With the Insurance Professionals Act formally coming into force last year, there has been a sea change in the approach that all Kenyan insurance practitioners must take and that includes their approach to the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
Speaking at the Insurance Institute of Kenya’s (IIK) annual summit in Mombasa, Peter Kagia, chairman of IIK, stressed “This conference comes at an important moment in the institutional life of IIK.” His comments follow the Act’s change which, since July 2026, has provided IIK with a statutory standing and responsibilities.
It is not a straightforward job however and Kagia said “As we build professional capacity, we must deliberately preserve and transfer the knowledge accumulated within our industry.”
“Institutions become stronger when knowledge does not remain only in the minds of experienced individuals, but is captured, tested, documented, shared and made available to succeeding generations. This reflects the knowledge-based view: knowledge is a strategic resource, and our capacity to create, preserve, share and apply it strengthens professional capability, institutional resilience and competitive relevance.”
His words were echoed by John Ohaga, senior counsel and chairman, Heritage Insurance Company, who stressed the need to drive up professionalism and in turn improve insurance penetration rates in Kenya.
“Our insurance penetration rate is around 2.63%, about a third of the global average. It is at the highest level since 2017 and the insurance industry deserves some credit for that but too many Kenyans still believe you pay a premium but don’t get paid for a claim.”
He explained that the new Act explicitly mentions accountability, competency and transparency, all of which he believes builds to a fourth factor: trust. “The first of those three are the means but trust is the end goal.”
Running through the changes brought in by the Act, he stressed that every individual insurance practitioner, in whatever role, now has a personal responsibility. “This is because it is not the institution that sells a policy or pays the claim. That is down to the individual who makes the sale or approves the settlement.
“Parliament has been explicit about that,” he warned, saying the Act is designed to drive out misconduct and mis-selling and it is a statement which insurers must take seriously.
Competency, integrity and accountability lie at the heart of the Act and Ohaga said “It is never acceptable to say “the system made the decision” and the Act enshrines that.”
Turning to AI, Ohaga said the Act does not refer to AI at any point. However, it will absolutely govern AI adoption and behaviour, something the whole organisation should take on board.
He explained that the Act did not need to mention AI, because it places responsibility on the individual. In other words, if that individual relies on AI, then that individual remains responsible for whatever the AI output becomes.
Ohaga said insurance professionals have a responsibility to understand the products that they are selling and to explain that to the insured. Equally, they must understand why a claim is settled or not, and at what value, so that it can be explained to the end client.
Any use of AI must be used within that context, he stressed, and it does not absolve the underwriter or claims handler of any of their responsibilities.
Moses Kemibaro, founder and CEO of Dotsavvy, pointed out that AI is already being used across the insurance value chain and should no longer be considered as a future development. The first thing any company should do, he suggested, was to take a survey of the current use of AI.
“You will be surprised,” he said, “how many places you will find AI.” In his own company, usage was at least double what they had predicted.
“AI is already transforming insurance. The question is what decisions should we ask, when we know AI is moving faster than regulation.”
For Miriam Magala, group company secretary at Zep-Re, the question is about using technology to improve professionalism, but also to consider what should happen if that technology fails.
“If a chat bot makes a mistake and then the underwriter or claims handler makes the wrong decision, who is ultimately liable,” she asked. “It is very important to have strong guard rails because management and boards remain accountable.
“Governance cannot be compromised,” she warned, adding that companies should all have AI governance check lists.
Bryan Nyutu, principal officer at Safaricom Insurance, added that safeguards which build trust on both sides of an AI decision include that the customer can both understand the decision and challenge it, while insurers need to understand their data and AI.
He pointed to fives moves every company should be doing right now:
- Understand where you are on the AI journey
- Train one team on one live process, not everyone at once
- Digitise one journey’s data end to end before adding AI
- Name one accountable executive for each AI journey
- Start with tools you already license.
That accountable executive brought the conversation full circle back to the new Act and the need to drive greater professionalism through Kenya’s insurance sector. As Kenya’s National Treasury cabinet secretary John Mbadi told IIK members, the government had seen this as an important enough initiative that, although it was first introduced as a private member’s bill and failed to find time to pass, it was brought back and passed.
“Most people buy insurance for their vehicles but when it comes to themselves, they don’t buy life cover. The problem has been unpaid insurance claims. That is why we brought this Bill back and ensured it was passed as an Act. We need to see a professional insurance sector thriving.”
IIK president Kagia concluded “The future of our profession will ultimately be determined by the quality of the people we develop.
“Public trust cannot be built by any one institution acting alone; it is a collective responsibility across the insurance ecosystem. Inclusive leadership broadens the pool of ideas and experience available to our industry and strengthens the confidence that the profession reflects and serves the society around it.”
He stressed the Act is just the first step on a journey, which all insurance professionals will need to follow, starting now.