A warning has emerged from a just-concluded insurance conference about future Bermudian employment opportunities in the industry and today’s education system.

A top executive told Bermuda Risk Summit delegates of the increasing interest by companies to site jobs in less expensive jurisdictions.

Speaking on a panel on the future of risk, Noel Pearman, Axa XL chief underwriting officer, speculated that the rise of artificial intelligence will make some entry level positions harder to station in Bermuda.

He said: “We are going to need a higher level of education in order to bring value for organisations that are global in scope and footprint, and making intelligent finance-based decisions about where jobs can be done.”

With a rapidly advancing AI, he also warned that people in the industry should be prepared for radical changes in their day jobs.

“Five years ago, if I was on a panel talking about AI, folks would be thinking about movies like The Matrix and Terminator,” Mr Pearman said. “Now, we are actually seeing what was very much science fiction becoming real life.”

He said that when educating the next generation of insurance executives, it should be with the future in mind.

“We should not be educating our teams and young adults for exactly what they see today,” he said. “By the time they are ready to come in, things are going to look different.”

Referencing comments from Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, at the opening of the conference about initiatives to bring down the cost of living in Bermuda, Mr Pearman said: “A company like mine has to decide whether they will employ someone in this jurisdiction or another.”

He said employing them in an expensive place like Bermuda can be a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, Colm Singleton, Allied World Assurances executive vice-president and head of the Bermuda office said that the Bermuda market should be differentiating itself on the basis of its claims talent.

He said claims expertise has never been more relevant to insurance clients.

Mr Singleton said: “Over the last 20 years, the major liability events that North American clients have faced, all of them have been resolved and worked through by Bermuda markets. You could go back to the founding of Allied World after 9/11.

“You can go back through to the opioid crisis, climate change litigation, Deepwater Horizon. All of these major events that clients have worked through have had major impacts on Bermuda.”