IUA Circular 043/26
The Influencers Podcast:
What tomorrow’s risk leaders need to succeed with Diane Maxwell, Airmic
Date: 24 April 2026
Interest Groups: IUA member contacts, insert other interest groups
Subject: A new episode in the podcast series produced by the IUA and Hogan Lovells
IUA Contact: Tom Hughes, Director of Underwriting ( 44 (0)78 2533 4264)
List to the Influencers podcast episodes
“A cyber hacker isn’t waiting for the next executive directors meeting or board meeting to get sign off on a tech upgrade. The issue then is that they’re moving faster, they’re more fleeted foot, they’re more agile, they’re evolving quicker and I think that presents a set of risks.”
Is technology a help or a headache for risk professionals in 2026?
The Influencers, is a podcast series offering insightful conversations with leaders from business, academia and regulating authorities about all aspects of digital transformation and law. In the third episode of the series, the IUA’s Tom Hughes and Hogan Lovells’ Karishma Paroha welcomed Diane Maxwell, CEO of AIRMIC (Association of Insurance and Risk Managers in Industry and Commerce).
During the discussion, Diane shares the one question too many risk leaders fail to ask…
Emerging Tech Risks, Risk Tech and Insurance Modelling
The advancement of tech and the way we have interwoven it into our daily lives has created a broader, more complex risk environment. Risks are becoming more inter-connected and interdependent than ever before. What does this mean for risk managers?
This episode explores which new and emerging risks are still flying under the radar and how we can collaboratively manage an increasing risk network.
But it isn’t all about risk, as technological advancement also promises opportunities for risk managers. Whether that be more in-depth data analytics, greater automation, or the topic that’s on everyone’s minds, and at our fingertips, AI. Diane touches on the significant benefits of AI, automation and real-time data in improving the decision-making process for risk managers.
With the risk landscape evolving even as you’re reading this preview, the insurance model must follow suit to ensure that the industry does not fall behind. But this is easier said than done. Diane explores the shift from independent and tangible, to interdependent and intangible risk, and how this requires a systematic change in risk managers’ approach to dealing with risk and insurers’ approaches to managing them.
Key Learnings
Risk isn’t just about protecting organisations from the unknown, but about innovation, growth and expansion, with technology at the heart of it. With evolving complexity in everything from our human interactions to our capital markets, the world of risk management must adapt to stay on top. Diane offers practical advice to leaders in risk, encouraging consistent curiosity and the pitfalls of failing to ask the seemingly obvious question.
Listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or via the Hogan Lovells website.
Read the full preview here