From finding information to acting on it
Consider how much work can happen before an underwriting decision is made.
An underwriter may need to navigate multiple documents and systems, find relevant information, understand its context, and determine what matters before applying their expertise to the risk.
And that work adds up. Accenture research found that underwriters spend 40% of their time on non-core and administrative activities — an inefficiency the firm estimates could cost the industry $32 billion annually.
Claims professionals face a similar challenge. Depending on the claim, adjusters may need to piece together information from repair estimates, police reports, engineering assessments, medical records, policy documents, and claims notes before they can determine the appropriate next step.
AI can fundamentally change that experience.
Instead of requiring professionals to manually search through every source, AI can help bring information forward. It can summarize complex files, identify important details, and help people understand what deserves their attention.
And Vijay believes AI agents introduce the potential for another step forward: the potential to assist with actions inside a workflow, not just provide information. “And eventually, it can also recommend the next best action that they can take with, of course, the right human oversight for the people doing the work.”
The result is more time for underwriters and adjusters to evaluate risk, resolve claims, work with customers, and apply the judgment they have spent their careers developing.
Less searching. Less administrative work. More time evaluating risk, resolving claims, working with customers, and making decisions.
Imagine turning 30 minutes of work into five
That’s where the potential starts to become tangible.
Vijay describes the future of successful AI as something that could almost disappear into the experience itself.
People should simply notice that something that used to take 30 minutes now just takes three or five minutes, and they have better information to make better decisions and achieve better outcomes.”
Think about what that could mean when multiplied across an organization.
A few minutes saved on one task might seem minor. But multiply those minutes across hundreds of thousands of tasks, and the impact starts to become significant; across an entire underwriting or claims department, that time can add up to substantial new capacity that teams can redirect toward higher-value work.
For underwriters, that means more time evaluating and writing risk. For claims professionals, the impact of getting time back can extend all the way to the policyholder.
Responsiveness can also have a direct impact on carrier growth. In Vertafore’s 2025 Agent Experience Survey, 86% of producers and account managers said underwriting responsiveness was critically important to carriers getting more of their business, ranking behind only competitive products and price.
The stakes extend to the policyholder experience, as well. Accenture found that settlement speed was the most commonly cited issue among dissatisfied claimants and estimated that customers dissatisfied with the claims experience represented as much as $170 billion in renewal premium at risk over five years.
Together, those findings show how faster access to information can create value beyond an individual task. Helping underwriters reach decisions faster can create value well beyond an individual task. Helping underwriters reach decisions faster can strengthen relationships with agency partners, while helping adjusters find the right information faster can move claims forward at a moment when customers are counting on their carrier most.
For customer-facing teams, that efficiency creates more time to help the people who depend on them.
That’s what makes this moment so exciting. AI isn’t simply another way to automate a task. It gives insurance organizations an opportunity to rethink how work gets done.
The best AI will understand the workflow
There is a catch: AI needs to solve the right problems.
When Vijay talks with insurance CIOs about evaluating AI, his advice is straightforward:
"I would not even start with AI. I would start with the workflow itself.”
Pick a real underwriting or claims process. Understand how it works today. How long does it take? How many documents and systems are involved? How many manual touches and handoffs does it require?
Then ask what AI can change.
Can it reduce the time required? Eliminate unnecessary steps? Reduce rework? Give users better information at the moment they need it?
This approach also points toward where some of the most valuable AI innovation in insurance can happen: inside the workflows professionals already depend on.
If someone has to leave their core system, move information into a separate AI tool, retrieve an answer, and then bring it back, the industry risks creating another workflow instead of simplifying the existing one.
AI becomes far more powerful when it meets insurance professionals where the work is already happening.
Trust will turn AI capability into AI adoption
As AI becomes more capable, speed will only be part of the equation. Insurance professionals also need confidence in what AI gives them.
A fast answer isn't just good enough. Users need to understand where the answer came from, see the supporting evidence, and verify the answers before making an important decision.”
That makes transparency and human oversight essential to the next generation of insurance AI. These principles make AI more useful in an insurance environment by giving professionals the transparency and supporting evidence they need while keeping human authority core to critical insurance processes.
AI can find, organize, summarize, and surface information. AI agents can increasingly assist with the steps surrounding a decision. And the professional remains in control of the judgment that ultimately matters.
The result is a partnership between technology and insurance expertise that can be more powerful than either one alone.
From friction to flow
The impact can extend well beyond an individual underwriter or adjuster.
Insurance is an interconnected ecosystem. Agencies, MGAs, and carriers constantly exchange information as risks are evaluated, policies are written, customers are serviced, and claims are resolved.
When work slows at one point, that friction can carry through the distribution lifecycle.
AI creates an opportunity to move more of that work from friction to flow. When information can be found, understood, and acted on faster, people and organizations across the insurance ecosystem can keep work moving with fewer delays and manual handoffs.
That kind of connected flow is central to Distribution Velocity: helping agencies, MGAs, and carriers move faster across the value chain while maintaining the confidence and control insurance demands.
A new era of insurance work is beginning
Imagine an underwriter getting the information they need in seconds instead of minutes. An adjuster spending less time searching and more time moving a claim forward. An account manager getting hours back in their week. And information moving more easily between agencies, MGAs, and carriers.
That’s the opportunity ahead.
And as AI becomes more deeply embedded into insurance workflows, the most exciting change may be surprisingly simple: Insurance professionals get more time to be insurance professionals.
Purpose-built for insurance, the Vertafore Velocity AI Platform brings AI agents into the workflows insurance professionals already use, helping reduce manual work, surface the information that matters, and create more capacity for higher-value decisions.
As the platform expands, additional AI agents will support more workflows across the insurance lifecycle, helping teams spend less time on repetitive work and more time applying their expertise.
Learn more about the Vertafore Velocity AI Platform and see how Vertafore is bringing AI into insurance workflows to help organizations work more efficiently, make informed decisions, and create more time for the work that matters most.
