AXA: AI efforts
AXA was the original AI frontrunner among global insurers — it topped the inaugural 2025 Evident AI Index before Allianz overtook it in 2026, settling at #2. Its programme is anchored by AXA Secure GPT, rolled out to roughly 140,000 employees, and a deliberately multi-vendor model strategy that added France's Mistral AI. Part of InsureBench's overview of AI in insurance; every figure is sourced.
Where AXA ranks on AI
AXA led the inaugural 2025 Evident AI Index for Insurance (63 points to Allianz's 61.5), producing 24% of the index's AI publications and 42% of its citations.1 In June 2026 Allianz overtook it, leaving AXA at a strong #2 of 30.2
Group Chief Data, AI & Innovation Officer Andreas Schertzinger describes roughly 400 AI use cases across predictive, generative and agentic AI, with 60+ agentic pilots in claims, underwriting and contact centres.3
global insurers
The AI build-out, 2023–2026
From the first secure enterprise GPT to a multi-vendor model strategy and agentic pilots.
AXA Secure GPT launches
Built in-house on Microsoft Azure OpenAI in ~3 months; rolled out from 1,000 employees toward all ~140,000.4
"Unlock the Future" strategy
The 2024–2026 plan makes AI and end-to-end straight-through processing a core productivity lever.5
Mistral AI partnership
AXA integrates Mistral's models into Secure GPT (then ~150,000 users), formalising a multi-vendor strategy.6
#1 in the inaugural Evident AI Index
AXA tops the first Evident AI Index for Insurance, ahead of Allianz.1
New Group CTO & AI Officer
Matthieu Caillat becomes Group Chief Technology & AI Officer and CEO of AXA Group Operations.7
Shift Technology renewed for 5 years
The fraud/claims/underwriting AI partnership (since 2016) is renewed across 15 countries.8
#2 in the 2026 Evident AI Index
Allianz overtakes AXA; AXA holds second of 30.2
Inside the programme
A secure platform for everyone, a multi-vendor model strategy, and a long-running fraud alliance.
AXA Secure GPT
An in-house gen-AI assistant on Azure OpenAI in an isolated, GDPR-compliant tenant, with a library of 100+ tailored prompts.4
Mistral AI
AXA added France's Mistral models to Secure GPT, avoiding lock-in to any single model provider.6
Shift Technology
A decade-long AI fraud-detection and claims-automation alliance, renewed for five more years across 15 countries.8
Responsible AI
A published seven-principle framework, with research partnerships including Stanford HAI, Sorbonne Université and EPFL.9
"We are convinced that AI will transform the insurance business for the benefit of our customers, and will allow us to capture new opportunities."
Thomas Buberl, Group CEO, AXA — Feb 202610Multi-vendor by design, responsible by policy
AXA was early to insist on a secure enterprise GPT — its then-COO warned that open tools risk "data leaks, security breaches and loss of intellectual property" — and early to spread its bets across model providers rather than one.
That discipline, paired with a published responsibility framework, is the human-oversight boundary an insurance AI benchmark exists to measure.
- 7 principles — fairness, transparency, accountability, privacy & more
- Academic partners — Stanford HAI, Sorbonne, EPFL, Impact AI
- Data & AI Academy for internal capability
- 900+ data scientists/engineers recruited group-wide
Why this matters for benchmarking
AXA is pushing agentic AI into underwriting, claims and contact centres, and managing 3.5 billion documents as a gen-AI target. As that work is automated, independent measurement of whether the models are correct becomes essential — which is what InsureBench does. See the methodology.
Sources
- Fortune — Insurance AI ranking: Allianz, AXA, Evident (Jun 24, 2025). fortune.com
- Evident Insights — Insurance AI Index 2026 report. evidentinsights.com
- CIO Dive — Insurance gen-AI adoption: Evident, Manulife, AXA. ciodive.com
- AXA — AXA offers secure generative AI to employees (Jul 27, 2023). axa.com
- AXA — "Unlock the Future" 2024–2026 strategy (Feb 22, 2024). axa.com
- Mistral AI — AXA customer story (Jul 2024). mistral.ai
- AXA — Leadership changes (Matthieu Caillat, Dec 1, 2025). axa.com
- PR Newswire — AXA & Shift Technology renew for 5 years (Mar 5, 2026). prnewswire.com
- AXA — Responsible use of artificial intelligence. axa.com
- Reinsurance News — AXA execs on AI transforming insurance (Feb 2026). reinsurancene.ws