AI can upskill the insurance workforce

The insurance industry is experiencing an acute talent shortage, with a record number of job openings in claims, technology and underwriting.

Greater demand for insurance products in response to pandemic- and weather-related disasters has spurred rapid industry expansion, bolstered by digital-first technologies that increase distribution, speed and personalization. ​​Yet, with nearly half the insurance industry aging out of the workforce, recruitment has failed to keep pace. This makes the industry particularly vulnerable to increased costs and labor shortages.

These labor shortages put workers at significant risk of burnout. A recent ActivTrak Productivity Lab benchmarking study of digital workplace behaviors revealed that roughly 30% of insurance industry employees are overutilized, meaning that an employee's productive hours a day are at least 31% higher than their productive hours per day goal.

Supporting and upskilling the workforce with artificial intelligence is one way to address the problem. Another survey found that 78% of underwriting teams say better technology prevents employee attrition and could keep people on the job longer, with nearly 90% certain that better technology helps attract younger talent.

AI can close the gap

AI can be used to support claims processing, customer service, research, risk assessment and fraud detection. Specifically, AI tools can automate repetitive tasks, help agents make faster and more accurate decisions, and free employees to focus on higher-priority items — such as improving the policyholder experience and increasing customer loyalty.

Boston Consulting Group estimates that GenAI tools can more than double agent productivity in customer service, empowering them to query specific policy and coverage conditions to get answers in seconds. These tools also help prevent insurance fraud and speed up legitimate claim processing by analyzing claim details for red flags or anomalies — such as multiple claims for similar accidents or inconsistent information.

AI systems can also analyze claims data to identify patterns and trends that improve consumer loss exposure and support timely, proactive interventions. But before implementing AI, it’s important to get a baseline of how teams work to see where AI tools can add the most value.

Workforce intelligence

Workforce analytics technology can help insurance teams understand current technology usage, where heavy workloads or low efficiency exist, and where AI could potentially streamline processes to prevent overwork and burnout. Workforce analytics can also be used to understand the impact of AI tools on productivity and business outcomes.

For example, customer satisfaction is a top performance metric for many insurance teams. Customer satisfaction score ratings, combined with other business performance data — such as claim volume —  can be married with workforce productivity insights to help leaders track whether ChatGPT use boosted productivity, and how it impacted customer satisfaction, claim volume and other business outcomes. This type of data can also help leaders validate where AI tools should be implemented more broadly across the organization.

AI best practices

AI holds much promise for boosting productivity and customer experiences in the insurance industry, but when rolling out any AI tool, it’s important to follow best practices.

• Assess the current state of work. Take a baseline assessment of team productivity to understand workloads and how technology is currently used to support or hinder workflows.
• Maintain the human in the loop. Design business processes to have AI augment human performance and train team members to understand when, where and how AI tools can improve their productivity. A human should always review, edit and approve anything generated by AI that may be shared with a customer.
• Protect sensitive data. Make sure employees understand they should not enter sensitive information into any AI platform. Proprietary information, customer data or other personal identifiable information (PII) should always be avoided.
• Highlight successes. If a team member creatively incorporates AI tools into their workflow with positive results, encourage them to share their success with team leaders.

As employees adopt AI tools, some teams may get more done with fewer people. This creates opportunities to increase output, reassign staff to other activities or explore new business models. Similarly, there will likely be some missteps along the way. Address those early to avoid any significant pitfalls, and incorporate the learnings into the development of best practices.

By implementing AI tools effectively, the insurance industry stands to enhance employee experience, improve the products and services they deliver, and increase the satisfaction and loyalty of customers.
Javier Aldrete is senior vice president of product, ActivTrak. Contact him at [email protected].

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