Centering AI Innovation on the Policyholder Experience and the Future of P&C Insurance
The future of P&C insurance will be shaped by how effectively insurers use AI to create more connected, policyholder-centered experiences. In this webinar discussion, Hi Marley COO Lauren McCollem sat down with CEO and co-founder Mike Greene and Principal Industry and Market Insights Leader Stephanie Behnke to explore the rise of agentic AI, responsible adoption, and the evolving role of technology in insurance.
Together, they shared perspectives on industry transformation and Hi Marley’s vision for connecting conversations, workflows, and ecosystem partners around the policyholder.
Shifting the AI Conversation
“Every insurance carrier is at a different place in their AI journey,” Stephanie begins. Despite this, she’s noticed certain commonalities across all carriers. “The first is that board members and CEOs are more closely aligned with decision-making around AI than any other technological development I’ve seen. The second is that insurance leaders want to move quickly, but they’re also being mindful about who they partner with.”
In the last year, Mike has noticed a shift in how insurance leaders think about AI. “The conversation is no longer about specific AI tools,” he says. “Instead, it’s a CEO and board-driven discussion about total industry transformation. Last year, AI was successful for underwriting and claims. Now, carriers are looking at AI through an operational lens to transform how the insurance industry works.”
Problem-Driven AI Solutions
AI has been so successful in the insurance industry because it’s become problem-driven. As Mike explains, insurance is a vast network made up of carriers, agents, rental car companies, auto part shops, and other organizations. This means a policyholder may interact with multiple companies to resolve a single claim.
This complex network also brings significant opportunities for innovation. “When you have an ecosystem built on network partners sharing data, it fundamentally changes the way you look at and solve problems,” Stephanie explains. Lauren agrees that AI needs a large amount of contextual information to perform well. “You need that right foundation for success,” she says.
“We need a single orchestration layer to really deliver the right policyholder experience. New AI technology can unlock this,” Mike says.
Centering Innovation on the Policyholder Experience
Stephanie believes that success comes down to centering innovation on the policyholder experience. “It’s about staying policyholder-centric, meeting them where they are, and giving all the right information at the right moment so you can prevent that inbound communication,” she says. “When the network comes together, and all correspondence comes through a single channel, the claims process feels more comfortable for policyholders. It’s easier to build trust.”
Mike adds, “It’s amazing how much of a North Star starting with the policyholder and working backwards can be.”
Deploying AI Responsibly
Lauren asks Stephanie how carriers and insurance leaders can deploy AI responsibly. “Focus on compliance and be proactive about keeping up with new regulations,” Stephanie says. “This means observability and being prepared to answer regulators’ questions about how your AI models work and how they were acquired.”
“It’s not about putting the human in the loop, but putting the human in the driving seat,” she explains. “In practice, this means that AI can assist with organizing and presenting information, but the human should own the transaction and the outcome.”
Meeting Carriers Where They Are
While AI conversations are steering towards industry transformation, Stephanie explains that carriers should move at the speed that feels right for them. “Hi Marley’s Crawl, Walk, Run, Fly framework makes it easier for company leaders to bring new AI approaches back to their organization and team, and means they’re starting at the place they feel most comfortable.”
During the “crawl” stage, AI assistants might be used to gather information and offer suggestions, like how to respond to an email. “Fly” is at the opposite end of the spectrum. An example is agentic AI being used to orchestrate and manage communications across multiple parties and channels.
“There’s often a lot of emotion involved in talking about AI,” said Stephanie. “It’s absolutely OK to start small. And Hi Marley has a proven track record of meeting carriers where they are on their individual journeys.”
For Mike, demystifying AI is essential for building comfort. “When our product team sat down with the C-Suite to demonstrate the platform, guardrails, context, and how human involvement was triggered, we saw a real light-bulb moment. They understood how this technology works, and that it’s safe and trusted,” he says. “And at Hi Marley, our mission from the start has been to empower insurance. We know that trust is at the center of that.”
