Insuring the Digital Economy 🔐: AI & Quantum Risks, Parametric Policies Take Off ⚡, Robots & SpaceTech Liability 🚀 & more! 🛡️
Insurance 2035: Innovation for a Digitally-Driven Risk Landscape
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I met with our partners at AltaWorld this week and came away convinced it’s worth revisiting the conversation we started at ITIC-London 2025.
Back in April, I had the honour of moderating the panel Insurance for the Digital Economy - Creating New Products for Emerging Risks alongside Sean Spain and Zainab Ibrahim. That session sparked a huge number of questions — about underwriting AI risk, quantum-era exposures, and how incumbents should adapt product and distribution models for a rapidly digitising economy.
In this piece, I’m resurfacing the best takeaways from the conference and going deeper: fresh analysis on the most urgent risk vectors, practical frameworks for product teams and risk managers, and scenario thinking you can use today to stress-test strategies for the next five years. If you work in insurance, technology, risk, or regulation — this one’s for you.
Key Takeaways
Research suggests the insurance market for digital economy risks could grow significantly by 2035, driven by emerging threats such as agentic AI, robotics, spacetech, and quantum computing.
Cyber insurance will likely remain foundational, evolving to cover AI and quantum-related breaches, with new products emerging for AI liability, blockchain, and robotics risks.
Parametric and usage-based insurance are poised to gain traction, offering flexible coverage triggered by specific events (e.g., cyber incidents) or personalized premiums based on IoT data.
Novel risk categories like space debris and quantum encryption breaches could lead to the development of highly specialized insurance products.
Controversy persists in volatile domains such as cryptocurrency, with insurers wary due to regulatory uncertainty, limited historical data, and growing ethical concerns around AI and robotics liability.
Table of Contents
Overview
Key Insurance Products for Emerging Digital Risks
2.1 Cyber Insurance
2.2 AI Risk Insurance
2.3 Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Insurance
2.4 Parametric Insurance
2.5 Usage-Based Insurance (UBI)
Insurance for Emerging Digital Risks Beyond Cyber and AI
2030–2035: Insuring the Next Frontier of Technology
4.1 Robotics and Humanoid Robots Insurance
4.2 SpaceTech Insurance
4.3 Quantum Computing Risk Management
Challenges and Opportunities in Developing New Insurance Products
Conclusion: Embracing the Future of Risk
1. Overview
The digital economy—defined by economic activity powered by digital technologies and the internet—is giving rise to a wave of emerging risks that traditional insurance models struggle to cover. These include cybersecurity threats, AI-related liabilities, data breaches, robotics malfunctions, blockchain and cryptocurrency risks, as well as hazards from spacetech and quantum computing. In response, the insurance industry is beginning to develop innovative products and risk frameworks tailored to these challenges. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of how insurance is expected to evolve by 2035, drawing on insights from industry reports, expert forecasts, and market trends to inform stakeholders navigating the future of risk in a rapidly digitizing world.
2. Key Insurance Products for Emerging Digital Risks
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