ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Health insurance brokers have been using artificial intelligence for decades without recognizing it, and those who systematically teach AI their business will thrive as the manual broker model fades, an early AI developer told the NABIP Annual Convention on Saturday.
Andre Forde, founder of the AI company Dula and a partner with Aflac, pointed to invisible AI that has long been part of daily life: postal machines reading handwritten ZIP codes since the 1960s, bank scanners processing checks, and email filters separating spam. "None of it looked like a robot. That's the point," he said.
"AI won't kill the insurance broker, but it will kill the manual broker model," Forde told the audience.
AI already embedded in broker workflows
Brokers have used AI in their rating engines, claims systems, and underwriting platforms for years. Forde described what the smartest brokers are doing to incorporate AI in their practices. They let AI read their entire book of business first thing in the morning. By 7 a.m., the tool has scanned all accounts and ranked priorities with dollar amounts attached - a task that once consumed 90 minutes daily now takes zero.
A weekend assignment that changes everything
Forde challenged brokers to set up a custom GPT on ChatGPT with their agency name, contact information, and writing style. He told them to prompt the tool with their tone, top 10 client scenarios, and three real client emails they had already sent. "From that point forward, you'll never stare at a blank email screen again," he said. "You've trained AI to be an army of employees you control and command."
Brokers are also turning their phones into a back office. They use AI for voice notes after meetings, briefings during the commute, and text commands from the parking lot. Forde said pasting a top-20 account list into an AI tool reveals coverage gaps that turn into immediate sales opportunities. Sending voice notes from the week's first meeting into a CRM can knock out more administrative work in 45 minutes than most brokers handle in a full day.
Why this matters for insurance brokers
"The brokers who thrive in the next five years are the ones who taught AI their business," Forde said. "Data trumps everything and AI has the data. We are truly going into an incredible transformation."
For insurance professionals, the dividing line is training. Manually processing renewals, drafting client emails, and hunting for coverage gaps steals hours that a custom GPT can handle in moments once it has learned a broker's client data, voice, and workflows. The brokers who treat AI as a commandable back office free themselves to focus on strategy and revenue - while those who ignore it risk watching the manual model disappear.
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