Adoption Filings Present a Key Challenge for Insurance Companies

Adoption filings often involve changes to rates, coverages, or both—making accurate management critical. “They also touch many stakeholders at an insurance company,” Perr explained. “These include the regulatory team that needs to know what filings to prepare, the marketing group that needs to communicate with policyholders, the claims department that needs to track coverage changes, and the IT department that must program new rates.” Because each department depends on timely and accurate information, sequencing becomes essential. Missteps in coordination can lead to delayed implementations, potential fines, and reputational risk for insurers.

How Perr&Knight Supports AAIS Members in Managing Adoption Filings

Perr&Knight helps insurers manage adoption filings efficiently through a blend of consulting expertise and proprietary technology. “Our software provides customizable workflows tailored to each company’s business needs and bureau affiliations,” Perr said. Their platform manages the sequencing of regulatory actions, submissions, and notifications—ensuring all stakeholders receive the information they need, when they need it. All activities are documented and archived for easy retrieval and accountability. Built-in automation further enhances speed and precision, and Perr&Knight continues to invest in ongoing improvements to their software.

The Advantages of an Automated Approach

Many insurance companies rely on small compliance teams—sometimes just one person—to manage their bureau adoption process. Perr noted that this can create a single-point dependency risk: if a key team member leaves or is out for an extended period, their institutional knowledge can disappear with them. Perr&Knight’s automated solution eliminates that risk by driving workflows, tasks, and communications through a proven, structured framework. “Our software ensures the process doesn’t rely on one person,” Perr said. “It’s built on years of best practices to deliver consistency and reliability every time.”

About Perr&Knight

Perr&Knight’s consultants and proprietary software work hand in hand with clients and their internal teams. Solutions are tailored to each organization’s specific needs—whether they choose to license the software, engage consultants, or use a combination of both. “In every case, our focus is on delivering services with speed, precision, and value,” Perr shared.

Learn more at perrknight.com.

To view the full interview with Tim Perr, click on the video above.

The post Efficient Adoption Filings and Bureau Monitoring for Insurers first appeared on AAIS.

If you’ve been in the industry long enough, the current AI conversation may feel reminiscent of the Agile revolution that swept through IT departments in the early 2000s. Back then, Agile was the hot topic. Today, AI has taken its place. But the parallels are more than superficial. The missteps many insurers made in their Agile transformations offer cautionary lessons—and opportunities—for how we approach AI implementation now.

Agile: A Cautionary Tale of Incomplete Transformation

Agile methodology was born around the turn of the century out of a desire to overhaul the pre-existing Waterfall methodology known for rigid, documentation-heavy development processes. It promised more alignment with the customer, faster delivery, higher quality, continuous feedback, and more customer-centric outcomes. The Agile Manifesto, published in 2001, was a rallying cry for a better way to develop software—one rooted in iteration, collaboration, and adaptability.

Fast-forward to today: ask any insurer if they’ve adopted Agile, and most will say yes. But peel back the label, and the reality is more nuanced. What many organizations call Agile is, in practice, Hybrid Agile—an undefined blend of Agile and traditional Waterfall practices.

Why Did This Happen?

Because most companies didn’t fully commit. They adopted Agile ceremonies—standups, sprints, backlogs—without embracing the cultural and operational changes required to make Agile truly work. Agile wasn’t just a process shift; it demanded new ways of thinking about leadership, accountability, team structure, and value delivery. But many insurance organizations never invested in the change management necessary to drive that deeper transformation.

The result? Agile became a buzzword. A checkbox. And many of the benefits it promised—greater speed, higher quality, better alignment with customer needs—were never fully realized. Project failures, delayed implementations, and disappointing outcomes became common, despite “Agile” being the official methodology.

Human Resistance to Change

To understand why Agile adoption fell short, we need to acknowledge a simple truth: change is hard. Humans are wired for comfort and predictability. Even when change is necessary—or desirable—it can be deeply uncomfortable. As anyone who’s ever tried (and failed) to stick with a new diet or exercise routine knows, sustaining change is exponentially more difficult than starting it.

