Hartford CEO Swift Unveils AI-First Strategy at UBS, Predicts Industry 'Haves vs Have-Nots' Split
February 9, 2026 · by Fintool Agent
The Hartford CEO Christopher Swift laid out an ambitious vision for the insurer's AI transformation at the UBS Financial Services Conference 2026 today, warning that the insurance industry is heading toward a "haves vs have-nots" split as technology investment separates winners from consolidation targets.
Speaking alongside CFO Beth Costello at the fireside chat hosted by UBS analyst Brian Meredith, Swift detailed a three-year AI roadmap with Google as the company's preferred partner—an initiative already showing tangible results in claims processing, where AI-powered medical record summarization has compressed weeks of work into hours.
"I think there are gonna be a have and a have-not category. And we're gonna be in the have category for sure," Swift said. "That will allow us to continue to grow at above market rates, capture more market share, endear our agents and brokers to us even more."
The comments come as Hartford rides a remarkable run, with shares up 62% over the past 24 months and trading near all-time highs after posting record Q4 earnings that crushed Street estimates by 26%.
The AI Playbook: From Foundation to Transformation
Swift emphasized that Hartford's decade-long investment in modernizing platforms positioned the company to accelerate AI deployment. The insurer has migrated to the cloud, organized its data infrastructure, and now has over 75% of small business quotes processed "on the glass" with no human touch.
"If you know anything about AI, it's really fueled by data," Swift explained. "You need to have your own data organized to interplay with large language models or small language models."
The transformation is organized around two tracks:
Personal Productivity Tools: Hartford has trained and licensed over 6,000 employees on Microsoft Copilot and Google Notebook for daily workflow enhancement.
End-to-End Workflow Reinvention: The bigger opportunity lies in claims, underwriting, and operations, where Hartford is rebuilding processes with an "AI-first mindset."
The most concrete example Swift offered was in claims processing for workers' compensation and disability—Hartford's two largest product lines. Both involve extensive medical records that can run 1,000 pages or more.
"Instead of reading a file for 2 weeks, 2 hours later, you could start to actually interact and try to get someone back to work sooner, which cuts down on lost time. Hopefully, it cuts down on medical expenses too," Swift said.
CFO Costello noted that while no single KPI captures the AI benefit, management expects it to flow through across growth rates, operating leverage, loss costs, and claims productivity.
Ask Fintool AI AgentStrategic Priorities: Property Growth and Agency Expansion
Beyond technology, Swift outlined four additional strategic priorities for 2026 and beyond:
Property Underwriting Expansion
Despite softening property prices, Swift remains committed to double-digit growth in property underwriting, where Hartford currently has approximately $3.3 billion in premiums across business units.
"Even in the face of softening property prices, the starting point is good. The returns are great," Swift said, noting that 60% of Hartford's property book is in small and middle market segments, which are holding up better than large commercial.
Agency Prevail: Personal Lines Push
Hartford is expanding its Agency Prevail personal lines platform from 10 states today to 30 states by early 2027, targeting the preferred home and auto market through independent agents.
"It's not a leap of faith that our agents that are close to us that do business in those lines would also wanna do business with us in personal lines, principally because they lead with a home product where we have capacity," Swift explained.
Employee Benefits Defense and Offense
Hartford plans to defend its top-3 market position in employee benefits while filling out absence capabilities (paid family leave, medical leave, supplemental products) and pushing into the under-500 lives segment with new dental and vision capabilities through a recently announced partnership.
Commercial Lines Pricing: Moderation, Not Collapse
Meredith pressed Swift on the pricing environment, noting that Hartford's Q4 renewal written price increases (excluding workers' comp) fell to 6.1%—down from 7.3% in Q3 and the lowest since Q1 2021.
Swift acknowledged the moderation but pushed back on concerns:
"I still feel like it is a good time to be a P&C carrier. The starting point matters. And it's still relatively healthy," he said.
The nuanced picture by line:
| Line | Pricing Outlook | Loss Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Property | Softening fastest | Varies by segment |
| Liability (GL, Auto, Umbrella) | Robust | High single digits |
| Workers' Comp | Slight headwinds | Medical severity behaving |
| E&S Binding | Growing 10%+ | Stable |
"There's not one cycle that I feel right now. There's micro cycles in comp, property, liability... really four micro environments that you really gotta track and manage," Swift said.
On small commercial specifically, Costello highlighted that the business has maintained a sub-90 underlying combined ratio "for many, many, many years"—a testament to data-driven pricing discipline.
Ask Fintool AI AgentRecord Financial Performance
The strategic commentary comes on the heels of Hartford's strongest year ever. Q4 core earnings of $4.06 per share crushed the Street's $3.22 estimate, while full-year core earnings hit $3.8 billion—up 25% year-over-year.
| Metric | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core Earnings | $3.85B | $3.08B | +25% |
| Core EPS (Diluted) | $13.42 | $10.30 | +30% |
| Core Earnings ROE | 19.4% | 16.7% | +2.7 pts |
| P&C Written Premium Growth | +7% | -- | -- |
| Business Insurance Underlying CR | 88.5 | -- | -- |
| Employee Benefits Margin | 8.2% | -- | -- |
Capital return remained aggressive, with Hartford returning $2.2 billion to shareholders in 2025—$1.6 billion in buybacks and $592 million in dividends.
"Our preferred strategy for excess capital, at least currently, is dividend increases and buybacks," Swift said in his closing pitch to investors.
The Investment Case: Swift's 60-Second Pitch
When asked to summarize the bull case in 60 seconds, Swift highlighted four pillars:
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Consistency: "We're a more consistent, predictable organization that values underwriting and underwriting discipline"
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Growth: "We're gonna grow faster than the market and consolidate and capture more market share"
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Returns: "We generate superior, superior ROEs"
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Capital Return: "We're generating excess capital. And our preferred strategy... is dividend increases and buybacks"
Analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Buy with an average price target of $149.25, implying roughly 6% upside from current levels.
Ask Fintool AI AgentWhat to Watch
Several catalysts and risks emerge from the conference discussion:
Near-term Catalysts:
- Agency Prevail expansion milestones (30 states by early 2027)
- AI productivity metrics as deployments scale
- Property growth despite market softening
Key Risks:
- Commercial pricing deceleration accelerating
- Liability loss trends remaining elevated
- AI investment ROI taking longer to materialize
Next Event: Hartford's Q1 2026 earnings are expected in late April.