A recent FinTech Global article highlights three insurtech shifts that are remaking insurer workflows this year: agentic AI, human-verified automation, and cloud scale.
The insurance sector in 2025 is moving through a technology transition that echoes past consumer tech changes. Almost two decades ago, smartphones replaced flip phones and turned features like touchscreens and app stores into standard expectations. In a similar way, insurance now faces innovations that are quickly becoming baseline requirements. The FinTech Global report draws on an interview with Megan Pilcher, SVP Insurance Go-to-Market at IntellectAI, and Sandeep Haridas, EVP Insurance Business Head at IntellectAI, to explain the trends that are reimagining insurer operations.
Over the last year, insurer priorities have shifted. Conversations that once centered on limited AI experiments in billing and customer service now focus on large-scale operational transformation. Instead of testing AI in isolated areas, insurers are applying it to core workflows.
Agentic AI Moves Into Complex Insurance Workflows
A primary development in 2025 is the rise of agentic AI in insurance conversations. Haridas stated that at the start of the year, agentic AI was not a major topic in most insurer discussions. That has changed as insurers explore how AI can streamline complex workflows. These uses include automating claims processes and supporting underwriting decisions.
At the same time, insurers continue to emphasize oversight. Haridas explained that maintaining critical human involvement alongside automation has become a defining feature of 2025 adoption. Insurers are not removing people from operations. Instead, they are combining automation with human judgment in areas where reliability and accountability matter.
Human-in-the-Loop AI Becomes a Marker of Trust
Pilcher highlighted how human-in-the-loop systems are shaping confidence in AI. She said that when she emphasizes that experts verify AI outputs before information moves downstream, stakeholders respond with relief. Customers want efficiency, but they also demand reliability, context, and accountability. Human verification provides that stability.
The FinTech Global interview also noted that human-in-the-loop design is not seen as evidence of a weak model. Instead, it is treated as a sign of platform maturity and trustworthiness. In 2025, insurers view this structure as a practical way to ensure AI supports workflows without replacing decision-making expertise.
Cloud Partnerships Provide the Foundation for AI at Scale
Cloud infrastructure is another essential trend. The interview stressed that generative AI models cannot operate in isolation. Insurers therefore rely on scalable, flexible infrastructure from cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud.
Haridas said these models cannot function without cloud provider infrastructure. The article explains that this broad access to cloud and AI resources stabilizes costs, enables rapid experimentation, and allows insurers to focus on solving real-world problems rather than building models from scratch.
Underwriting Workbenches Take Center Stage
Underwriting workbenches are also emerging as core operational technology. Pilcher described the underwriting workbench as the system where underwriters work day to day and said it connects to everything they need to do their job.
These platforms centralize data, automate repetitive tasks, and integrate AI with human expertise. This structure enables underwriters to focus more on judgment-intensive work instead of manual processing. The FinTech Global piece positions the underwriting workbench as the operational heart of the modern insurer.
A Shift Toward Faster, Clearer, More Reliable Insurance Services
The article links these trends to long-standing insurer challenges. Legacy systems, fragmented processes, and regulatory complexity historically slowed insurer technology adoption and left consumers frustrated.
In contrast, AI-driven workbenches, cloud partnerships, and human-in-the-loop processes now help insurers meet rising expectations for speed, clarity, and reliability. The trends described in the interview show insurers applying technology directly to core business functions with structured oversight.
Overall, FinTech Global reports that the insurance industry in 2025 is moving from small AI experiments to broad operational change. Agentic AI is entering complex workflows with human oversight. Human-in-the-loop AI is viewed as a trust-building sign of maturity. Cloud partnerships provide the infrastructure that makes AI possible at scale, and underwriting workbenches centralize insurer operations while combining automation with expert judgment. Together, these trends are enabling insurers to address past barriers and respond to higher customer expectations for service performance.
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