Now multiply that resistance across an enterprise. You’re not just asking individuals to change; you’re asking teams, departments, and entire business units to work differently. And if only some adopt the new approach while others resist, the result is friction and dysfunction.

This is why true transformation requires more than just new tools or processes—it requires a deliberate, strategic approach to people and culture. In other words: change management.

Change Management: The Missing Link

Change management isn’t about IT, or even methodology. It’s about people. It’s about psychology, motivation, leadership, and learning. It’s a discipline in its own right—just like finance, operations, or claims.

Agile transformations that succeeded had one thing in common: they were supported by formal change management strategies, often led by dedicated teams that reported directly to the C-suite. These teams didn’t just roll out new software practices; they enabled deep organizational change. They aligned HR, finance, operations, and leadership to a shared vision. They provided training, coaching, communication, and cultural reinforcement. In short, they treated transformation as a human endeavor.

AI: A New Era, Same Story?

Today, we’re on the brink of another transformation—this time driven by AI. And once again, the signs are familiar. AI is everywhere in the headlines. Executives are eager to say their company is “doing AI.” Vendors are marketing AI-powered solutions for every pain point. But in many cases, the implementation is superficial. AI, like Agile, is not a plug-and-play solution. It’s a capability that must be aligned with real business problems. It requires not just technical infrastructure, but organizational readiness. It requires oversight, governance, ethical considerations, and cultural adaptation. And, most critically, it requires humans—skilled, empowered, and change-ready humans. Without that, AI risks becoming yet another buzzword. Another checkbox. Another opportunity squandered.

Learning from the Past to Succeed in the Future

If the insurance industry is to harness the full power of AI, we must treat its implementation not as a technical rollout, but as a business transformation. We must invest in the people side of change—just as we should have with Agile.

That means:

• Appointing change leaders who report into the C-suite and have the authority to drive cross-functional alignment.
• Training managers and teams not just on AI tools, but on new ways of working, decision-making, and collaboration.
• Defining success criteria that go beyond technical deployment to include adoption, impact, and cultural fit.
• Creating space for learning and iteration, understanding that transformation is a journey, not a sprint.

At INFORCE, we’ve seen firsthand how critical the human element is to technology implementation success. Effective systems integration implementations require more than IT know-how; they need seasoned leadership, effective change management, and client-centric people. That’s why we created our INFORCE Academy: to train our team on systems integration and to develop the cultural, technical, and behavioral skills needed for transformation. We specialize in building high-performance teams that can lead and sustain change, from Agile to AI and beyond.

Final Thoughts

As we enter the AI era, the stakes are high. This technology has the potential to redefine how we serve customers, manage risk, and create value. But it won’t succeed on its own.

To unlock its promise, we must lead with intention. Let’s learn from our past. Let’s prioritize people, process, and purpose. Let’s approach AI not just as a tool, but as a transformation. That’s how we’ll turn AI from a buzzword into a breakthrough.

The post Digital Transformation in Insurance: From Agile to AI first appeared on AAIS.

Why Insurance Still Relies on Paper and the Challenges It Creates

“I think one of the primary reasons insurance carriers have been so reliant on paper for so long is due to the industry being so deeply rooted in everything from regulatory requirements and compliance to legacy systems,” Eubank explained. Processes like claims handling, underwriting, and policy issuance involve multiple parties, signatures, and compliance checks—many of which have historically required physical documentation for legal or audit purposes.

In addition, customer preferences play a role. “A significant portion of the customer base—especially in commercial and life insurance—is older and still prefers or expects paper-based communication,” Eubank said. But the cost of staying on paper is high. Eubank highlighted several major challenges for carriers:

• Operational inefficiency: Manual processes are slow and prone to error.
• High costs: Storing, mailing, and managing paper adds up quickly.
• Data fragmentation: Paper documents are unstructured and hard to integrate into digital systems.
• Poor customer experience: Clients expect digital-first interactions, and paper often falls short.

