Markel Insurance has expanded its artificial intelligence strategy with the launch of Cortex, a new business unit developed in partnership with Bain & Company to transform the underwriting and servicing of hard-to-place U.S. casualty risks.
The initiative was announced during Markel Group’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call, where Simon Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of Markel Insurance, said AI is playing an increasingly important role across the insurer’s operations.
AI-led underwriting model
According to Wilson, Markel began working with Bain & Company in March to develop a new operating model for underwriting and servicing complex casualty risks.
The Cortex business unit, launched within Markel’s Wholesale and Specialty division, combines AI technology with the company’s underwriting expertise and proprietary data accumulated over decades.
Wilson said:
“AI provides Markel Insurance with tools that allow us to reimagine how work gets done.”
He explained that each business within Markel has been tasked with identifying opportunities to use AI to improve processes and accelerate the delivery of products to customers.
Describing the Cortex initiative, Wilson added:
“The model is built with market-leading AI tools, but designed by Markel and Bain experts. It combines the team’s underwriting expertise, built over decades, with the data we have amassed over that time.”
New business unit launched
The Cortex unit was established just a few months after the project began in March.
Wilson said:
“We moved quickly, learned a great deal, and believe we have created something of genuine value in an area of the market where Markel has a right to win.”
He added that while AI is becoming an increasingly important part of the insurer’s strategy, its value depends on delivering measurable benefits for customers and shareholders.
“We are increasingly confident in our deployment of AI and remain committed to using it to transform our business.
“However, AI is only valuable if it improves service to our customers while generating attractive returns on capital over time. That is why our business unit leaders determine how best to deploy the technology.
“Leadership’s role is to challenge those leaders to think differently and to share the best ideas emerging from across Markel.”
Strong quarterly performance
The AI announcement accompanied a strong second-quarter financial performance from Markel Insurance.
The insurer reported a 40% increase in adjusted operating income to $376.5 million, with the insurance segment remaining the principal contributor to Markel Group’s earnings growth.
Underwriting profit within the core Specialty Insurance business more than doubled to $142.1 million, compared with $63.2 million in the second quarter of 2025.
Markel Insurance also reported a 93% combined ratio for the quarter, despite the impact of catastrophe losses related to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and runoff from its exited Global Reinsurance business.
The launch of Cortex reflects Markel’s broader strategy of embedding artificial intelligence across its operations while maintaining underwriting expertise and human decision-making at the centre of its insurance business.
