Kristen Bessette is Chief Data Officer for Zurich North America, where she is advancing the company’s data and artificial intelligence initiatives to optimize performance across core insurance functions. Before joining Zurich, she was the Chief Actuary, Data and Analytics Officer at QBE North America and earlier held senior leadership roles at Liberty Mutual Insurance.
Bessette, who has become a leading industry voice on AI in insurance, is responsible for all aspects of data management for Zurich North America as well as the development of advanced analytics and AI capabilities and products. Over her career, Bessette has worked on growing and rehabilitating parts of businesses, using her quantitative expertise to evaluate risk and pricing and more broadly to use data and analytics to achieve better results.
She was named a Business Insurance Woman to Watch in 2015 and a Risk & Insurance Executive to Watch in 2022. She has served on the Board of Directors for both the Spencer Educational Foundation and the Casualty Actuaries of New England. She previously was appointed to a term as the P&C industry actuary to the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology as well as various other industry committees.
Bessette is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Bates College.