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Aon flags AI underwriting and Middle East conflict as key commercial risks
Aon says insurers are using AI and analytics to differentiate risk quality more granularly, and that the Middle East conflict is driving heightened scrutiny in marine, aviation, terrorism, and energy and trade-related lines.
Aon has published its Q2 2026 Global Insurance Market Insights report, describing commercial insurance conditions as broadly favorable for buyers due to abundant capacity and strong competition across most major lines.
The report also warns that two developments are creating growing divergence for renewals. Aon says insurers are increasingly applying data, analytics, and artificial intelligence to support underwriting decisions and to assess risk quality in a more granular way, which can reward clients that submit detailed, well structured risk information.
Aon adds that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East is reshaping underwriting scrutiny across specific specialty areas, including marine hull and war, marine P and I, aviation, terrorism, political violence, energy risk, and trade-related risks. It says insurers are placing greater emphasis on policy terms, conditions, and exposure management in response.
Christian Hoffman, Aon CEO of global commercial risk solutions, said the Middle East conflict is producing a differentiated response across the insurance market, with the most pronounced impacts concentrated in those specialty lines.