Zurich shares firsthand insights in 'Data center risks right now'

Zurich risk engineers, underwriters, claims leaders and senior executives tackle 6 key questions for data center resilience, with insights on loss drivers, insurance limits, labor, power and more.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill., April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As data center development tests risk management like never before, Zurich North America today released Data center risks right now: 6 critical questions to enable a resilient buildout. The new report brings together field‑tested insights and experience-based data from Zurich risk engineers, underwriters, claims professionals and business leaders engaged in insuring some of the largest and most complex data center projects ever seen.

The report examines six pivotal questions shaping resilience across construction and early operations, grounded in real‑time risks Zurich teams are seeing on sites, in coverage discussions and in claims data. "Data center risks right now" focuses on the U.S., where data center construction has accelerated the fastest, while acknowledging similar challenges around the world.

"As AI adoption drives demand for data centers, project values, power demand and execution complexity are all intensifying at once," said Kelly Kinzer, President and Global Head of Construction and Surety for Zurich. "The ability to navigate the challenges and build in resilience is critical not just in the U.S., which hosts the largest share of global data center capacity. Many countries see data center expansion within their borders as critical to economic competitiveness and digital sovereignty."

Risk management must look across the life cycle of a data center.

"The market has a strong appetite to support the data center sector," said Heather Fox, President of U.S. National Accounts. "But with construction, commissioning and operations overlapping more than ever, risk decisions must be coordinated across teams and time horizons. This is true for builders and owners, who want to avoid coverage gaps, as well as for insurers and reinsurers, who need to manage concentrations of risk and resilience across different portfolios."

How coverage needs and risks are shifting

Drawing on Zurich's portfolio and project experience, the report explains how coverage needs, risks and loss drivers are evolving as data centers scale in size, add onsite power generation and move beyond traditional hubs. It highlights weather and hot works events (e.g., welding) as well as other causes of loss that have driven high-severity claims. It also highlights mitigation strategies drawn from specialist risk engineering expertise and underwriting experience. Over the last five years, Zurich has insured more than 500 data center projects globally, representing over $35o billion in project values.

"What might in the past have been a contained event can have exponential impact on projects being built under intense time pressure with enormous equipment values," said Tobias Cushing, Head of U.S. Construction at Zurich. "Getting coverage, structure and execution right upfront has become essential as sites move into the multibillion‑dollar, multimillion-square-foot range with thousands of megawatts of power. We're even seeing gigawatt campuses."

As data center construction expands into new regions and adds power substations, the report notes that exposure to severe convective storms such as hail and tornadoes is increasing. It emphasizes the need for redundancy so that a data center's operations can be performed elsewhere in the event of an outage. Business interruption losses can escalate fast.

"What makes data centers uniquely challenging is not any single risk, but how quickly risks intersect and compound across design, construction and early operation," said Arooran Sivasubramaniam, U.S. Head of Zurich Resilience Solutions. "Zurich Resilience Solutions risk engineers bring a broad, integrated perspective, connecting what we see in design decisions, on active sites and in loss experience, to help customers anticipate how decisions made today can shape resilience tomorrow." 

The report acknowledges concerns regarding data center expansion, including labor and energy constraints and impacts on power and water supplies.

"These are immediate challenges that our customers and prospects are grappling with in the U.S., and similar challenges are emerging around the world as data center expansion continues," said Patrick McBride, Head of International Construction for Zurich. "By sharing experience and insights, we can help drive innovative solutions."

Unlock the full report at https://www.zurichna.com/media/news-releases/2026/zurich-shares-firsthand-insights-in-data-center-risks-right-now. 

SOURCE Zurich North America