Practical Steps Toward Paper-Free Workflows for Insurers

While a full transformation may seem daunting, insurers don’t need to overhaul everything at once. “Start with high-impact areas where paper slows down operations—like claims intake or third-party notifications,” Eubank advised. From there, build momentum by introducing simple digital solutions including:

• Replace paper forms with online applications.
• Adopt secure electronic signature tools like DocuSign.
• Use OCR (optical character recognition) to digitize incoming documents.
• Train staff and customers to support the transition away from paper.

How Carriers Can View Automation as an Ecosystem for Future-Proof Operations

To truly future-proof operations, Eubank encourages insurers to think of automation as a long-term ecosystem—not a one-time project. “Start by promoting cross-functional collaboration—get operations and business leaders working together to prioritize automation that serves shared goals,” he said.

He also recommends a modular approach, where carriers implement flexible, plug-and-play components—like for claims triage or fraud detection—without disrupting their core systems. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning can also help automate decision-making in areas like risk scoring, customer service, and document classification—particularly when integrated into modern systems. “Lastly, it’s about leveraging APIs and web services within a cloud environment,” Eubank said. “That kind of architecture ensures any future tools can integrate easily and support a land-and-expand strategy.”

Visit LenderDock.com to explore how insurers can streamline workflows and reduce paper dependency with digital verification and automation solutions.

The post Modernizing Automation in Insurance Toward a Paper-Free Future first appeared on AAIS.

The answer lies not in the existence of digital tools, but in how intelligently and efficiently they’re being used. Today, the conversation is no longer about simply digitizing manual processes—it’s about empowering insurers to innovate faster, smarter, and more affordably. This is where low-code/no-code (LCNC) platforms and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming the real game changers.

Rethinking Digital Transformation: Beyond Just “Going Digital”

Digital transformation has often been loosely defined—ranging from replacing paper processes with software to overhauling core legacy systems. At its heart, it has always been about operational efficiency—streamlining workflows, cutting costs, and keeping pace with a rapidly evolving market.

However, many so-called “transformative” efforts have been largely incremental. Migrating from spreadsheets to web-based forms or deploying an off-the-shelf policy admin system isn’t transformation—it’s digitization.

What’s missing from many of these initiatives is agility—the ability to quickly roll out new products, adapt to regulatory changes, or respond to evolving customer behavior. That’s where LCNC platforms enter the picture.

Digital Evolution with Low-Code/No-Code

Low-code and no-code technologies mark the industry’s shift from digital transformation to digital evolution—where speed, flexibility, and configurability take center stage.

Unlike traditional software development, LCNC platforms enable business users, product teams, and IT to rapidly design, deploy, and modify applications with minimal coding effort. This evolution has redefined how insurers bring products to the market in many ways:

• New insurance products configured in weeks, not months
• Product launches driven by business teams instead of IT avoiding resource conflicts and backlogs
• Workflow automation and rule changes without full-scale deployments

In recent years, insurers have adopted LCNC platforms to build reinsurance admin systems, launch supplemental health plans, and even create agent compliance modules—all with a fraction of the time and cost of traditional development.

It’s no longer about replacing old systems; it’s about evolving them intelligently with scalable, modular components built for continuous innovation.

The Rise of AI: From Digital Evolution to Digital Intelligence

As insurers evolve their infrastructure with LCNC tools, the next logical leap is toward digital intelligence—powered by AI and real-time data.

AI is no longer just about chatbots or predictive models. It’s about creating systems that adapt, learn, and evolve on their own. In the insurance context, this means:

• Self-adjusting rating models based on real-time behavioral data
• Dynamic underwriting that adapts with every new data point
• Claims triage and fraud detection fueled by machine learning (ML)

While usage-based insurance (UBI) scratched the surface of this concept, it failed to make systems truly intelligent. The models were still static. True digital intelligence requires constant data loops, where AI doesn’t just observe behavior but learns from it and adjusts system logic in real time.

Imagine a platform that automatically recalibrates premiums, deductibles, or policy terms based on live behavioral insights—without human intervention. That’s the future AI enables.

