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AXA XL warns of AI governance gaps that could widen cyber insurance risk
A report co-authored by AXA XL and S-RM urges executives to treat AI risk as an enterprise resilience issue, citing a governance gap as AI deployment accelerates.
AXA XL, together with cyber security consultancy S-RM, says artificial intelligence is being embedded into core business processes faster than many organizations can put in place governance, security, and incident-response capabilities. The firms, in a report titled “Building Resilient AI: Managing AI risk through governance, security and resilience,” warn that executive teams face a widening governance deficit. The report also argues that AI risk should be treated as an enterprise resilience concern rather than only a technology or compliance issue, as AI use expands through sensitive data flows, operational applications, and automated decision-making. AXA XL points to McKinsey & Company’s 2026 State of AI survey, which found that 88.0% of organizations deploy AI in at least one business function. The report warns the rapid integration creates more potential entry points for cyber threats and introduces new forms of exploitation, operational failure, and regulatory scrutiny.
The report outlines five priorities for business leaders, including assigning clear enterprise accountability for AI, hardening identity and access architectures, enforcing strict data protections, and managing AI risk across its lifecycle from data collection and model development through deployment, monitoring, and incident response. It also recommends applying rigorous governance and due diligence to AI vendors and other critical third parties, and preparing for AI-related loss scenarios that could cut across cyber, fraud, liability, and business interruption, areas that may intersect with insurance coverage, according to AXA XL.