The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), through its Office Order dated June 17, 2026, has constituted a Working Group on Artificial Intelligence (WG-AI) to guide regulated entities in the insurance sector on the responsible adoption, governance, and oversight of AI technologies. Chaired by Prof. Sandeep K. Shukla, the group comprises experts from IIIT Hyderabad, ReBIT, CERT-In, insurance companies, and IRDAI. The Working Group will study AI adoption, governance maturity, inventory of AI systems, global regulatory approaches, ethical and explainable AI frameworks, AI-driven cyber security risks, stress testing for AI-related risks, AI audit frameworks, and capacity-building requirements. It will also recommend governance and security measures to ensure fair, transparent, resilient, and secure use of AI while protecting policyholders’ data. The Working Group may engage subject experts as required and has been directed to submit its recommendations to the Member (F&I) within three months of its constitution.
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
Office Order
Ref No: IRDAI/GA&HR/ORD/MISC/90/06/2026 | Dated: 17th June, 2026
Ref: Working Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance in the Insurance Sector
1. In the recent past, rapid advancements in emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) have begun to reshape cyber security threat landscape as these technologies find increasing adoption within the insurance sector and therefore may pose challenges for Regulated Entities (REs).
In order to ensure that the industry is adequately prepared to harness these technologies responsibly and safeguarding the interests of policyholders, it is essential to study their impact on insurance ecosystem as they also introduce new dimensions of ethical, operational, and cyber security risks.
Accordingly, a need is felt to constitute dedicated Working Groups on AI for guiding Regulated Entities in insurance sector on adoption, governance, and oversight of AI technologies. The said Working Group will provide direction on governance frameworks, best practices and safeguards to ensure that innovation in the insurance sector is pursued in a manner that is not only fair, transparent and resilient but also ensure that policyholders’ data is protected at all time.
Working Group on Artificial Intelligence (WG-AI):
2. The WG-AI is constituted with following members:
I. Prof Sandeep K Shukla, Director, IIIT Hyderabad – Chairperson
II. Shri. Nandkumar Saravade, EX-CEO, ReBIT – Member
III. Shri. Ashutosh Bahuguna, Scientist, CERT-In – Member
IV. Shri. Manoj Nayak, CISO, SBI Life Insurer – Member
V. Shri. Shivanath Somanathan, CISO, Star Health Insurer – Member
VI. Shri. Steve Dsouza, CRO, ICICI Lombard Insurer – Member
VII. Shri. Deepak Gaikwad, GM & CISO, IRDAI – Member Convener
3. The terms of reference of the Working Group on AI are as under:
I. To study the impact of AI on the insurance sector as a whole including its potential challenges and risks and to assess the implications for insurers, policyholders and the broader insurance ecosystem;
II. To assess the adoption / usage, maturity, and deployment and existing level of AI Governance in the Insurance Sector;
III. To carry out the structural assessment of the inventory of AI systems used by regulated entities in the insurance sector;
IV. To review global regulatory and supervisory approaches on AI, with a focus on the Insurance sector, to understand how AI related risks are addressed;
V. To suggest AI Governance Framework for ethical, transparent and explainable adoption of AI tools or models in the Insurance Sector including for claims, fraud preventions, etc.;
VI. To assess the impact of frontier AI tools on the insurance sector and suggest a framework for implementing reasonable security controls to mitigate risks from AI driven automated attacks;
VII. To examine the need for sector-wide stress tests for the insurance industry, with a specific focus on AI-related risks, to assess preparedness and resilience, and to propose appropriate evaluation, mitigation, and monitoring measures, along with consequential compliance requirements for entities in insurance sector;
VIII. To suggest AI Audit Framework addressing pre-deployment and post-deployment audit requirements;
IX. Identify skill gaps and capacity-building needs for various stakeholders;
X. Any other matter related to AI in the Insurance sector and /or as may be prescribed by the Competent Authority at IRDAI.
The above Working Group shall meet as frequently as necessary to carry out its functions effectively and may invite other subject expert(s), if required, and shall submit its recommendations to the Member (F&I) within 3 months from date of constitution.
This is issued with the approval of the Competent Authority.
Sd/-
G R Surya Kumar)
Executive Director
