XL Catlin’s Accelerate Team Adds Key AI Expert

LONDON, July 11 -- XL Group, an insurance and reinsurance company, issued the following news release:

XL Catlin today announced the appointment of Ashish Umre as Accelerate Partner, Artificial Intelligence (AI), based in London.

Accelerate is XL Catlin's internal disruption and innovation team. Established in November 2016, the team was set up to leverage commercial opportunities arising from new technologies and work closely with business leaders to drive transformational innovation, enabling bigger thinking and efficient execution.

Mr. Umre is charged with developing XL Catlin participation in AI projects working with partner start-ups to understand and develop their technical capabilities, and ultimately help translate these capabilities into business solutions. He joins XL Catlin from Tesco where he held the role of Lead Scientist, Marketing Data Science & Optimisation.

Vincent Branch, Chief Executive of Accelerate, comments: "We view innovation and the use of technology as a real opportunity to better understand our clients' business and provide new innovative solutions and services. Getting the right talent around the table is key to us achieving our goals and this has to be a mix of insurance industry talent and talent from outside the industry. With experience at Tesco and long-standing academic achievements across AI, cognitive/neuroscience and machine learning, as well as his ability to lead innovation projects, Ashish is a great addition to the team and XL Catlin."

With Mr Umre's appointment, the team now consists of five innovation experts, spread across London and New York:

* Paul Brand, Chairman of Accelerate

* Vincent Branch, Chief Executive of Accelerate

* Jenny Williams, Accelerate Partner

* Lauren Tennant-Pollock, Accelerate Partner

* Ashish Umre, Accelerate Partner

Vincent Branch added: "The team are working on a number of significant initiatives. Notably we are the insurance member for the DRIVEN consortium, which is led by Oxbotica a technology company with a focus on mobile autonomous systems with whom we have a partnership. DRIVEN is a ground-breaking project to deploy a fleet of autonomous vehicles. It is helping us to truly understand, and find ways to understand and assess the emerging risks associated with this exciting leap forward in technology. With the team further strengthened we are even better equipped to drive change for the industry and for our clients."

About XL Catlin's Insurance Operations

XL Catlin insurance companies offer property, casualty, professional, financial lines and specialty insurance products globally. Businesses that are moving the world forward choose XL Catlin as their partner. To learn more, visit xlcatlin.com.

About XL Catlin

XL Catlin is the global brand used by XL Group Ltd's (NYSE:XL) insurance and reinsurance companies which provide property, casualty, professional and specialty products to industrial, commercial and professional firms, insurance companies and other enterprises throughout the world. Clients look to XL Catlin for answers to their most complex risks and to help move their world forward. To learn more, visit xlcatlin.com.