Xu Cheng is the Group Head of Data Strategy & Insights at Ascot Group. She leads and builds Ascot’s Global Data Office and reports to the Group COO. Her team develops the company’s global data governance framework and manages data initiatives worldwide. The goal is simple: make data trustworthy, accessible, and useful for decisions. Xu works across underwriting, claims, finance, and marketing to drive a data-driven culture. She is a recognized data leader in insurance, named a Global Data Power Woman (2026) by CDO Magazine, a Global Top 100 Data Analytics Innovator by Corinium (2023 and 2024), and Data Culture Champion of the Year (2024). Xu Cheng spoke at the InsurTech Spring Conference on the panel “Will AI Ever Stick in the Insurance Industry?”, moderated by Roi Hansraj, alongside Jeff Cohen of Zywave, and Todd Rissel of e2Value.
Before her current role, Xu was Head of Business Intelligence & Insights at Ascot. Earlier, she spent nearly five years at The Hartford in director-level analytics roles. There she led descriptive and diagnostic analytics for a $3 billion personal lines business and ran competitive intelligence for consumer auto and home insurance.
Her career began in P&C insurance analytics at Liberty Mutual and Travelers. At Liberty Mutual, she led analytics for $1.5 billion in annual medical payments across workers’ compensation. At Travelers, she focused on medical cost and prescription drug analytics and predictive modeling.
Xu holds an MBA in the Health Sector from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. She also earned an M.S. in Pain Research, Education & Policy from Tufts University School of Medicine. Outside of work, she is a certified USTA and ITA tennis official.
