Karen A. Morris

Karen A. Morris is AIG Product Development’s Chief Innovation Officer.

Karen has spent over 20 years in international commercial roles. An English barrister, she began her legal career in private practice as a multi-jurisdictional tax and transactional specialist with a leading global law firm, Morgan Lewis & Bockius.

Karen assumed a role as U.K. General Counsel and Divisional General Counsel for Europe with the global disposable consumer goods business, Scott Paper Company, subsequently Kimberly-Clark, as. As the legislative and business landscape evolved in Europe, Karen was also drawn into the fields of environmental stewardship and diversity leadership.

Karen then moved into the financial services industry where she has held both legal and commercial roles for over 14 years.

Initially entering the insurance sector in a legal role as Corporate General Counsel and Company Secretary of Chubb Insurance Company of Europe S.A. in London, Karen created a new form of legal advisory function dedicated to product and service innovation, focusing on trend analysis, legislative tracking, business and political developments. Specifically, Karen gained recognition as an early contributor to the passionate trans-Atlantic debate around corporate governance models, ownership and control paradigms and shareholder activism. She remains an enthusiastic member of the European Corporate Governance Institute.

The success of this venture led to Karen assuming leadership of the insurer’s Specialty Lines underwriting business for the Southern European region.

The experience of executive management of multi-national underwriting operations inspired an ever-increasing focus on product, service and business model innovation.

Since joining AIG in New York in 2004, Karen has specialized in innovation strategy and execution. She has devised and implemented unique methodologies to sustain and grow AIG’s innovation agenda.

In her private capacity, Karen is currently working on a book exploring the adaptability of legacy governance, management and organizational models for the challenges of the fast, increasingly flat but nonetheless ‘spiky’ global economies of the 21st Century.

Karen is a member-elect of the prestigious International Association of Defense Counsel. She is a nominated Guardian Leader of the diversity-focused leadership development and training network, The Global Athenaeum.

Karen holds graduate and post-graduate qualifications in English, French and Law. She is a frequent speaker on innovation and leadership.