How Agents Can Help Small Businesses Navigate AI-Related Risks

• By: Olivia Overman
• November 2, 2026

A business owners policy (BOP) is the most commonly purchased policy by small business owners, with bundled coverage that includes general liability, commercial property and business interruption insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I). As small business risks evolve with the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools, increasing digitalization and growing cyber threats, agents play a key role in ensuring the BOP coverage they offer clients keeps pace with emerging exposures.

“One of the most significant shifts we’re seeing is that AI is rapidly becoming part of everyday operations for small businesses,” says Chris Jones, head of small business, The Hartford. “Whether it’s customer service, marketing, accounting, scheduling, inventory management or content creation, small businesses are adopting AI to improve efficiency and compete more effectively.”

“As those tools become more integrated into how a business operates, it’s important that insurance coverage evolves alongside the business,” he says.

As trusted advisors, agents can help clients navigate these changes by understanding how far clients are integrating AI and digital tools into their operations.

“One of the key questions is whether AI is creating entirely new exposures for small business customers or simply accelerating existing ones,” says Tara Sites, vice president of small commercial product, Liberty Mutual. “Businesses didn’t suddenly take on a new set of risks when they moved to other automations before it, such as from manual calculations to spreadsheets or paper records to accounting software.”

“In many cases, AI is following a similar path—it’s changing how work gets done, but not necessarily the product or service being delivered,” Sites continues. “Conversations about how AI is being used, what decisions it influences and where human oversight remains can help uncover emerging exposures and ensure coverage continues to reflect how the business actually operates.”

A thorough understanding of a client’s risk profile enables agents to identify coverage gaps and determine whether a BOP keeps pace with evolving exposures.

“The role of the agent is increasingly moving beyond helping customers purchase a policy to helping them understand their overall risk profile,” Jones says. “They are uniquely positioned to help business owners understand how technology is changing their operations, review potential coverage gaps and build a protection strategy that evolves as their business grows.”

As businesses adopt newer technology such as AI, it can “create exposures involving data privacy, intellectual property, professional errors, misinformation and cybersecurity,” says Kim Harris, commercial manager, Risk Placement Services (RPS). “Many of these exposures were never contemplated by traditional BOP forms.”

As a result, carriers are beginning to revise policy language to address these emerging risks. “We are seeing carriers refine policy forms through exclusions and limitations, requiring agents to pay closer attention to coverage details,” Harris says.

That makes it increasingly important for independent agents to help policyholders understand where coverage limitations may exist in any given policy. Agents should evaluate whether “enhanced limit options are available to meet the client’s needs through an additional endorsement onto the BOP, or if they need to purchase a specific policy to cover the exposure,” Harris says.

“As AI adoption accelerates, agents must proactively identify these risks and recommend cyber liability, technology errors & omissions or professional liability when appropriate,” she adds.

Olivia Overman is IA content editor.