Sound Policy

On this episode of Sound Policy, we explore the evolving risks and challenges facing manufacturers today and discuss what resilience looks like in a rapidly changing environment. From supply chain disruptions and aging infrastructure to automation, workforce shifts, and fire risk, manufacturers are navigating increasing complexity while remaining essential to the global economy.

To understand what is driving loss and how manufacturers can better protect their operations, we spoke with James Gieger, New York operations manager at FM. James shares insights from working with manufacturers of all sizes, why people remain at the center of resilience, and how better planning and risk engineering can help businesses stay operational and support their communities. We also discussed FM Essential, an insurance product designed to support a broader group of manufacturing companies seeking to strengthen their resilience.

More resources:
Extend Manufacturing Expertise to More Companies than Ever Before with FM Essential

FM Essential

On this episode of Sound Policy, we take a closer look athow AI and automation are transforming the insurance claims experience.Claims are one of the most critical moments in an insurance relationship, andnew technologies are reshaping how quickly, fairly, and efficiently insurerscan help clients recover after a loss.

To explore what’s changing and what still matters most, wespoke with Jeremy Gallant, senior vice president of claims at FM. He shares howdigital tools and AI are helping streamline administrative work, speed uppayments through initiatives like fast-track claims, and free adjusters tofocus on high impact, human centered decision making. We also discuss howclaims data can inform underwriting and risk insights, the importance ofkeeping people in the loop, and what the future of claims might look like as technologycontinues to evolve.

Copyright 2026 Factory Mutual Insurance Company. All rights reserved.This podcast is for informational purposes only and aims to highlight potentialhazards or conditions to help reduce property loss. FM makes no express orimplied warranties and assumes no liability for the use of any information orproducts mentioned.

On the latest episode of Sound Policy, FM’s podcast about risk and resilience, we’re taking a global view: Every year, we release the FM Resilience Index, a ranking of the business environments of 130 countries and territories. The 2026 ranking had Denmark on top, Venezuela at the bottom, and plenty of insights in between. 

To help break it all down, we spoke with Simon Barsoum, an FM engineer who was born and raised in Denmark. He explains what makes the country so resilient and how it’s responding to recent tensions with the U.S. over Greenland. We also spoke with Leo Kushner, who helps manage the FM Resilience Index, about how this tool is used and some of the broader insights from the 2026 version.

To explore the 2026 rankings and learn more about the Index, visit fm.com/resilienceindex.

More resources:

Explore the data: 2026 FM Resilience Index

Executive summary: 2026 FM Resilience Index: Clarity for an increasingly complex risk landscape

From 2025: Why is Denmark so resilient? We asked a Danish engineer.

The world faces plenty of challenges right now. New geopolitical tensions. Climate change. Technology that will unlock innovation but also new threats.

But what about the oldest risk? Fire is still the No. 1 cause for all claims FM manages globally. Why is that? What new technologies are driving the risk? And what new technologies are helping address it?

On this episode of Sound Policy, we spoke with Lou Gritzo, chief science officer at FM.

More resources

• Videos of FM’s fire tests are available online
• Let's help tame the risk of wildfire
• Top of the class: Pepperdine aces wildland fire test

The way our industries work is changing quickly. Really quickly. So quickly that some people have declared that we are in a new industrial revolution, called Industry 4.0.

Here at FM, part of our job is preparing our clients for this changing landscape. As new technologies arrive, we research the steps industries can take to reduce the risks these systems might bring.

So on this episode of Sound Policy, we sat down with the person helping lead that research at FM. Dr. Roland Schaefer is research director for future of industry, based in Luxembourg.

More resources:

• FM Breaks Ground on State-of-the-Art Science and Technology Centre | FM (US)
• FM and LIST Launch Research Partnership to Tackle Climate and Cyber Risks | FM (US)
• Confronting the resilience challenge with science and research

With the rise of artificial intelligence and the cloud computing boom, it's  hard to think of an industry that is growing faster than the data center industry. In response, FM has been researching how to help protect and insure data center infrastructure--along with everything that goes with it, like power generation. On this episode of Sound Policy, we spoke to two experts to learn more about how to build a better data center.

Adrian Oxley is staff vice president, senior engineering technical specialist at FM. Paul Heisel is high-hazard occupancy specialist at FM. Both work with FM Intellium, a new business unit at FM. More information on FM Intellium can be found here.

Sound Policy also explored lithium-ion battery risks—increasingly relevant to data centers—in our first episode.

More resources:

• FM webinar explores data center risks and their impact on your business
• Downtime doesn’t compute at AI data centers
• The rise of the reliable, resilient data center

If your business is seeing the impacts of extreme weather, you’re not alone: 62% of risk decision-makers report they’ve suffered at least one severe disruption due to natural hazards in the past three years. 

That’s according to FM’s survey of nearly 1,000 risk decision makers and insurance brokers across the world.

On this episode of Sound Policy, we’ll get into the results of the survey, what’s driving natural hazards risks—and what can be done to help protect against them. Our guest is Angelika Werner, FM’s research area director for natural hazards and climate.

More resources:

• 2025 FM Natural Disasters Report
• FM Nathaz Toolkit
• Understanding the future of extreme weather

Lithium-ion batteries have become commonplace in our lives. They’re in things as small as a smartwatch to as large as an electric car. And they're quickly becoming a crucial part of our businesses, too, from data centers to renewable energy to robotics.

But as many benefits as these batteries have, they have a pretty big drawback: They sometimes catch fire or explode. When lithium batteries get damaged or get hot, they enter "thermal runaway," a chain reaction that can lead to fires and explosions.

So to understand the risk from this new technology, FM's experts have been studying these batteries—putting them through the paces, even setting them on fire, all in the name of research.

On this episode of Sound Policy, we sat down with Stephanie Thomas, senior staff engineering specialist, and Ben Ditch, principal research engineer.

Thomas wrote a recently-released data sheet on the storage and manufacturing of lithium-ion battery hazards. FM’s Property Loss Prevention Data Sheets help reduce risk at facilities with engineering guidelines and exacting standards.

Ditch is a researcher at FM who, along with his colleagues, has tested numerous lithium-ion batteries—from the cellular level to the large-scale burn lab.

More resources:

• FM property loss preventiondata sheets
• Lithium-ionbattery hazards: FM releases first-ever comprehensive guidance
• Whythis technology is a ‘big deal’ for data centers, battery energy storagesystems and more