Why Insurance Needs Specialized AI: The Vertical AI Difference   

Artificial Intelligence is evolving every day, and for insurance agencies, the power of AI keeps growing – with no signs of slowing down. Experts say the global AI in insurance market size was valued at 10.3 billion in 2025, and the market is projected to grow to 13.4 billion in 2026.

This rapidly evolving technology is reshaping the insurance landscape, transforming independent insurance companies into smarter, customer-first businesses. Automation is streamlining more routine tasks, and insurance agents are using AI in ways that make some of their previous workflows unrecognizable.

This new year will be an exciting one, so let's explore how AI will impact the insurance industry and how Applied is at the forefront of insurance innovation.

Why Artificial Intelligence is Key to Agency Growth

By now, it is an understatement to say that AI-powered tech is changing the way insurance agencies do business. From underwriting to policy renewals, and even marketing content creation, industry-specific Vertical AI is touching many areas of an insurance company's business. It is transforming the way you approach routine, time-consuming tasks, goal setting, and more.

Read these pain points and reflect on whether they apply to your business:

• Administrative Workloads: Scheduling, invoicing, comparing documents, and attaching emails repeatedly take plenty of time out of your day. You want to complete these tasks quickly, but they're time-consuming and often get in the way of more important work.
• Scattered Data: Where's that particular dataset you're looking for? A disorganized data system may not seem like a significant concern, but it can significantly derail your productivity.
• Growing Client Expectations: Clients continue to come to you with new requests, but you don't have the capacity or resources to fulfil them. And while you're getting behind, your competitors are racing ahead.

How Vertical AI Empowers Insurance Agencies

Now here's where Vertical AI fits in. These AI tools enable agencies to overcome these pain points and make them an issue of the past. They automate repetitive, manual tasks, and give insurance agencies precious time back in their days. It can take scattered data and create actionable insights into more informed decision-making, empowering you to be the trusted advisors your clients need.

Plus, AI doesn't just help you keep up with the insurance industry but helps you become a leader by providing a competitive edge. You will not be caught off guard by new expectations and demands from clients because you'll be able to provide hyper-personalized customer service that is tailored to their needs.

The Power of an AI-Infused Agency Management System

You may ask, "What are the best AI tools for insurance agencies?" But first, we need to talk about how an AI-infused Agency Management System (AMS) supports agencies. Your AMS is the backbone of your entire business, and you need it to have the functionality to manage your work and grow alongside you.

Applied Epic® is the world's most widely used AMS for growth-minded independent insurance agencies. industry-specific AI solutions. You'll find that all the tools you need to manage the end-to-end policy lifecycle are either embedded or integrated within the platform, so you can efficiently work in one system. Rather than hopping between multiple platforms, Epic keeps information and workflows connected in this browser-native platform.

Here are some key benefits of Applied's AI-infused insurance AMS:

Streamlined Financial Management:

Automation isn't just a convenience, but a gamechanger. Insurance agents sacrifice hours each week to collect, process, and reconcile transactions. But with Applied Recon™, the industry's only AI-powered reconciliation solution, agencies eliminate the redundant and manual effort associated with reconciliation. Built into Applied Epic, the AI technology consolidates accounting workflows into a single and secure system. Experience an accelerated, more accurate, and simplified reconciliation process.

Strategic Decision-Making:

Think about how readily available data would influence your ability to meet your customer's needs. Applied Book Builder is an AI-powered risk intelligence tool embedded in Epic that turns scattered business information into actionable upselling and cross-selling opportunities. The AI technology enriches commercial risk profiles based on publicly available sources to round out risk profiles and identify coverage gaps within existing policies. When reviewing a manufacturing client's policy, Applied Book Builder might surface publicly available data showing they've expanded to a new facility – immediately flagging an opportunity to discuss property coverage or increased liability limits. What would have taken 2-3 hours of research now surfaces in seconds. Your risk assessments will never be the same, as this AI-driven solution eliminates hours of manual research to help you grow a more profitable book of business.

Enhanced Customer Engagement:

Your communications with customers and prospects need to include the right messages and be sent at the right time, but that can consume plenty of your own time. Applied Marketing Automation™ allows agencies to quickly build and track their marketing email campaigns. The robust library of industry-specific content makes your customer interactions more relevant, detailed, and informative. Content Assist harnesses the power of Generative AI to generate descriptive text that hooks your audience, leveraging insurance-specific terminology.

Results-Driven Growth for Insurance Agencies

AI is already driving growth for insurance agencies, but its influence is only going to amplify in 2026 and beyond.

AI is shifting agencies away from being reactive to being more proactive. This happens when insurance agencies are strategic with how they use Vertical AI and integrate it into their operations. They think critically about which AI platforms will target the pain points they need to address, and how it will help the customer experience they are creating.

Here are a few ways AI will influence growth for insurance agencies:

• More Personalized Products: AI platforms can analyze substantial amounts of data to identify what is best for clients, creating more tailored policies and profiles. Understanding their challenges and strengths to deliver what they need.
• Greater Client Retention: Personalized and efficient service won't go unnoticed. Clients will continue to do business with your agency because they know you are a leading, trusted advisor that doesn't make insurance difficult.
• Stronger Fraud Detection: AI-powered pattern detection identifies potential fraud that human review might miss, protecting your agency's profitability and reputation.

Why Applied Systems is Your Partner for the Future:

We invest more in insurance AI than anyone in the industry, and we aren’t slowing down. Deep domain expertise gives us an edge, but as AI evolves, we know our innovation and knowledge must evolve as well. Our track record of continued investment in AI demonstrates this. In the fall of 2025, we acquired Cytora, the leading digital risk processing platform. Matched with our leading suite of insurance solutions, together we'll create intelligent automation, connectivity, and collaboration at each stage of the policy lifecycle. This is far from the end of our investments in AI, and we look forward to growth for years to come

We're committed to helping independent agencies and creating tools to meet their unique needs. But it's not enough that we simply design products and release them to clients. We listen to your feedback and use it to amplify the impact of our products.

For example, we've looked at how agencies get work done in Applied Epic. Coming in 2026, Applied Epic Max will change the way you interact with Epic in your daily work. Starting with Epic Max Search, users will experience step-change improvements, making information instantly and intuitively accessible. These practical enhancements empower agencies to complete daily tasks faster and with greater automation.

Investing, Growing, and Succeeding with Specialized AI

The future of insurance is here. Insurance agencies that utilize AI are experiencing improvements to their routines in real-time, rather than waiting a few quarters to see if the technology yields positive results. AI insurtech is key for agency growth, not just in 2026, but for years to come.

With our AI-infused solutions, your agency can boldly step into the new year ready to grow, compete, and lead. Learn more about Applied Systems' vision for an AI-powered Digital Roundtrip of Insurance, and subscribe to our blog for more industry news and innovation.