Irdai sets up working group to guide AI adoption in insurance sector
Mumbai, Jun 18, 2026
The working group will guide insurers on AI adoption, governance and oversight while ensuring policyholder interests and data protection remain safeguarded
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) on Thursday set up a working group on artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure that the industry is prepared to harness these technologies responsibly while safeguarding the interests of policyholders.
The group comprises Sandeep Shukla, director, IIIT Hyderabad, as chairperson. Nandakumar Saravade, former chief executive officer of ReBIT; Ashutosh Bahuguna, scientist, CERT-In; Manoj Nayak, chief information security officer (CISO), SBI Life Insurance; Shivanath Somanathan, CISO, Star Health & Allied Insurance; and Steve D'Souza, chief risk officer (CRO), ICICI Lombard General Insurance, will serve as members. Deepak Gaikwad, general manager and CISO of Irdai, will serve as the member-convener of the group.
The working group will guide regulated entities in the insurance sector on the adoption, governance and oversight of AI technologies. It will also provide direction on governance frameworks, best practices and safeguards to ensure that innovation in the insurance sector is pursued in a manner that is fair, transparent and resilient, while ensuring that policyholders' data are protected at all times.
The group will assess the adoption, usage, maturity and deployment of AI, as well as the existing level of AI governance in the sector. It will carry out a structural assessment of the inventory of AI systems used by entities and review global regulatory and supervisory approaches to AI, with a focus on the insurance sector, to understand how AI-related risks are addressed.
It will also suggest an AI governance framework for the ethical, transparent and explainable adoption of AI tools and models in the insurance sector, including for claims and fraud prevention. It will assess the impact of frontier AI tools, examine the need for sector-wide stress testing, suggest an AI audit framework for addressing pre-deployment and post-deployment audit requirements, identify skill gaps and capacity-building needs for various stakeholders, and examine any other AI-related matter in the sector.
The group shall meet as frequently as necessary to carry out its functions effectively and may invite other subject experts, if required. It shall submit its recommendations to the member (Finance and Investment) within three months from the date of its constitution.
[The Business Standard]
