International insurer and reinsurer QBE has appointed Patrick Karlowski as Chief Operating Officer (COO), Asia, effective June 29th, 2026.
Simultaneously, Florence Chan has been appointed as Head of Data, Analytics and AI, Asia, effective July 13th, 2026. Both appointments are based in Hong Kong.
In his new role, Karlowski succeeds Klaas Dijkstra, who has assumed the role of Chief Information Officer, International. Karlowski will have a dual reporting line to Nathan Fuller, COO of International, and Rob Kosova, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of QBE Asia.
He will lead QBE Asia’s strategy, operations, and business transformation agenda, focusing on driving growth, customer value, and operational excellence. Karlowski will also oversee cross-divisional alignment and drive collaboration and innovation to uncover new service opportunities.
Karlowski has over two decades of experience in the insurance, financial services, and telecommunications sectors. He also has deep expertise in strategy, digital innovation, and operational excellence across multiple international markets.
In the past, Karlowski has led large-scale operational units across Asia and Europe; and deployed digital insurance distribution and servicing platforms globally.
In her new role, Florence Chan will also have a dual reporting line to Shrenik Dagli, Group Head of Data, Analytics and Al, and Karlowski. She will lead QBE Asia’s Data and Analytics team and work closely with colleagues to define and deliver the organisation’s Data and Al roadmap in the region.
Additionally, Chan will drive responsible Al adoption and create measurable business value through insight-enabled decision making.
She also has over two decades of experience across data, analytics, transformation, financial services and technology, with expertise in regulatory reporting, governance frameworks, and Al adoption.
Kosova commented on the appointments, “I’m delighted to welcome Patrick and Florence to QBE Asia – strategic appointments that will further advance our long-term business priorities and strengthen our competitive position in Asia.
“Their respective expertise – Patrick in driving operational excellence that embraces digitalisation, automation and intelligence; and Florence in building strong data foundations that unlock deep risk insights, which ultimately benefit our partners and customers- will help sharpen our focus on driving sustainable growth by being the most consistent and innovative risk partner in the region.”
