David Blades

David Blades is an associate director within the Credit Rating Criteria, Research & Analytics Department of AM Best, a global credit rating agency with a focus on the insurance industry.

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Data Center Boom Testing Insurers' Capacity Limits

Data Center Boom Tests Insurers' Capacity Limits

David Blades

Explosive growth of AI-driven hyperscale data centers is forcing insurers to innovate underwriting for unprecedented exposures and capacity demands.

All Articles

D&O Insurance Pricing May Be Inadequate

David Blades

After aggressive increases helped firms recover from a decade of woeful rates, premiums are declining. The shift may be too much too soon.

Six Things

A Scandal the Insurance Industry Must Sidestep

By Paul Carroll

The illegal use of cameras that read license plates is a scandal that won't go away any time soon — and could smear insurance, if we aren't careful.

The Private Equity Revolution in Insurance

Private equity is systematically acquiring the unregulated, fee-generating operations around insurance carriers, with broad implications.

AI Risk Is Rising Fast

AI has surged to the second-biggest perceived business risk globally, yet actual insurance losses remain surprisingly low—for now.

Are AI Systems Capturing Insurers' IP?

Insurers risk inadvertently transferring proprietary expertise to AI systems through everyday use, creating a vulnerability beyond traditional cybersecurity concerns.

AI's New Role in Prior Authorizations

Prior authorization’s new reality: AI does the evidence work, a clinician owns the call, especially for denials.

Agency Growth Numbers May Be Misleading You

Revenue growth masks a retention crisis costing agencies millions in enterprise value and leaving half their book vulnerable to churn.

Side Underride Guards on Trucks Prevent Deaths

Side underride crashes kill 300 annually, yet the trucking industry still resists guards that juries now value in multimillion-dollar verdicts.

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