TLDR: A new report from the Capgemini Research Institute reveals that insurers are increasingly exploring and implementing agentic AI, with the technology projected to generate up to US$450 billion in economic value by 2028. While a significant portion of insurance organizations are piloting or partially implementing AI agents, full trust and widespread scaling remain low due to concerns over accountability, explainability, and ethical use. The industry is prioritizing human-AI collaboration to enhance efficiency and employee satisfaction.
The insurance sector is on the cusp of a significant technological transformation as agentic artificial intelligence (AI) begins to reshape operations, according to a recent report from the Capgemini Research Institute. Titled ‘Rise of Agentic AI: How trust is the key to human-AI collaboration,’ the report highlights that this advanced form of AI could generate up to US$450 billion in economic value by 2028, prompting insurers to keenly eye its potential.
Currently, 20% of insurance organizations are piloting initial use cases of AI agents, with 12% having already implemented the technology partially or at scale. Despite this growing adoption, a notable gap exists in trust and full-scale deployment. Only 4% of insurance organizations fully trust AI agents, and a mere 2% have fully scaled their AI agent deployments. However, the competitive imperative is clear, with 93% of business leaders surveyed believing that scaling AI agent deployments within the next year would provide a significant competitive advantage.
The applications for agentic AI in insurance are broad, promising improvements across underwriting, claims processing, and customer service. Beyond these core functions, the technology is also being integrated into sales productivity, hyperpersonalization, and back-office operations like finance, actuarial, and IT. The report suggests that human-AI collaboration models, rather than full automation, are being prioritized. This collaborative approach is anticipated to lead to a 65% increase in time spent on higher-value tasks and a 49% rise in employee satisfaction among insurance professionals.
However, the path to widespread adoption is not without its hurdles. Trust in fully autonomous AI agents has seen a sharp decline over the past year, dropping from 43% to 27%. In highly regulated industries such as insurance, concerns about accountability, decision explainability, and ethical use are contributing to this hesitation. Only 40% of organizations surveyed expressed trust in AI agents to manage tasks independently. Furthermore, the emergence of agentic AI introduces new risk considerations, both operational and insurable, prompting some insurers to develop covers for algorithmic risk, cyber exposure, and third-party liability linked to AI-driven processes.
Industry experts, including those from McKinsey and KPMG, echo the sentiment that AI is a strategic imperative for insurers. McKinsey notes that agentic AI is revolutionizing the application of AI, enabling systems to apply judgment and interact conversationally. KPMG’s insights reveal that while many insurance executives recognize AI’s competitive advantages, they often lack the necessary tools or metrics to effectively measure immediate returns on investment. A significant challenge also lies in addressing the skills gap within the workforce, which can hinder seamless AI integration.
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As the insurance industry navigates this crucial crossroads, balancing the promise of innovation with the complexities of trust, risk, and workforce readiness will be key to unlocking the full potential of agentic AI.
