Insurance Agents Are Using AI Faster Than Their Firms Can Govern It - Risk & Insurance

The insurance industry is pouring money into artificial intelligence, with AI software spending forecast to reach $297 billion by 2027. Yet a Cake & Arrow experience-design report finds the investment largely bypasses the agents who need it most. Only 8% of independent agents use AI daily, based on Liberty Mutual data cited in the study. Interviews with 16 agents and brokers across 13 states show governance gaps, inconsistent deployment, and limited realized value. Most agents sit between ungoverned and informal on a maturity spectrum, learning from peers and often lacking formal guidelines. When tools are accessible without clear policy, agents turn to unsanctioned options, raising compliance and security risks. Gartner research is cited showing 88% of employees with enterprise AI access also use personal AI tools for work, a pattern confirmed by the interviews. Participants described using personal ChatGPT accounts and consumer apps with little visibility to employers, not out of recklessness but guidance gaps. Even among active users, adoption remains shallow, with many performing only routine tasks rather than deeper workflow integration. Experts say broader, governance-aligned adoption could unlock substantial gains.