AI is compressing insurance's middle - but brokers still own the moments that matter
Insurance can no longer treat artificial intelligence as a side project. The industry has spent years running pilots and conference panels while keeping AI at arm's length from core operations. That position is collapsing. The shift from experiment to operating model is now underway across underwriting, claims, distribution and customer service.
Andrew Broughton, CEO of Network Insurance House, one of the largest equity brokers in the Steadfast Group, said the industry may still be underestimating the scale of operational change ahead. "We really are more at the start of it than at the end," he said.
Network Insurance House places about $900 million in gross written premium and generates just over $100 million in fee and commission income.
The administrative core faces real pressure
The first phase of AI in insurance focused on experimentation. The next phase looks like industrialisation: faster data extraction, quicker servicing, smarter claims communication and more automation across standardised work.
For brokers, the threat is not elimination - it's compression. AI does not need to remove brokers to materially change broking economics. It only needs to strip time and labour from the administrative middle of the business.
Broughton quantified the scale: "This whole AI play, this technology play, this platforms play, the operational efficiency play, the claims interaction, the direct connectivity - this all effectively impacts what is 94% of our book."
This is not a niche case. A National Insurance Brokers Association report released late last year found that 83% of respondents expect technology and automation to have a significant impact on broking by 2035, but only 61% feel prepared for it. The gap between expectation and readiness is stark.
The work at risk sits squarely in AI's strike zone: submission handling, product comparison, file summaries and claims updates. These tasks are built around repetition, standardisation and high volume. Larger brokers have obvious upside - lower servicing friction, faster response times and better use of skilled people.
Advice and claims advocacy remain broker territory
The impact of AI will be uneven. If AI comes hardest for administration, that does not mean it is equally suited to the moments when clients most need a broker.
"The thing that's coming out is that the role of advice is always going to be there," Broughton said.
Evidence backs this view. Vero's 2026 SME Insurance Index found businesses were comfortable with AI helping with quote pre-fill, product comparison and round-the-clock policy queries. Support dropped sharply when AI was framed as making judgments on claims.
The research reinforced the importance of brokers keeping expertise and trusted relationships front and centre, particularly at claim time. The strongest broker value has never been in clerical work. It has always been in interpretation, choice, advocacy and reassurance when a client has a difficult claim, ambiguous wording or a real commercial loss unfolding.
In those moments, clients do not want automation alone. They want a person who understands the cover, can speak to the insurer and can take control.
The real divide is forming now
The hardest truth in this shift may be that AI's impact is about to accelerate, but unevenly. The administrative core looks exposed. Advice and claims advocacy look safer.
Brokers who use AI agents and automation to strip out friction and refocus on higher-value functions may end up stronger, not weaker. Those who were never doing much more than processing will face ruthless exposure.
The divide opening in broking now is not between brokers and AI. It is between brokers who adapt and those who do not.
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