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Nationwide drives AI experimentation and flagship underwriting transformation

  • Writer: emagination
    emagination
  • Feb 25
  • 3 min read

AI is enabling underwriters and reshaping workflows across commercial and personal lines


Feb 25, 2026


Nationwide is focused on leveraging AI to modernize business processes, while preparing associates for a technology-driven future. Guru Vasudeva (pictured), SVP and CIO for property & casualty, said the company approaches transformation across three main areas: supporting day-to-day work, rethinking software engineering, and reshaping the business of insurance itself.


“We have long believed that exposing associates to AI early is critical. The objective is to build familiarity and confidence so people understand how to leverage it effectively,” Vasudeva said. “We experimented with tools like Copilot, but more recently we rolled out Glean, which allows us to pull together information from internal repositories and external sources, packaging insights efficiently.” He emphasizes that AI is an enabler, with humans remaining central to decision-making.


AI-enabled software engineering

On the software development side, Nationwide has experimented with GitHub Copilot, Playwright, and other tools to rethink the development lifecycle. Vasudeva described the approach as “AI DLC” - an AI-enabled version of the traditional software development lifecycle, spanning requirements gathering through testing.


“We are reimagining how our development teams operate, ensuring AI accelerates each phase,” he said. “It’s about augmenting skills rather than replacing people.”


Transforming agribusiness underwriting

Vasudeva said the company’s focus sharpened recently with “flagship initiatives” - outcome-driven projects designed to deliver measurable improvements across workflows. One key initiative involved commercial agribusiness underwriting, where policies involve multiple vehicles, buildings across states, and unstructured documentation.


“Underwriters have to sift through significant documentation and public information. AI helps identify gaps in submissions, summarize information, and enable proactive outreach to agents,” he said. “Underwriters still review and make the decisions, but AI acts as an aide, reducing cycle time and improving responsiveness [by providing a summary of previous conversations].”


To support adoption, Nationwide created a dedicated working team, including underwriting volunteers, technologists, and the corporate innovation team. Brad Liggett, president of the agribusiness vertical, appointed a senior underwriter as an AI champion to guide peers and translate technical capabilities into practical workflows.


“Transformation is not just about technology - it’s about winning hearts and minds,” Vasudeva said. “Having an underwriter lead AI adoption has been incredibly effective.”

Rather than deploying a big-bang solution, the team developed minimal viable products. Examples included AI-assisted research of public company information and tools to flag missing submission fields. “AI is not making underwriting decisions; it is augmenting judgment and removing manual effort,” he said.


From the c-suite to the front line

Transformation initiatives have received full sponsorship from the C-suite. Vasudeva said the president of the P&C group, Mark Berven, and other executives reviewed multiple proposals and selected agribusiness underwriting as a priority, ensuring alignment from senior leadership to execution teams.


“Our goal is to increase underwriting capacity. If underwriters can process more submissions more efficiently and confidently, we can grow the business - creating value across the organization,” he said.


Evolving personal lines

Beyond agribusiness, Nationwide is pursuing transformation in personal lines, moving from a reactive claims approach to a predict-and-prevent model. Vasudeva said the company integrates AI with smart-home devices, weather alerts, and other tools to identify and mitigate risk before losses occur.


“These initiatives allow us to focus on prevention rather than reaction, improving both customer experience and operational efficiency,” he said.





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