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AI adoption risk: insurance staff disengagement, Secure Horizons warns
A survey commissioned by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America found 61% of consumers favor agents using AI, while 87% still want human input for insurance decisions.
Insurance firms are racing to automate workflows with AI, but Secure Horizons executive director Sarah Armstrong-Smith, a former chief security advisor at Microsoft, says the biggest operational risk may be employees disengaging from the transformation.
At Dive In Festival 2026 on Tuesday, Armstrong-Smith argued that the speed of AI adoption is forcing companies to address the human consequences of technology change faster than in prior industrial shifts. She noted that brokers and agents face pressure to use AI to accelerate quoting, customer service, marketing, and administrative tasks while preserving the advice and relationships that define the intermediary channel.
Insurance Business reports that a September survey commissioned by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America found 61% of consumers were more likely to choose an agent using AI and other modern technology for faster, more personalized service, while 87% said a human agent remained important when making insurance decisions.
However, adoption in the agency channel appears uneven, with First Connect’s 2026 survey of 238 independent agents finding only 35% were using AI in day to day operations, despite 53% expressing optimism about its impact. The same survey found 77% of agents were seeing increased client expectations around quote and binding speed, and Armstrong-Smith warned that workers who fear automation will replace them could become less willing to support AI projects and workflow redesign.