New Delhi: Michael Colao has joined AXA XL as Global Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) for Cyber. The American subsidiary of global insurance and reinsurance company AXA announced Colao’s appointment in a statement.
As Global UCO for Cyber, Michael Colao will be reporting to Libby Benet. Benet has been recently promoted as AXA XL’s Global CUO for Financial Lines.
“Michael brings a wealth of knowledge from his nearly 20 years as a senior Cyber Security expert in the financial service industry. His background and technical expertise will complement the underwriting talent within our global cyber team, providing a unique perspective into cyber risk,” said Libby Benet.
Based in London, Michael Colao will manage aggregate cyber exposure across AXA XL’s products globally. He will help to develop and implement strong underwriting standards globally. Also will drive innovation to ensure AXA XL continues to be a partner of choice in this important line of business.
Colao most recently served as Corporate Chief Security Officer within AXA Group Operations. He oversaw Information Security, Physical Security, and Operational Resilience for multiple entities within AXA Group, including AXA XL.
Prior to that, he served as Chief Security Officer for AXA UK and Ireland for nearly a decade. He was managing cybersecurity for 15 AXA-owned companies globally.
Colao represents the Insurance industry in the Bank of England’s Cross-Market Operational Resilience Cyber Coordination Group. He serves on the UK government Financial Services Cyber Coordination Centre’s steering committee advising on regulation as appropriate.
In 2020, he joined the Cyber Coordination Group’s Cloud Security working group and the 3rd party and Supply Chain risk-working group.