New York Life spotlights AI transformation at IBM Think conference

New York Life | June 5, 2026

At IBM Think 2026, Scott Berlin and Ridhika Nayar shared how New York Life is applying AI and financial discipline to strengthen experiences and drive unparalleled value.

At IBM Think 2026, New York Life leaders joined conversations focused on one of the most important questions facing enterprises today: how to translate AI and technology investment into measurable, durable value.

IBM Think, IBM's flagship technology and business conference, brought together nearly 5,000 leaders to discuss how organizations can "win the enterprise AI race." Scott Berlin, head of Group Insurance, and Ridhika Nayar, CFO of Technology, Data, AI, Ventures (TDAV), represented New York Life across several sessions.

Throughout the conference, Berlin and Nayar reinforced a consistent message in their sessions: technology transformation is not about adopting new tools for their own sake. It is about strengthening the way New York Life serves clients, agents, advisors, and employees — with discipline, accountability and human judgment at the center.

Scott Berlin, head of Group Insurance, discussed how New York Life Group Benefit Solutions is using AI to strengthen service excellence at scale.

Berlin joined IBM’s keynote in their mainstage panel, “How enterprises excel in the AI era.” The session, which included executives from Warby Parker and Disney, focused on how leading organizations are using AI to transform workflows.

During the discussion, Berlin highlighted the transformation underway at New York Life Group Benefit Solutions (GBS) where the team is reimagining how work gets done across the value chain — from pre-sale through claims. For GBS, that transformation begins with a clear north star: delivering service excellence in the moments that matter.

Berlin also emphasized that AI-enabled transformation is not solely a technology effort. The broader opportunity is to elevate employees by focusing their expertise where it matters most. That requires being intentional about how work is designed — what people do, what technology does and how digital agents are integrated into day-to-day processes. Therefore, Berlin noted, it’s important to help teams adopt new ways of working so the business can fully realize its value.

Ridhika Nayar, CFO of Technology, Data, AI, Ventures, shared how New York Life is strengthening financial transparency across technology, data and AI investments.

Nayar participated in IBM’s “Maximize technology ROI with financial intelligence” panel focused on how enterprises are connecting technology spend to business value through stronger financial transparency, governance and decision-making. Nayar discussed how New York Life is evolving the way it evaluates technology, data and AI investments — shifting the conversation from cost alone to the value those investments are expected to create.

She emphasized that AI must be evaluated with the same rigor as other enterprise investments, including clear measures of impact, strong governance and accountability, and alignment to business outcomes such as improved client experiences, support for agents and advisors, employee productivity, growth and operational efficiency.

Nayar also participated in an IBM Senior Leadership Exchange fireside chat with TBM Council, an organization driving technology business management standards and taxonomy, discussing how New York Life is strengthening financial transparency and connecting technology investments to enterprise priorities.

Value at the center

Together, the sessions in which Berlin and Nayar participated reflected New York Life’s approach to innovation: using technology, data and AI to create seamless experiences and deliver unparalleled value for clients, agents, advisors and employees.

At a conference focused on the future of enterprise AI, their message was clear: New York Life is focused on becoming a more tech-, data- and AI-powered company in a way that is disciplined, responsible and connected to business outcomes — helping ensure the company continues to deliver on its mission for generations to come.