The Fusion of LCNC and AI: A New Operating Model for Insurance

The real innovation happens when LCNC and AI converge. Together, they form a powerful combination:

• Low-code platforms offer speed, modularity, and democratization of development
• AI algorithms bring automation, personalization, and real-time decision-making

This fusion allows insurers to:

• Build AI-powered rating engines without writing complex code
• Train and deploy ML models inside workflow apps configured by business users
• Continuously optimize customer journeys, pricing, and claims processes—without costly development cycles

This isn’t theoretical. Leading insurers today are already deploying AI-infused, LCNC-driven systems to streamline product launches, manage agent compliance, and deliver personalized policyholder experiences on a scale.

Conclusion: Stop Talking About Transformation—Start Driving Intelligence

The term digital transformation has served its purpose. But it’s time to shift focus. Insurers must now embrace a new blueprint—one that starts with LCNC evolution and matures into digital intelligence through AI.

While the transformation journey may have begun years ago, its real momentum is just beginning. With LCNC and AI, the insurance industry is finally equipped to move beyond catch-up mode and into a future of continuous innovation, real-time agility, and intelligent automation.

The finish line isn’t just digitization. It’s self-optimizing, intelligent systems that learn, adapt, and grow with your business.

To learn more about InsurIQ’s transformative technology solutions specializing in policy administration, agent compliance management, and digital insurance sales and enrollment, visit insuriq.com.

The post How Low-Code/No-Code and AI Are Digitally Transforming Insurance first appeared on AAIS.

Today, change in insurance is not only necessary but inevitable. As customer expectations grow and technology advances, insurers must rethink how they handle policy verification, lienholder updates, and compliance notification processes. Automating policy information in real time can reduce administrative burdens and enhance efficiency across the industry.

The Industry Challenge — Inefficiencies in Lienholder Communications

The Burden on Insurers

For decades, insurance carriers have been overwhelmed with thousands of daily policy verification requests. Banks, credit unions, and mortgage lenders continuously seek confirmation of policy details, creating a relentless administrative burden in the form of unnecessary phone calls, emails, faxes, and postal mail. Without automation, insurers must rely on human capital to manually handle these inquiries, leading to wasted time, excessive costs, and the potential for compliance risks. Conservative estimates claim that the insurance industry handles over 500 million phone calls annually. The sheer volume of requests diverts attention from more critical business functions, making it difficult for insurers to focus on their primary objective—providing high-quality service to policyholders.

The Cost of Existing Solutions

Many traditional industry solutions, such as Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, outsourced call centers, and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) data sharing, require significant resources to maintain. Despite their widespread use, these approaches still contribute to operational inefficiencies. One of the largest burdens that both the insurance and banking communities face is managing millions of daily tasks, processes, and deliverables via paper documents and spreadsheets. The costs associated with printing, postage, and processing physical paper disrupt the ability to adopt more cost-effective, agile, and scalable digital solutions. Insurers relying on legacy systems often find them inflexible, unable to support real-time updates, and ineffective at addressing the growing demand for seamless communication between financial institutions and insurance providers. Without an efficient digital solution, insurers remain stuck in a cycle of administrative burden, missed opportunities for growth, and declining customer satisfaction.

The Roadblocks to Digital Transformation

Breaking into a modernized approach to lienholder communications comes with challenges. The sector operates on deeply entrenched legacy systems, and insurers have historically been hesitant to deviate from familiar technologies. Concerns about workflow disruptions, outdated IT infrastructures, and the complexity of integrating new solutions have made digital transformation a slow and cautious process. Additionally, regulatory and compliance considerations add another layer of complexity, making insurers wary of adopting new technologies without proven security and efficiency measures. But, these challenges, while significant, should not deter insurers from embracing automation – especially when the right solutions can seamlessly integrate with existing workflows.

A Digital Solution for Lienholder Process Automation

As the demand for efficiency and automation increases, insurers must rethink how they handle policy verification, lienholder updates, and compliance notifications. Implementing a fully digital, real-time system can significantly reduce administrative burdens, improve response times, and enhance operational efficiency across the industry.

