J. Gallagher on AI in insurance
From Sica | Fletcher Leaders & Legends | Pat Gallagher | May 2026 · · Sica | Fletcher
“It is absolutely not a threat to the brokerage world, in my opinion, and in particular, to Gallagher, and I'll tell you exactly why. After the big crash, Mike Prescher went home that night, and everybody's like, 'AI's going to take over the world.' So he invented a company, it was I think a florist in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, 2 million, 3 million in sales, eight employees, three trucks. And he asked ChatGPT, 'What should I get?' And by the way, ChatGPT did a good job. You need comprehensive general liability, and here's what it does. Oh, by the way, it doesn't do your auto liability, so you need an auto form. Now you get the auto form that includes the auto property, but it doesn't include the property that you need to do with your comprehensive general liability in the package, neither of which cover your workers' compensation. And that workers' compensation comes with employers' liability. Now, we haven't even talked about cyber or umbrella. Five pages in, the machine says, 'And you better talk to an insurance professional.'”
On , J. Gallagher, Chairman & CEO at Arthur J Gallagher & Co, spoke about AI in insurance during Sica | Fletcher Leaders & Legends | Pat Gallagher | May 2026 on Sica | Fletcher.
About J. Gallagher
J. Patrick Gallagher Jr., chairman and CEO of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., has been discussing the company's financial performance and strategy during recent earnings calls. In the first quarter of 2026, he reported that the company's two-pronged revenue growth strategy of organic growth and acquisitions delivered a 28% revenue increase, with organic growth of 5% and M&A contributing 23%, driven by results from Assured Partners. Gallagher stated that the company had approximately $655 million in tax credit carryovers and about $11 billion in tax-deductible amortization expense, which he said would result in cash taxes paid of around 10% of EBITDA for the foreseeable future. He also noted that the company might have close to $10 billion to fund M&A over the next two years before using stock, describing the M&A pipeline as strong and full of targets at attractive multiples. Gallagher has also commented on market conditions and the role of artificial intelligence. He described the current insurance market as having "cycles within the cycle," with property rates declining and casualty rates still increasing, and stated that the market is "one storm away from turning in property." Regarding AI, Gallagher said he expects it to be "minimally disruptive" to the company's advisory-led business and that it "actually should accelerate our growth" by enhancing the delivery of advice and client solutions. He also noted that the fastest-growing part of the company's excess and surplus lines business comes from emerging specialty risks such as data centers and AI-related infrastructure.