Our View: The State of AI in the Insurance Agency Business
“I was just calling to update my policy.”
It’s the kind of phone call we receive every day.
A client had purchased a new boat and simply wanted to add it to their insurance. It sounded straightforward enough. But as our conversation continued, one of our team members asked a few additional questions.
How often would they be using it?
Would friends or family be operating it?
Would they be towing it with a different vehicle?
Did they have an umbrella policy?
By the end of the conversation, we weren’t just adding a boat to an existing policy. We discovered several opportunities to better protect the client’s assets and close coverage gaps they didn’t even know existed.
That’s the difference between processing an application and providing advice.
It’s also why recent headlines about insurance companies leaning more heavily on artificial intelligence caught our attention.
AI and its Place in the Insurance Industry
According to published reports, State Farm is expanding the use of AI-powered tools—including digital assistants, automated customer summaries and personalized recommendations—as part of its effort to modernize customer service and sales. Technology will undoubtedly continue playing a larger role throughout the insurance industry, and many of those innovations will make routine interactions quicker and more convenient.
At Gompers, Cornish & Barr, we believe technology has an important role to play. Faster service, streamlined paperwork, and easier access to information all benefit our clients. We embrace tools that help us work more efficiently so we can spend more time doing what matters most.
But technology should support relationships—not replace them. Every improvement that makes routine service faster gives us more time for the conversations that matter most. But we also believe that this reported trend of outsourcing service to AI highlights something even more important.
The real value of an independent insurance agency has never been how quickly we can answer a question. It’s knowing which questions to ask in the first place. Insurance isn’t simply about quoting a premium. It’s about understanding how someone’s life is changing and recognizing risks they may not see themselves.
When someone buys a new home, welcomes a child, starts a business, purchases a vacation property, or prepares for retirement, the conversation is rarely about one policy. Those moments often affect several areas of a person’s financial protection.
An AI-enabled digital agent can answer the question you ask. An experienced advisor often asks the question you never thought to ask. That’s an important distinction.
Where Humans Will Always Excel
As AI becomes more capable, we support the idea that technology should handle repetitive administrative tasks, making it easier for clients to access documents, file claims, or receive routine updates. Those are meaningful improvements that save everyone time.
What technology shouldn’t replace is the conversation. Because when your basement floods, your teenage driver gets into an accident, your business grows, or you’re trying to understand whether you have enough liability protection, you’re not looking for the fastest answer. You’re looking for the right answer. And that almost always begins with a conversation.
As an independent agency, we aren’t measured by how many interactions we automate. We’re measured by how well we protect the people who trust us. That means taking the extra few minutes to ask another question. Looking beyond today’s transaction to tomorrow’s risks. Helping clients understand not just what they’re buying, but why it matters.
Technology will continue changing the insurance industry. We think that’s a good thing. But no matter how sophisticated AI becomes, it still can’t replace the experience, judgment, and personal relationships that have always been at the heart of good insurance advice.
Sometimes our advice has nothing to do with selling another insurance policy. A while back, we encouraged one of our clients to install a simple water sensor—a device costing around $50. Weeks later, it detected a leak before a failing water heater could flood the home’s basement, likely preventing thousands of dollars in damage. That’s the kind of guidance that you wouldn’t find when applying for insurance online, but it’s exactly the kind of relationship we strive to build with every client.
Real people. Real conversations. Real answers. Real guidance.
That’s been our approach for more than 60 years, and we believe it’s only becoming more valuable in the next 60 years ahead.