextualized information while respecting confidentiality and privacy requirements. This would enhance efficiency and unlock new opportunities for collaboration and insights across the company’s global business.
Commitment to responsible AI
Discussions of data access and sharing can raise concerns about how private data is stored and used. Allianz is dedicated to the responsible use of AI, prioritizing trust and customer security. The company has established principles for ethical AI usage, focusing on transparency, privacy and human oversight. Allianz aligns with regulatory frameworks such as the EU AI Act, further reinforcing its commitment to ethical AI implementation by joining initiatives like the AI Pact.
Robust frameworks are in place to ensure data is managed responsibly, from strict data privacy rules to secure technical systems that prevent breaches. However, the most common vulnerabilities come from human error, so Allianz prioritizes regular training to address social engineering risks. Every employee undergoes annual training to stay vigilant against potential threats.
The focus extends beyond technical safeguards to foster a culture of responsibility. It’s not just about protecting the data itself but ensuring that employees understand their role in maintaining its integrity and security.
The insurance industry has come a long way since Halley’s life tables. Allianz’s commitment to data governance, innovation and measurable impact positions it at the forefront of the industry, ensuring it continues to deliver reliable, competitive solutions in an increasingly complex world.
Further information
The "AI at Allianz" series
About Allianz
* Including non-consolidated entities with Allianz customers.
** As of December 31, 2024.
** As of December 31, 2024.
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