What underwriters are signalling about the future of risk decisions
Risk transfer is being reshaped by climate volatility, rising litigation, digital asset exposures and accelerating AI adoption. Business Insurance and Concirrus recently hosted a panel discussion on how risk decisions will evolve through 2030. The on-demand session is now available.
The panel brought together leaders with deep operational and market insight.
- Peter Bosco, Senior Vice President and National Property Underwriting Executive, MSIG USA
- Stuart Stern, Partner, ELIXIRR
- Ruth Polyblank, Executive Director Strategy and Strategic Partnerships, Concirrus
- Mindi Zissman, Moderator, Business Insurance
The panelists’ discussion, webinar poll results, and market data from The Institutes Underwriter Survey clearly show how underwriters currently view their current workload and what they expect from AI-supported underwriting.
Underwriters are still spending too little time underwriting
Only 2 percent of respondents said they spend all their time underwriting. The majority selected 60 percent or 40 percent. This echoes The Institutes Underwriter Survey which found that 70 percent of an underwriter’s time is spent on non-underwriting work.
Peter Bosco, Senior Vice President and National Property Underwriting Executive, MSIG US highlighted the reality of this challenge.
The implication is clear. The industry cannot deliver better risk selection or faster decisions without reducing operational drag.
Executives know this. The Institutes survey identified risk insight, speed to quote and cost reduction as the highest priorities for carriers.
Technology has not yet solved workflow friction
The Institutes survey found that 64 percent of underwriters feel technology has increased workload or made no difference. Our poll mirrored this sentiment in the time allocation results.
Underwriters still navigate fragmented systems. Data ingestion is manual. Pricing and accumulation tools remain separate. Data must be rekeyed, reconciled and validated before a decision can be made.
Ruth Polyblank, Executive Director Strategy and Strategic Partnerships, Concirrus explained why this continues to be so difficult.
“Underwriters do not want off the shelf platforms that do not understand specialty insurance. They need deep domain expertise and consistent end to end capability. Without that you end up with weak spots.”
This is why demand is shifting toward consolidated underwriting platforms that bring ingestion, enrichment, scoring, decision support and collaboration into one workflow.
AI adoption is rising but underwriters insist on oversight
We asked whether underwriters would trust AI supported underwriting for a 500 million dollar risk with last look human oversight.
- Yes: 13 percent
- No: 28 percent
- Maybe in a few years: 59 percent
The market is open to AI enhanced decision making but trust depends on clarity, transparency and control.
Stuart Stern summed up the sentiment.
“For a 500-million-dollar risk, last look human oversight is still a long way off. But human early and often supported by AI is where people will get to more quickly.”
Ruth also challenged the idea that trust will take years to build.
“We are moving exponentially. It will not take years of proof points like previous technologies. Trust will build much faster.”
Workforce constraints are intensifying the need for better tooling
The Institutes survey highlights a structural shift. Fifty percent of the current insurance workforce is expected to retire in the next fifteen years. Meanwhile younger underwriters expect intuitive, digital environments that match the tools they use every day.
The industry cannot solve this through hiring alone. Workflows must remove rework and surface insight automatically.
As Stuart Stern, Partner at ELIXIRR noted:
“If up to 80 percent of what people do becomes automated, the organisational implication is huge. Underwriters will spend more time on value added work and less time preparing data.”
What this means for the next few years of risk transfer
Across the webinar insights, poll results and independent market research, three themes stand out.
1. Better risk insight is becoming a competitive advantage
AI will not replace underwriting, but it will improve risk selection, accumulation visibility and decision quality.
2. Speed to quote is rising in strategic importance
Carriers need cleaner data, faster ingestion and consistent pricing signals to win business.
3. Cost pressure is driving operational change
Expense ratios remain fixed at 34 percent. Underwriting teams need workflows that remove friction and support growth without increasing headcount. These forces are converging. Underwriters want time back. They want clearer insights. They want tools that support better decisions without adding complexity.
