AI is A-OK for many IAs
New survey from Nationwide shows that independent agents are ready to embrace artificial intelligence technology to help their business
Independent Agents (IAs) attitudes towards technologies like machine learning and generative artificial intelligence (AI) are changing. According to new survey data from Nationwide, more agents and agencies are incorporating those technologies to help meet their clients' ever-changing needs.
62% of IAs polled said they are already investing in artificial intelligence technology for their business. More specifically, agents are continuing to embrace the technology as it advances, with 38% of IAs saying they have adopted an AI platform for their business in the past six months.
“This is an exciting time for insurance agents to leverage Generative AI,” said Chetan Kandhari, Nationwide’s Chief Innovation and Digital Officer. “Today, customers are expecting a high level of responsiveness, hyper-personalization, and the ability to interact across channels. Agents are seeing where Gen AI can save them time and help them be more effective in delivering a great customer experience.”
Insurance professionals will be looking for ways to use AI in customer service, underwriting, pricing, and sales. The benefits are so prominent that an additional 41% of agents surveyed plan to adopt AI for their business in the next six months, according to Nationwide. Furthermore, 77% reported considering using AI technology to help develop council for their clients, a 15-point jump from 2023.
“It’s encouraging that agents are willing to incorporate AI technology to streamline their operations,” said Kandhari. “However, it’s important they use the technology in a thoughtful and responsible way, so they maximize the benefits to their business and their customers don’t see any drop off in service.”
Nationwide offers these recommendations for agents who want to use AI in their business
- Clearly identify your business goals. Understanding your business objectives and pain points will help you identify areas where AI can enhance efficiency and customer experience. From there, you can research how AI is transforming your industry and look for successful use cases or emerging trends.
- Evaluate your current technology and choose an AI platform that will complement it. To do this, you’ll need to evaluate your needs to define the right platform to solve your business problem. Make sure you’re considering scalability and the ease of integrating the platform with your existing systems. An external vendor can help with evaluating the different platforms available, finding the one that works for your agency, and integrating it into your current system.
- Get employee buy-in. This will be key to ensuring your investment in AI pays off. To get employees excited and on board with using the new platform, agency owners must provide their employees robust education and training on the new platform, highlight its benefits with the staff, address any concerns, fears or misconception about using the new technology and celebrate successful uses of AI within the business.
- Stay vigilant. Agency owners should mandate that the technology be used responsibly and ethically. Since AI is always evolving, they should keep up to date with changing regulations governing the platform and offer up continuing education to agents so they can remain compliant.
- Work with carriers that have extensive experience using AI. Not all carriers are proficient with AI. Legacy carriers like Nationwide are more likely to have the infrastructure and expertise to help agents and agencies navigate the complexities of using the technology to support their customers.
“Nationwide has been using AI and machine learning for more than a decade,” said Kandhari. “We’re standing by to guide our agent partners on the ways to best utilize this powerful tool to help grow their business and support their clients.”
Tips and advice for agents on using AI can be found here.