Almost two decades ago, the smartphone revolution saw the end of flip-phones, and technology such as touchscreens, an online app store, and 4K cameras evolved from revolutionary innovations to baseline expectations for any successful device. The 2025 insurance landscape is trending in the same way, with agentic AI, cloud partnerships, and advanced data analytics shifting the sector for good.
To unpack the trends reimagining the space, FinTech Global’s Harry Slade sat down with Megan Pilcher, IntellectAI’s SVP Insurance Go-to-Market, and Sandeep Haridas, the firm’s EVP Insurance Business Head.
Over the past year, conversations that once revolved around small AI experiments in billing and customer service have shifted to large-scale operational transformation.
“At the start of the year, agentic AI wasn’t even a question in most insurance conversations,” said Haridas. Insurers are exploring the potential of AI to streamline complex workflows, from automating claims to enhancing underwriting decisions, while maintaining critical human oversight.
This balance between automation and human judgment has emerged as a defining trend in 2025.
Pilcher observed, “You can see that sense of relief when I say, ‘Don’t worry. We have a full-fledged human in the loop operation of experts that verifies the data before it is sent downstream.'” Customers expect efficiency, but they also demand reliability, context, and accountability.
Contrary to the beliefs that may have been entering the minds of technology moguls over the last 2 years, human-in-the-loop AI is certainly not viewed as an indicator of a poor model. Much more, it’s a marker of platform maturity and trustworthiness.
Cloud partnerships are another critical driver of change. Generative AI models cannot operate in isolation, and insurers are leaning on scalable, flexible infrastructure from providers such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud.
Haridas explained, “These models won’t run or cannot function without the infrastructure provided by cloud providers.” This democratisation of cloud and AI resources is stabilizing costs, enabling rapid experimentation, and allowing insurers to focus on solving real-world problems rather than building models from scratch.
Underwriting workbenches are another piece of technology emerging as the operational heart of the modern insurer.
Pilcher described their significance, commenting, “The underwriting workbench is the system that the underwriter works in. It connects to everything they need to do their job.”
By centralising data, automating repetitive tasks, and integrating AI with human expertise, workbenches allow underwriters to focus on judgment-intensive tasks rather than tedious manual processing.
The impact of these trends is broad and immediate. Legacy infrastructure, fragmented processes, and regulatory complexity have historically slowed insurers’ adoption of technology, leaving consumers frustrated.
Today, AI-driven workbenches, cloud partnerships, and human-in-the-loop processes are enabling insurers to meet rising expectations for speed, clarity, and reliability.
Other topics discussed in the interview include:
-
Operational challenges of generative AI, including model drift and hallucinations
-
Strategic positioning and evolving roles of AI providers in the insurance value chain
-
Data partnerships and their importance in underwriting efficiency
-
How incumbents and challengers are navigating AI and cloud-driven disruption
Copyright © 2025 FinTech Global
