AIG Executive Chair Zaffino to exit, will join Palantir next year

• AIG elected lead independent director John Rice as board chair effective September 15, the date Zaffino leaves.
• The move follows Zaffino's transition from CEO to executive chair earlier this year, when Eric Andersen became chief executive.
• He joined AIG in 2017 and became chief executive in 2021 and was widely credited with accelerating the insurer's turnaround by streamlining operations, reducing risk and spinning off its life and retirement business.
• Zaffino is set to join Palantir Technologies on January 15 next year as global head of financial services, where he will oversee growth across the business including insurers, banks, asset managers and private equity firms.
• "Peter has spent his career challenging inertia and rejecting incrementalism within large enterprises," said Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies.

Sept. 2 (Reuters) - American International Group AIG.N said on Wednesday that Peter Zaffino will step down as executive chair and join data analytics firm Palantir Technologies PLTR.O next year, capping a tenure that sharpened the insurer's focus on underwriting.

Companies across industries are increasingly seeking executives with deep operational expertise to help deploy artificial intelligence tools and drive technology-led transformations.