Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence are transforming the insurance sector, eliciting both excitement about their potential and caution regarding the challenges they present. Nonetheless, these technologies offer significant opportunities to enhance product delivery and operational efficiency.
Sam Franks, country manager & head of partner engagement UK & Ireland at Beazley, said: “There is an opportunity to look at how customers are served using digital technology—as we increasingly use digital channels in our personal lives to buy services… I see an opportunity to improve how we deliver those products, whether directly to customers or by providing better service and operational efficiency.”
AI may be one way of achieving this. According to a BCG report, “AI will help insurers increase productivity in creating, synthesizing, or analysing any language-like data, including code.”
Brokers are under pressure to deliver faster, tailored solutions, and AI could assist underwriting. Simon Hughes, SVP, global distribution & general manager UK at Cowbell, explained: “So the key thing is being able to use the data and make it intelligible. We gather about 1,000 different data points in every single business that we underwrite… AI tools allow us to get that data, put the answer in a tangible format, and use it to the benefit of our underwriting capability.”
Dan Cicchetti, senior director, client engagement, UK and Ireland, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, spoke about AI’s ability to assist with risk: “Providing the most accurate data that you possibly can on a full range of perils, offering support from a data science and analytics perspective, can only help those insurers make better decisions.”
He believes AI can help build a risk profile: “It can work by creating a single identifier from billions of records so that we can accurately identify that person, provide that to the insurer, so they can then have all the right data about that individual and then use that point of quote… It's really just creating a single source of truth around the individual,” said Cicchetti.
Brokers can feed AI with accurate and unbiased data by:
• Collecting detailed, diverse, and current client information
• Verifying data accuracy and completeness
• Standardising formats and using automation to reduce errors
• Avoiding biased or discriminatory sources
• Collaborating with clients to ensure balanced data
• Regularly cleansing and updating AI systems with fresh data
• Training staff to recognise and reduce bias in data collection
Many fear AI will replace expertise, but brokers use AI to enhance their strengths. Martyn Matthews, managing director at SSP Broker, said brokers can use AI “for contract analysis, service chatbots, and gradually moving towards tailored pricing,” Cicchetti said. “One of the massive value adds that brokers can bring to insurers is some of the checks they can be doing at the front end to present the accurate risk to that individual, and also follow-up checks that they can perform on behalf of those insurers.”
Brokers can utilise AI to boost performance by:
• Providing accurate, comprehensive data to improve AI outputs
• Regularly reviewing and validating AI recommendations
• Using AI-powered chatbots to enhance communication
• Collaborating with underwriters by supplying verified risk information
• Integrating AI tools into workflows for efficiency with human oversight
• Educating clients on AI for trust and transparency
• Continuously updating AI with market and client data
• Identifying and flagging AI anomalies for correction
• Advocating ethical AI use and data privacy compliance
Cyber risk is now mainstream, yet many clients remain unaware of how AI powers sophisticated attacks. Brokers must urgently educate and help prevent these threats.
Simon Hughes said, “It’s really quite simple, unfortunately, to use large language models to create ransomware… phishing emails already have quite a low barrier to entry to becoming a cybercriminal.
“Now it's even easier with the use of AI. You’re so many times more likely as a business to suffer a cyber event than you are a traditional type of insured event, like a fire.” Sam Franks agreed, stating “There’s generally been improvement in SME risk management, but threats still exploit weaknesses.” Hughes advised: “If I was a broker, I’d be really hammering home how this is not easy to spot, and you really need to be aware of this.”
Brokers can help clients combat AI-driven cyber threats by:
• Raising awareness of AI-driven threats like phishing, deepfakes, ransomware
• Showing real-world AI-generated attack examples
• Recommending AI-based detection and monitoring tools
• Promoting staff training on AI-enabled social engineering
• Advocating cyber insurance covering AI incidents
• Encouraging AI-powered email and endpoint security
• Helping develop incident response plans for rapid AI attacks
• Connecting clients with AI-focused cybersecurity experts
• Keeping clients updated on emerging AI cyber risks and defences
Trust in AI can be built with the right approach, Martyn Matthews said: “The conundrum, even 20 years ago, with the intelligent use of data, was always, is it creepy or is it cool? …I don't think that's dissimilar with AI. These tools are fantastic benefits to business but need adopting in such a way that you take a customer on that journey with you as well.”
He added, “Practical use cases—like the pricing use case—show things that aren't scary... it’s actually just an improvement on what you do already.” For those new to AI, he advised: “Start small. Test. Use common sense… But human oversight still plays such a critical part in the adoption of AI.”
Brokers can adopt AI by:
• Starting with low-risk, repetitive tasks (data entry, lead sorting)
• Piloting AI tools internally before client use
• Using AI for suggestions, not full automation
• Monitoring AI accuracy over time
• Choosing tools with transparent outputs
• Maintaining human oversight on AI decisions
• Training staff to understand AI capabilities and limits
• Providing feedback to improve AI models
• Learning from other brokers’ success stories
