The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation announced leadership staff changes.
DWC is launching a new program area, AI Innovation and Integration, focused on the responsible, mission-driven use of artificial intelligence to modernize processes and reduce administrative burdens, and evaluate how system participants are using AI services. Allen Craddock, formerly DWC’s chief administrative law judge, will serve as deputy commissioner for this new area. Craddock brings a strong record of operational improvements in Hearings and will apply that same focus to agency modernization. He is board-certified in workers’ compensation law, practiced in the field for 15 years before joining DWC in 2013,
Gerri Thomas will now serve as DWC’s chief administrative law judge over Hearings. This program oversees the workers’ compensation dispute resolution process, including benefit review conferences, contested case hearings, and Appeals Panel review.
Thomas joined DWC in 2012 and has served as regional director for the Northern and Western regions. Her legal, clinical, and operational background gives her deep insight into dispute resolution and system needs.
Under the leadership of General Counsel Kara Mace, DWC has reorganized legal, communications, and external relations services into Legal and Communications Services. This program provides legal services, editorial support, strategic communications, public outreach, and legislative coordination to ensure DWC’s operations, messaging, and stakeholder engagement are accurate, consistent, and effective. Mitchell Koers joins this team as director of government relations, where he will oversee legislative activities and stakeholder outreach.
“It’s certainly making an impact as we speak in a way that no technology has before,” said John Challenger, chief executive officer at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. His firm, which tracks layoff plans, found almost 102,000 announced job cuts attributed to AI so far this year.
Overall, the tech sector accounted for a third of all layoffs announced in 2026. “Finance might be the next big sector that’s most affected,” Challenger said.
Research suggests AI’s impact on the labor market depends on how companies deploy the technology. A study from Stanford’s Digital Economy Lab found employment has weakened in occupations where the technology automates tasks, while holding up in roles where AI helps employees in their job.
Finance may be especially vulnerable because of its workforce composition. Office and administrative support occupations — including customer service representatives, bank tellers and insurance claims processors — account for about a quarter of employment in financial activities, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data compiled by Bloomberg. That share is larger than in any other major industry.
And those office occupations are projected to experience some of the largest employment declines over the next decade, in part because of AI, the BLS said its latest projections.
A tracker of unemployment data developed by the California Policy Lab found finance and insurance had the highest concentration of unemployment claims in the state coming from workers in highly AI-exposed occupations, while information and professional services also recorded persistently elevated claims among AI-exposed workers.