Mastering 7 challenges with AI

Being an insurance intermediary has always been demanding, and the demands have grown even further in recent years: you are expected to act as an entrepreneur, comply with a growing body of regulation and keep pace with accelerating digitalisation.

Easier said than done, perhaps, but rather than struggling with the growing workload, take advantage of the new opportunities this transformation brings. That applies above all to one area: artificial intelligence. Smart machines are taking over more and more tasks that until recently required human thinking. The disruptive power of AI can no longer be stopped, so put that momentum to work for your own purposes.

Using seven practical challenges from an intermediary's everyday work, we show you how AI can help you work more efficiently and successfully, now and in the future.

1. Analysing documents

General insurance conditions, contract documents or application forms: reading through long, hard-to-read texts takes a lot of time and patience. With complex contracts, there is also a risk that you will overlook important details.

How AI can help: thanks to optical character recognition (OCR), document analysis tools can capture and process even scanned and handwritten texts. They extract relevant data, spot errors and inconsistencies and convert all types of documents into digitally searchable formats. Always make sure you protect personal data and be transparent about the fact that you use such programs. Besides general-purpose tools, there are specialised applications such as compAIr that were developed for the particular needs of the insurance industry.

2. Recording advisory meetings

Because writing up advisory meetings takes a lot of time, this tedious obligation is often neglected in practice. Yet every intermediary knows that these records are required by law and serve as evidence in the event of a dispute.

How AI can help: speech recognition software (such as Amberscript) is trained to recognise the spoken word in real time. These tools can be integrated into meeting software (such as Microsoft Teams) and configured to meet all data protection requirements when recording conversations. From these recordings, they generate structured minutes that can be added straight to the CRM and in some cases assigned to existing client profiles automatically.

3. Automating administrative tasks

Everyday business is often overloaded with administrative tasks such as data maintenance, scheduling appointments and monitoring contract deadlines. Respect to everyone who handles all the administration on their own, but these days there is an easier way.

How AI can help: so-called productivity tools make time management much easier. They prioritise tasks, coordinate appointments and so give structure to the working day. These smart day planners, at least from the leading providers, connect to Google or Microsoft calendars and so also improve collaboration with colleagues. If you have employees, it is important to observe the relevant employment law regulations.

4. Keeping track of regulation

To strengthen the protection of policyholders and consumers, the Insurance Supervision Act (ISA) and the Insurance Supervision Ordinance (ISO) have been tightened in recent years. With regulatory pressure rising, it is not always easy to keep track of everything in day-to-day business.

How AI can help: when it comes to standardised processes, artificial intelligence now far outperforms humans, and that includes compliance with legal requirements. Tools such as Corlytics (formerly Clausematch) check documents, monitor compliance processes and alert you to regulatory changes. That gives you legal certainty in your daily work. For your own professional development, you can stay up to date with smart news readers (such as Feedly) or AI-powered research (such as Perplexity AI).

5. Improving client service

Insurance intermediaries receive questions and messages every day that keep circling around the same topics: contracts, costs, sums insured … Answering them is monotonous, time-consuming and distracts from the high standards of personal advice.

How AI can help: since ChatGPT at the latest, smart chatbots have become part of everyday life. Tools such as Userlike or the AI assistant in the Liechtenstein Life App & Customer Portal were developed specifically for the insurance industry. Integrated into existing systems, they can handle client enquiries quickly, which has been shown to increase client satisfaction.

6. Understanding and retaining clients

Analysing individual needs and striking the right note with each client takes a great deal of effort. In existing business, the reality is often that clients remain a black box to their intermediaries throughout their entire journey.

How AI can help: CRM systems have always been valuable tools for client care. But with AI, Zoho and the like can analyse client data in a far more targeted way: analysing characteristics and decision-making behaviour produces precise personality profiles that let you give tailored advice. At the same time, the tools identify growth potential and make concrete cross-selling recommendations. If clients are dissatisfied, the churn prediction feature alerts you, so you can act in time to prevent a cancellation. AI-assisted client analysis must also comply with data protection rules.

7. Winning new clients

A key challenge in marketing is generating high-quality leads, meaning people with an interest in buying (whether general or already very pronounced). Finding clients used to be like groping in the dark. Today, things are much clearer.

How AI can help: all-in-one marketing solutions (such as GetResponse) let you build complete sales funnels in no time. Starting from a simple first contact, leads can be scored and guided individually through to a (possible) purchase.

To get potential clients' attention, there is no way around social media any more (see also the magazine article "5 reasons you're better at social media than you think"). For creating high-quality content, it is also worth using AI tools that help with writing (such as Jasper, Copy.ai) or visuals (such as Midjourney, Canva Magic Studio).

What you must bear in mind.

• However tempting it is to use AI-based applications in your everyday work, handling these tools conscientiously matters even more. This applies above all when the programs, many of them from providers based in the USA, are to process personal data or access sensitive business information. The following points therefore apply, among others:

• Before using a tool, clarify its exact purpose and check whether it is really suitable.

• Assess whether personal data is processed and whether data protection requirements are met. Pay particular attention to the use of cloud services outside Switzerland or the EU.

• Take trade secret protection into account: when internal documents or advisory content are processed, there must be no uncontrolled outflow of data.

In addition, the company names mentioned in this article are for illustration purposes only and make no statement about their suitability for specific use cases. The examples do not imply any actual use on our part and do not guarantee the success of the application. The software providers have no connection with The Prosperity Company AG or its group companies. Responsibility for selecting, implementing and using the tools in compliance with data protection and other compliance requirements lies solely with the respective intermediary.

Article published by Prosperity Solutions AG