Insurtech
L&G creates unified tech, data and AI role, appoints Schroders CTO Jamie Ovenden
By Insurance Wire Staff, . Insurance Wire.
Legal & General has appointed Jamie Ovenden as group chief technology, data and innovation officer, according to Coverager. The role is newly created and, per the report, brings L&G's technology, data, AI and platform functions under a single executive for the first time. Ovenden will also join L&G's Group Management Committee, subject to regulatory approval.
Ovenden joins from Schroders, where Coverager reports he served as group chief technology officer and led digital transformation and innovation. Separately, Coverager notes that Katie Worgan, L&G's group chief operating officer, will step down at the end of the year, though the report does not connect the two personnel changes directly.
Coverager quoted L&G Group CEO António Simões: "Technology, data and AI are central to the next phase of L&G's growth. Jamie is a highly experienced technology leader, with a strong track record of driving digital transformation, innovation and value at scale."
The structural logic of the appointment is worth noting. Placing technology, data and AI under one executive signals that L&G is treating these as a unified capability rather than separate functions, a governance choice that tends to follow when a firm wants to move faster on AI deployment without coordination friction between teams. Whether Ovenden's mandate extends to underwriting systems, customer-facing platforms or back-office infrastructure is not established by the report.
Worgan's departure at year-end adds a layer of uncertainty. The COO role typically owns operational technology in insurers that have not yet separated the function; if that was the case at L&G, Ovenden's remit may be broader than the title alone suggests. The report does not confirm this.
What to watch: whether regulatory approval is granted without conditions, how Ovenden's remit interacts with existing business-unit technology leads, and whether L&G fills the COO position or absorbs those responsibilities elsewhere.
Source: https://coverager.com/lg-appoints-technology-data-and-innovation-chief/
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