How AI Can Address Independent Insurance Agency Pain Points

• October 29, 2025

By Nga Phan

It’s no secret that insurance agents today face many hurdles affecting agency growth and customer retention rates. Some businesses struggle to identify quality leads, while others are overwhelmed with processing too many. At larger agencies, agents often lack the time to keep up with quoting demands, resulting in delayed follow-ups, lost opportunities and frustrated customers. 

IT limitations further complicate this reality. With limited technological abilities and budgets, agencies cannot innovate or effectively optimize processes. This slows down productivity for everyone.

As many insurance agencies struggle to meet customer demands in a digital-first world, adopting artificial intelligence (AI) solutions can make insurance distribution smarter and more efficient, ultimately improving the agency’s bottom line.

Many insurance agencies rely on outdated or fragmented technology. And although the vast majority of agencies have implemented digital tools like customer relationship management systems (CRMs) and agency management systems (AMS), these tools are often not well-integrated and agents are still required to manually enter data across multiple systems and carrier portals.

Without a unified system to streamline the quoting and binding process, workflows are disjointed, and it’s harder for agents to track the customer journey from start to finish. On a larger scale, this leads to major inefficiencies and lost sales opportunities.

Now more than ever, insurance agencies must modernize their systems to meet customers’ preferences for streamlined digital interactions. To achieve this effectively, agencies should utilize a unified, all-in-one platform that integrates core functions and embeds AI capabilities across every stage of the customer journey.

AI-based tools can solve many of the challenges confronting today’s insurance agents, helping agencies work smarter, serve clients faster and grow more efficiently. By automating time-consuming tasks and providing real-time insights, AI allows agencies to focus on what matters most: advising clients and building stronger relationships.

Here are four ways AI can address agency pain points: 

1) Adopt AI solutions built into technology platforms. These systems are designed to handle the industry’s unique workflows and data requirements, allowing agencies to see value faster without the costly and time-consuming process of customizing generic tools or training vendors unfamiliar with insurance.

2) Improves lead management and engagement. AI can transform how agencies manage their pipeline by automatically scoring, prioritizing and qualifying leads based on their likelihood to convert to a sale. This enables agents to focus on high-value prospects while nurturing others through AI-powered outbound campaigns.

These campaigns can raise awareness, encourage application completion and re-engage customers who drop off at various stages of the funnel—maximizing conversion opportunities while minimizing effort.

3) Streamlines data collection and quoting. Instead of agents manually gathering client details for quotes, endorsements or payments, AI-driven data intake tools can instantly collect, validate and prefill the necessary information. From there, AI can generate quick, accurate and bindable quotes across multiple carriers—reducing processing times from hours to minutes and eliminating repetitive administrative work.

4) Proactively supports renewals and coverage optimization. AI can analyze existing policies and market data to identify when re-quoting a customer’s policy might result in better pricing or improved coverage options. By proactively suggesting renewal opportunities and uncovering potential coverage gaps, AI helps agents deliver a more personalized, advisory experience—strengthening client loyalty and trust.

Agencies stand to benefit from collaborating with InsurTech companies that offer digital tools to streamline distribution, improve operational efficiency and enhance customer experiences. This can be especially beneficial for insurance agencies operating in markets like Texas and California, where carrier access can be limited.

Nga Phan is head of product at bolt.