The data centre building boom driven by AI could unlock major growth for reinsurers, with Swiss Re projecting $6.6 trillion in global data centre investment by 2030. Capital spending by the top five cloud providers is expected to exceed $600 billion this year. Swiss Re Institute forecasts global insurance premiums linked to data centres could reach $91 billion by 2030.

Urs Baertschi, CEO of property and casualty reinsurance at Swiss Re, highlighted the opportunity across property, engineering, cyber, liability, and business interruption lines. He noted AI will improve underwriting efficiency and decision-making but stressed human judgment remains central. Risks include tornado and hail exposure, with over 40% of US data centre capacity in significant-to-very-high tornado zones.

Swiss Re also warns of rising fraud and downstream liability from AI innovation. Natural catastrophe losses are trending up 5-7% annually in real terms, with a peak year potentially reaching $320 billion in insured losses. Baertschi emphasized the need for long-term risk assessment, stating one year does not dictate the trend.

Models for secondary perils like wildfires and floods have improved, supporting better risk evaluation.