The insurance industry is undergoing a seismic shift. Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from theory to practice, reshaping how policies are underwritten, how claims are managed, and how risks are anticipated. In Redhand’s recent webinar, Insurance Rewired: Real-World Wins in Policy, Claims, and Risk, industry leaders explored the transformational role AI is already playing—and where it’s headed next.
Patrick O’Neill, Founder of Redhand Advisors, framed it well:
“This isn’t a passing fad. AI is fundamentally changing the game in insurance. Every part of the industry—from policy to claims to risk—is being reshaped, and organizations need to be thinking about strategy, not just experiments.”
The conversation focused not on abstract promises, but on practical opportunities insurers can act on today.
Why AI in Insurance Matters
Projections show AI in insurance growing nearly tenfold over the next decade, with compound annual rates above 30%—a pace unheard of in most industries. Unlike past incremental tools, AI cuts across the value chain: underwriting, claims, risk, compliance, safety, and more. From predictive analytics to generative AI to agentic workflows, it is touching processes once considered too complex to automate.
The takeaway is clear: insurers that hesitate risk falling behind, while those who embrace AI unlock new efficiency, accuracy, and customer value.
Policy Intelligence: Faster, Smarter Decisions
Policy administration has long been hampered by fragmented data and slow manual reviews. AI is changing that.
Underwriters no longer need to comb through years of loss histories or dense spreadsheets. AI can extract and summarize the essentials—highlighting catastrophic claims or frequency spikes—so decisions are made in hours instead of days.
As Bobby Hunter, Klear.ai Chief Product Officer, put it:
“Generative capabilities are accelerating the analysis process. Instead of taking three or four days to turn a quote around, underwriters can limit that down to hours—driving both competitiveness and speed to market.”
AI also improves submission processing by extracting broker data directly, prevents premium leakage by benchmarking exposures, and adds sentiment analysis to pricing decisions. The result is faster quotes and more accurate pricing, with underwriters freed to focus on strategy.
Claims Transformation: From Tasks to Impact
If policy is the front door of insurance, claims are its core. And claims management may be where AI delivers the quickest wins.
Adjusters often spend hours entering data, running reports, and reviewing files. AI reduces that friction dramatically. Conversational AI allows queries like, “Show me all payments over $5,000 last week.” Document summarization condenses lengthy medical files into key takeaways. Smart workflows automatically classify and attach documents to claims.
As Leslie Sargent, Klear.ai VP of Solution Consulting, explained:
“We used to spend hours searching claims and re-keying data. Now AI can summarize, classify, and extract the right information instantly. That doesn’t just save time—it allows adjusters to be more strategic and focus on helping people, not just pushing paper.”
This shift doesn’t replace adjusters; it redefines their role, freeing them to focus on empathy, problem-solving, and even proactive loss prevention.
Agentic Workflows: The Next Leap
AI’s next frontier is agentic automation—workflows where AI doesn’t just support decisions but actively manages tasks, monitors conditions, and suggests next steps.
Think of a system that flags an escalating “sleeper” claim in real time, or a renewal process that detects inconsistencies and recommends pricing adjustments instantly. These agentic workflows move insurers from decision support to semi-autonomous orchestration of complex processes.
Data, Guardrails, and Trust
AI is only as effective as the data and oversight behind it. Clean, structured data ensures accuracy, while “human-in-the-loop” safeguards build confidence.
For instance, if AI is 25% confident a document belongs in a claim file, it triggers human review. If it’s 90% confident, it can proceed automatically. This balance delivers efficiency without sacrificing trust.
Partnerships and Adoption
Technology alone doesn’t deliver value. Adoption, integration, and partnerships matter just as much. Many insurers recognize AI’s promise but lack resources to implement it effectively. The right partner brings both technology and industry expertise to help identify quick wins and drive adoption.
Darrel Vaughn, Klear.ai Chief Marketing Officer, stressed this point:
“You can have the best plans in the world, but if they’re not adopted or integrated into real workflows, they won’t help. The right partnerships—technology, strategy, and user adoption—are what turn AI from potential into real impact.”
Quick wins—like document processing or claims summarization—help build internal momentum and prove AI’s value early.
Where to Begin
For organizations just starting, the panel suggested five steps:
- Identify pain points. Look for friction in policy, claims, or risk workflows.
- Start with quick wins. Demonstrate value quickly to encourage adoption.
- Build guardrails. Keep humans in the loop for oversight and trust.
- Think beyond silos. Integrate AI across workflows, not just within a single system.
- Adopt a mindset shift. See AI as a strategic enabler, not just a tool.
The Future of Insurance, Rewired
The AI journey in insurance is only beginning. Predictive analytics, generative AI, and agentic workflows are already unlocking efficiencies once unimaginable. Tomorrow, AI will stretch further—connecting systems, streamlining compliance, and reshaping how risk is managed.
Patrick O’Neill summed it up best:
“The best preparation is a mindset shift: accept that AI is here, embrace it as a partner, and leverage it to make organizations stronger, faster, and more resilient.”
For insurers willing to take the first steps—whether in underwriting, claims, or risk—AI isn’t just tomorrow’s promise. It’s today’s competitive advantage.
Want to dive deeper? Watch the full webinar recording here: Insurance Rewired: Real-World Wins in Policy, Claims, and Risk