Acrisure embeds engineering teams into live workflows to rebuild insurance operations
Acrisure is treating AI transformation as direct intervention in its operating core rather than as isolated experiments. Ben Funk, the company's chief technology and AI officer, said the firm embedded engineering teams directly into live workflows across insurance, payments, cyber security, real estate, and mortgage operations.
The approach reflects a shift away from incremental digitization. Funk described the strategy as moving toward "hard mode" innovation-one that redesigns operational logic itself rather than simply adding efficiency gains.
Rebuilding processes from the ground up
Acrisure is reengineering core processes from client engagement through placement, servicing, and renewals. Rather than layering technology onto legacy systems, technical teams work alongside business operators to rebuild workflows entirely.
This "forward deployed engineering" model ensures development is informed by real operational friction, not theoretical use cases. Funk said: "We build in situ, from the experiential pain of real workflows."
Technical and business teams share ownership of outcomes, eliminating the disconnect that typically undermines enterprise transformations. Each function rethinks its daily operations without constraint, supported by engineering resources applied at the point of impact.
Project LeftSeat, developed within Acrisure Aerospace, exemplifies this approach. Instead of digitizing a manual quoting process, the company rebuilt it entirely. The system captures communications, enriches them with external data, and orchestrates interactions across multiple carriers simultaneously. Quoting time dropped from days to minutes, with improvements in consistency and scalability.
Funk said these are not experiments. "They're inch-wide, mile-deep reinventions of how work gets done." The emphasis on depth over breadth reflects a belief that sustainable advantage comes from fully rearchitected processes.
Integrating partners into operational teams
Acrisure partnered with major technology providers and startups, but Funk stressed these relationships extend beyond conventional vendor arrangements. Partners integrate into the same forward-deployed model, contributing directly to operational use cases.
"We're not just procuring their technology as vendors," he said. "We're engaging them deeply as part of our forward-deployed engineering model."
The company also expanded partnerships within the insurance ecosystem with carrier partners and distribution channels to streamline cross-organizational workflows and reduce friction in placement and servicing.
Moving from individual agents to coordinated systems
Funk positioned 2025 as "the year of the AI agent," when organizations recognized AI could perform meaningful work. By 2026, the challenge has shifted to orchestration-coordinating agents across complex workflows.
"The competitive advantage is now the layer above them," he said. This orchestration layer must connect systems, manage state, and sequence tasks across CRM platforms, policy administration systems, and communication channels.
The primary challenge is not technical integration. Instead, it lies in capturing and operationalizing the tacit expertise of experienced professionals. Funk asked: "How do we extract, structure, and operationalize that judgment into auditable workflows?"
This shift introduces new complexities in regulated environments. Orchestration requires robust governance, including traceability, role-based access, and auditability. Adoption depends on aligning technology with human workflows. "If AI adds friction or threatens identity, adoption dies," Funk said.
Acrisure embedded engineering teams with frontline experts, mapping how work is actually performed and encoding those insights into agent-driven processes. The company prioritized orchestration over isolated automation, ensuring systems coordinate actions across multiple platforms. Governance was integrated from the outset, with controls designed to build trust in AI-driven decisions.
Measurement focused on business outcomes rather than technological activity. Metrics such as cycle time, quote quality, and conversion rates assessed impact, reinforcing the emphasis on operational change. "The challenge isn't deploying AI," Funk said. "It's reshaping the operating model so human judgment becomes higher leverage."
For insurance professionals evaluating AI implementation, the approach offers a clear alternative to pilot-based models. Learn more about AI agents and automation or explore resources on AI for insurance operations.
Your membership also unlocks:
