Nationwide is using artificial intelligence to change how it works and prepare its team for the future. Guru Vasudeva, the company’s senior vice president and CIO for property and casualty, shared how they’re focusing on three main areas: everyday work support, software development, and improving insurance itself.
The company believes it’s important for employees to get familiar with AI early on. They started with tools like GitHub Copilot and moved on to a platform called Glean that gathers information from different sources and makes it easy to use. Vasudeva stressed that AI is there to help, but people still make the decisions.
On the tech side, Nationwide is rethinking software development by using AI at every step. Vasudeva called this approach “AI DLC,” an updated version of the software development lifecycle that uses AI to speed things up and assist teams without replacing them.
One standout project is in agribusiness underwriting. This area can get tricky because policies often cover multiple vehicles and buildings in different locations, with lots of documents to review. AI helps by spotting missing information, summarizing data, and helping underwriters reach out to agents faster. Still, the underwriters review every detail and decide in the end.
To help with this, Nationwide formed a special team made up of underwriters, tech experts, and innovation leaders. A senior underwriter was chosen as an AI champion to help others understand and use the technology in their daily work. Instead of launching a big system all at once, they tested small tools first, like AI that can research public company info or flag missing submission details. The goal is to reduce manual work, not replace human judgment.
Leadership at Nationwide is fully behind these changes. Mark Berven, president of the property and casualty group, and other top executives picked agribusiness underwriting as a main focus, showing strong support from the top down. Vasudeva said the aim is to help underwriters handle more cases efficiently and with confidence, which can grow the business overall.
Beyond agribusiness, Nationwide is also looking at personal lines insurance. They want to shift from reacting to claims after something happens to predicting and preventing problems. Using AI combined with smart-home devices and weather alerts, the company hopes to spot risks early and avoid losses. This approach should make customers happier and improve how the company runs.
Overall, Nationwide is blending AI with human expertise to modernize how it works. The company is moving carefully with pilot projects, getting teams involved, and keeping people in charge. It’s all about making work easier and better without losing the human touch.