USI Insurance Services is embracing organizational transformation at a scale rarely seen in the brokerage space. At the heart of this transformation is UTech, a portfolio of technology initiatives designed to drive both efficiency and effectiveness across USI’s core business lines.
Kate Bang (pictured), vice president of corporate development and transformation lead, oversees these efforts, helping the firm build proprietary solutions that are reshaping how USI serves clients.
“UTech is focused on net-new technology builds that address areas where we see gaps in the marketplace or where we can create something unique internally,” Bang explained. “Many of our projects incorporate AI, and all are designed to align with the core business initiatives defined annually by our CEO. Right now, we have 12 open projects in the portfolio, each of which is foundational to supporting how we operate and scale as a business.”
Bang emphasizes that UTech projects are driven by a combination of executive leadership and grassroots insights from USI’s teams. “The best projects emerge when both perspectives intersect,” she said. “For example, our employee benefits team requested a proprietary client dashboard, which also met client needs. That’s a project born from both operational insight and leadership support.”
At the same time, executive-driven initiatives help USI differentiate in ways that may not yet be visible at the operational level. “A major initiative is OmniAI, our comprehensive solution recommendation tool,” Bang said. “It’s designed to support the full prospect-to-client lifecycle - get, prep, advance, close, and keep - bringing the right insights and recommendations to the right place at the right time. That initiative is primarily leadership-driven but benefits from input across the organization.”
A central question for any technology transformation is whether to build in-house or partner with external providers. For USI, Bang explained, the answer is largely “build over buy.” “We do have partners, but the majority of our work is internal,” she said. “We want to create proprietary solutions that give us a long-term, sustainable advantage, and we also want to ensure tight integration within our ecosystem. Many external vendors are startups; some may be sold or change direction, creating potential risks for us. Building internally allows us to maintain control, scale efficiently, and create something truly unique.”
UTech projects range from AI-assisted policy checking and certificate issuance to submission automation, all designed to reduce costs and drive operational efficiency. “These tools are foundational to our business,” Bang said. “They allow us to deliver better outcomes consistently and at scale, while preserving the high-touch human interactions that define middle-market brokerage.”
While AI is integral to UTech, USI deliberately avoids automating client conversations. “The complexity of middle-market brokerage exceeds what AI can handle today,” Bang explained. “Our clients require nuanced, human-to-human interactions, whether for business insurance, employee benefits, or retirement planning. AI supports our teams behind the scenes, allowing them to work more efficiently and effectively, but the client experience remains personal and high-touch.”
This approach, Bang notes, differentiates USI from peers who may focus primarily on cost reduction or efficiency alone. “We’re building solutions that enhance both efficiency and effectiveness,” she said. “It’s about doing things better, not just faster. We’re looking for tools that allow us to deliver higher-quality outcomes, consistently, across the enterprise.”
UTech exemplifies how USI is using technology to align with its broader organizational transformation. By combining executive insight, operational knowledge, and a disciplined build strategy, the company is creating a portfolio of solutions that support both short-term performance and long-term competitive advantage. “Transformation isn’t just about adopting new technology,” Bang said. “It’s about applying it strategically, creating proprietary solutions that integrate into our operations, and ensuring our people can use these tools to deliver better outcomes for our clients.”
“We’re investing in tools that drive efficiency, but also those that expand our effectiveness,” she said. “The goal is not only to do things faster or cheaper, but to fundamentally enhance the way we operate, the outcomes we deliver, and the long-term value we create for our clients.”
