Axa XL’s Crawford: Broker specialisation leading to cyber E&S market innovation

The cyber E&S market is becoming increasingly sophisticated as brokers become more specialised in the space, according to Deuayne Crawford, head of wholesale for cyber and technology E&O underwriting at Axa XL.

“There are a lot of sophisticated people in the market, and it's going to continue evolving. I think the E&S market is one of the more innovative areas for cyber insurance,” he said.

“The brokers I work with in the E&S space are really knowledgeable. For example, I work with a broker who’s 10 years younger than me, and he truly understands the nuances between professional lines, technology liability, general liability and product liability.

“That level of sophistication is there. I think it's going to evolve,” Crawford added.

Speaking to The Insurer TV, Crawford emphasised that this level of sophistication is necessary in the cyber E&S market as the type of risks placed there tend to be complex.

“The cyber E&S market usually serves the most complicated types of risks, the hard-to-place business, and the grit in this business is well known.

“It could be a telecom or technology company looking for a contract to do something with a larger client. The larger client, whether it's a big name, brand company, they're looking to have this smaller company or mid-sized company have insurance in place.

“And the classes vary, it could be payment processors, MSP [managed service providers] or any other type of large technology risk,” said Crawford.

He also highlighted the emergence of new risks in the cyber E&S space, particularly those related to AI, as companies seek coverage to protect themselves from potential legal misunderstandings in this rapidly evolving field.

“One of the newest types of risks we're seeing right now is AI driven. A lot of it's related to intellectual property infringement, regulatory issues and just misuse or not understanding the power of generative AI and things like ChatGPT,” said Crawford.

While AI and other emerging risks are capturing headlines, Crawford pointed out that ransomware remains a persistent threat. He noted that Axa XL focuses not only on insuring clients against ransomware but also on helping them mitigate risk.

“We have the people that provide the capabilities, from a claims standpoint, our vendor standpoint, the pre-breach and post-breach services. We have to help our clients get better, whether they're in a ransom event or to prepare before a ransom event happens,” explained Crawford.

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