LenderDock addresses this issue by providing a SaaS platform that automates lienholder communication and the exchange of policy data. By eliminating manual processes, LenderDock streamlines policy verification and ensures real-time updates for financial institutions. Their key features include:

• VERiFi™ – Allows banks, lenders, and financial third parties to self-serve online policy verification requests in real-time, eliminating the need for phone calls, emails, and faxes.
• LIENSure™ – Provides digital updates and correction requests for mortgagee clauses and loss-payee information, ensuring process efficiency and data integrity.
• LENDERDocs™ – Enables mortgagees and lenders to access policy documentation instantly, including proof of insurance and paid receipts, fast-tracking information sharing.

The shift toward automated lienholder communications isn’t just an operational upgrade—it’s a strategic necessity. By reducing administrative overhead, insurers can lower costs, ensure compliance, and reallocate valuable resources to higher-value initiatives that drive growth and innovation.

As technology continues to advance, solutions like LenderDock will play a critical role in shaping the future of insurance operations. The industry is at a turning point—those who embrace digital transformation will lead the way, while those who resist may struggle to keep up.

Learn more at LenderDock.com.

The post Automating Lienholder Communications to Boost Efficiency first appeared on AAIS.

Practical First Steps for Integrating AI Without Disrupting Operations

“AI is definitely frontier-level stuff that’s changing rapidly, so it’s natural to be cautious about its adoption,” Villa explained. A practical first step is to focus on data hygiene, ensuring that AI has access to accurate and structured data. He recommends insurers take key steps, including:

• Establishing clear data standards for formatting, naming conventions, and storage.
• Enhancing data security and privacy by anonymizing or adapting personal data for AI model training.
• Extracting, integrating, and consolidating data from various systems.

“Having limited data sets that are thoroughly cleaned and vetted will create a strong data foundation and position AI initiatives for success,” Villa added.

Using AI to Enhance Teams, Improve Decision-Making, and Drive Efficiency

Most insurers start their AI journey with chatbots or automated document processing to improve data access and decision-making. AI streamlines manual tasks, such as summarizing home inspection reports, which typically take underwriters about 30 minutes to review. AI can ingest data, redact personally identifiable information (PII), and generate a summary in seconds, making it immediately actionable. “This level of AI precision reduces cycle time, but does not replace the underwriter,” said Villa. “Instead, it’s a collaborative process that combines human expertise with machine learning a ‘human-in-the-loop’ approach.”

Overcoming Key Challenges in the AI Journey to Deliver Measurable Value

“I think the biggest challenge we face is thinking differently about the work we’ve been doing for the past 20 years,” said Villa. “Using ChatGPT to help enhance the quality of and reduce the time it takes to put things in writing or researching topics feels natural. Who wouldn’t want to spend less time writing emails or researching topics?” However, the challenge arises when AI begins to automate tasks professionals feel they have mastered. “What if I’m a senior underwriter and I am an expert at inspection report reviews?” Villa posed. “I may not be as open to using AI, even if it gives me back time in my day. Helping our team understand that AI isn’t going to replace the work we do, but rather augment it, will be key to successful adoption.”

How OneShield Helps AAIS Members Navigate the Evolving AI Landscape

OneShield is at the forefront of AI-driven transformation, offering two modern core systems: OMS and Enterprise. “Both solutions can be delivered as enterprise suites to automate policy, billing, claims, workflow, and reporting, or they can be implemented as a modular solution to address any one particular aspect of the insurance value chain,” Villa explained. For AAIS Members, OneShield’s expertise in AAIS lines of business makes adoption even smoother. “Across our two products, we can support all AAIS lines. We have particularly strong experience with unique AAIS lines such as COP and Artisans,” Villa noted. “Leveraging this experience to deliver pre-built AAIS content within our core solutions can accelerate core transformation projects at a significantly reduced cost to the insurer.”

Learn more at OneShield.com.

To view the full interview with Tony Villa, click on the video above.

The post AI in Insurance: Streamlining Underwriting Without Disruption first appeared on AAIS.