AI Agents for Insurance Brokers: AI Is Now a Reason Clients Switch

For years, insurance brokers have competed on relationships, market access and service. A new survey of their clients says a fourth factor has joined the list: whether the broker is using modern tools, including AI.

The Survey: 1,400 Employers Grade Their Brokers

In July, Zywave released its 2026 Broker Services Survey, an annual study of what U.S. employers expect from their insurance brokers. This year's edition drew on more than 1,400 employers, with a significant share of responses from C-suite executives.

One caveat up front: Zywave sells AI software to brokers, so it has a stake in the story. But the findings are about what clients say they want, and several of them cut against a simple "buy more AI" message.

AI Is Now a Named Reason Clients Leave

The top three reasons employers say they would switch brokers haven't changed: slow response times, inconsistent communication, and a broker who can't act as a strategic advisor.

What's new is the fourth tier. For the first time, "failure to leverage modern technology and AI-powered tools" appeared among the top eight factors that would lead an employer to consider changing brokers.

AI showed up in two other places for the first time, too:

• "Integrating AI effectively into benefits administration and HR operations" entered employers' top 10 benefits and HR challenges.
• AI joined geopolitical instability, supply chain disruption and climate events as a driver behind a new top 10 commercial insurance challenge: covering emerging risks.

Satisfaction still looks strong on paper. Zywave reports that 85% of clients are satisfied or very satisfied with their broker. But in a follow-up analysis, it notes that a third of clients only evaluate their broker after something goes wrong.

Clients Want More Advice, Not Less

This is the part that cuts against the idea that AI replaces the broker. The share of employers who say being a trusted advisor, rather than a salesperson, matters when choosing a broker climbed from 56% in 2023 to 71% in 2026. It's now the second most important selection criterion.

And the gaps between what clients want and what they get are wide:

• 94% call a multiyear strategic benefit plan important. Only 51% say their broker fully provides one.
• 89% rate guidance on healthcare cost management as very important. 69% say they get it in full.
• 96% say help developing their overall risk management strategy is important. Only 58% say their broker fully helps.

Meanwhile, the share of clients who want weekly contact with their broker fell from 41.9% in 2025 to 33.4% in 2026, as self-service portals absorb routine requests. Clients want fewer check-ins and better ones.

Brokers Are Interested but Early

On the broker side, adoption is still uneven. The Big "I" Agents Council for Technology's 2026 Tech Trends Report found that two-thirds of independent insurance agencies plan to increase their use of AI in the next 12 months: 38% very likely and 30% somewhat likely. Still, nearly a third said they weren't using AI at all.

Their reasons and worries are practical. Agencies named operational efficiency (60%) and staff productivity (52%) as top motivations, and data privacy or compliance risk (24%) and inaccurate outputs (22%) as top concerns.

Where AI Agents Can Help a Brokerage

Put the two surveys together and a clear target appears. Clients leave over slow responses and thin strategic advice. Brokers want efficiency but worry about accuracy and privacy. The best first jobs for AI agents are the ones that free up advisor time without making advice on their own:

• Faster first responses. Sorting incoming client emails, answering routine questions from approved materials, and routing anything complex to the right account manager.
• Renewal prep. Gathering the client's current coverage, claims history and prior notes into one package weeks before the renewal meeting, so the advisor walks in ready to talk strategy.
• Service requests. Handling repeat paperwork, like certificate requests and policy document lookups, with a person approving anything sent to a client or carrier.
• Proactive check-ins. Flagging accounts that haven't heard from their broker in a while, or clients with upcoming deadlines, so outreach happens before something goes wrong.
• Meeting follow-up. Turning notes into a clean summary and updating the agency management system, so nothing said in a meeting gets lost.

None of these replace the advisor. They give the advisor back the hours that the 94%-want-it, 51%-get-it strategic plan actually requires.

Building It So Clients Can Trust It

The concerns brokers named, privacy and accuracy, are design questions as much as tool questions. Workmate builds custom AI agents around a team's own workflows and works inside the tools staff already use, like email, Slack and Microsoft Teams. Admins control which apps and data each agent can reach, credentials sit in a vault that can require human approval, and each agent has its own separate computer with private file storage. Workmate is SOC 2 Type II audited. A brokerage can start with internal prep work, like renewal packages, before letting any agent touch client communication.

What This Means for Insurance Brokers Going Forward

The message from employers is not "replace us with a chatbot." It's "answer faster, and think harder about our business." AI is now part of how clients judge whether a broker can do both. The brokers who win will use agents to clear the busywork, then spend the recovered time on the advice clients say they're missing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do employers care whether their insurance broker uses AI?

Increasingly, yes. In Zywave's 2026 survey of more than 1,400 employers, failing to use modern technology and AI-powered tools appeared among the top eight reasons an employer would consider switching brokers for the first time.

What do employers want most from their broker?

Strategic advice. 71% now say being a trusted advisor matters when choosing a broker, up from 56% in 2023, and the largest gaps are in multiyear benefit planning and risk management strategy.

How are independent insurance agencies using AI?

Many are still early. The Big "I" ACT 2026 Tech Trends Report found two-thirds plan to increase AI use in the next year, while nearly a third weren't using AI yet, with privacy and inaccurate outputs as top concerns.