Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
What does it take to run a company where the business is risk itself?
In conversation with Joubin Mirzadegan, Peter Zaffino shares what the role demands at AIG, including high stakes decisions, constant responsibility, and sacrifice.
This episode looks at his journey as CEO ahead of his transition to Executive Chairman this June.
Leading at a global scale across 200+ countries.
Guest: Peter Zaffino
Connect with Peter Zaffino
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/peter-zaffino
Connect with Joubin:
X: https://x.com/Joubinmir
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Follow on LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/kpgrit
Follow on X:
https://x.com/KPGrit
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com
(00:00) Trailer
(00:33) Introduction
(01:09) Joining AIG and the $33 billion loss
(04:30) A career in insurance across four decades
(08:47) September 11 and Marsh McLennan
(13:41) Lessons from tail events and black swan risks
(16:09) How insurance pricing reflects exposure
(19:09) Modeling catastrophic risk centrally
(22:21) Why Peter invests time in Silicon Valley
(25:12) Bringing Dario Amodei and Alex Karp
(28:55) Unanimous support means you're not bold enough
(33:05) The role of legal in transformation
(35:28) Picking Anthropic and Palantir as partners
(36:59) Does AI live up to the hype
(40:19) Bringing employees and the board along
(43:28) The love language of executives
(47:11) Organizing work and staying available
(50:40) The job isn't fun but it's gratifying
(55:21) What grit means to Peter
(55:54) Outro
What does it take to run a company where the business is risk itself?
In conversation with Joubin Mirzadegan, Peter Zaffino shares what the role demands at AIG, including high stakes decisions, constant responsibility, and sacrifice.
This episode looks at his journey as CEO ahead of his transition to Executive Chairman this June.
Leading at a global scale across 200+ countries.
Guest: Peter Zaffino
Connect with Peter Zaffino
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/peter-zaffino
Connect with Joubin:
X: https://x.com/Joubinmir
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joubin-mirzadegan-66186854
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Follow on LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/kpgrit
Follow on X:
https://x.com/KPGrit
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins: kleinerperkins.com
(00:00) Trailer
(00:33) Introduction
(01:09) Joining AIG and the $33 billion loss
(04:30) A career in insurance across four decades
(08:47) September 11 and Marsh McLennan
(13:41) Lessons from tail events and black swan risks
(16:09) How insurance pricing reflects exposure
(19:09) Modeling catastrophic risk centrally
(22:21) Why Peter invests time in Silicon Valley
(25:12) Bringing Dario Amodei and Alex Karp
(28:55) Unanimous support means you're not bold enough
(33:05) The role of legal in transformation
(35:28) Picking Anthropic and Palantir as partners
(36:59) Does AI live up to the hype
(40:19) Bringing employees and the board along
(43:28) The love language of executives
(47:11) Organizing work and staying available
(50:40) The job isn't fun but it's gratifying
(55:21) What grit means to Peter
(55:54) Outro
