The rapid advancement of data centre construction from the world’s hyperscalers is a “monumental” opportunity for re/insurance broking group Aon and the wider risk transfer industry. And while it’s still early days, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Greg Case, said today that demand in this area could produce more than $10 billion in new premium in 2026 alone.
“We’re mobilizing capital into the industry, particularly to address the rapid expansion of data centre construction, driven by AI and cloud infrastructure adoption,” said Case.
This monumental opportunity, explained Case, is evidenced by the fact data centre Capex increased by 50% in 2024 and is projected to increase considerably over the coming years as “trillions of dollars of Capex go into the construction of these facilities.”
“Near term, we estimate data centre demand could generate over $10 billion in new premium volume in 2026 alone,” said Case.
In terms of Aon’s role in this exciting area, Case explained that the firm’s “globally aligned risk capital and human capital teams are helping clients navigate this transformation and support stakeholders across the value chain.”
“While still early days, we’re excited by the specific accomplishments that showcase our ability to help clients navigate this transformational opportunity,” he continued.
Expanding on some of these accomplishments, the CEO said: “We recently became the risk partner for a leading global engineering focused insurer with a mission to work with them to build significantly greater level of insurance capacity. This work complements the launch of our data centre lifecycle insurance program, a proprietary multi-line insurance facility that consolidates coverage, construction, cargo, cyber and operational exposures, and offers clients end-to-end risk management and insurance solutions.
“We’re also working to support resilient design and engineering from the outset of these projects to optimize the industry’s ability to provide the limits necessary for hyperscaler data centre development and management of accumulation risk.
“Another example of our global distribution analytics and expertise in both traditional and alternative risk transfer, is already delivering results, is a recent client win where we placed nearly $30 billion in coverage for a top global hyperscaler data centre developer for operational data centres and data centres under construction. And this is just the beginning.”
Later in the call, Case was quizzed on the $10 billion in new premium volume in 2026 for the industry.
“From our standpoint, it’s still very early in the process. So, this is not mid-game, or even in-game. This is like the beginning of the game. This is all beginning to develop over time… And for us, this is about accessing capital to connect with risk. Whatever market it goes through, primary, admitted, E&S, or, frankly, alternative markets, we’re accessing all that capital. And by the way, it’s going to require access to all that capital.
“And then, from our standpoint, we’re looking to provide value for clients. We always find a way, we do fine on compensation when we provide value for clients, and ours is always a value added approach in terms of how we think about it,” said Case.
“And so, we’re again, excited about the opportunity to make a difference, and we already are. As I mentioned before, we’ve already done some major programs underway. But we see potential to do substantially, substantially more. And by the way, this isn’t just a US opportunity, this is a global opportunity. And for us, again, we see great, great opportunities there,” he added.
The issue, according to Case, is convincing the capital to come in and actually provide the coverage these hyperscalers require.
“And really, it isn’t just the hyperscalers, it’s also the builders, and then the money as well. If you think about funds that are being created, opportunities there as well. So, for us, this really cuts across the ecosystem and represents a very unique opportunity,” he emphasised.
During the call, Aon executives were also questioned on the outlook for reinsurance in 2026, after the firm’s Reinsurance Solutions arm delivered another solid quarter with 8% organic revenue growth, and Case again highlighted the demand around hyperscalers and data centres.
“What we described on the hyperscalers, this is an opportunity to truly address a level of opportunity that we haven’t seen before. It’s truly unique. Think about $2 trillion of investment, and that’s just the build investment, doesn’t even get to the operating investment or the innovation investment, which happens over time.
“So, for us, the content and capability we have in such an extraordinary group on the reinsurance side, in the context of reinsurance and risk capital, with our commercial risk capabilities, is extraordinary, and we see great, great opportunity over time,” he said.
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