Martin Simoncic is CEO of Zywave, where he’s leading the insurance technology provider through its next phase of growth.
Organic growth in insurance is at a breaking point. From what I’ve seen in the industry, the traditional playbook, which includes acquiring businesses or hiring experienced producers, no longer works. Acquisitions are slowing under today’s rate environment and private credit constraints. Training new producers is increasingly a losing bet: Validation rates, which track whether producers hit their goals, are under 50%, and for agencies under $1.25 million in revenue, the producer success rate is just 21.3%, according to the 2025 Best Practices Study published by Big “I” and Reagan Consulting.
Hiring is even tougher: The pool of experienced producers is finite, and payouts for talent have become extreme. I’ve found that training new producers is increasingly a losing bet. Meanwhile, the industry faces a demographic cliff: 50% of the insurance workforce wants to retire by 2028, and industry hiring has slowed.
As a result, individual books of business are ballooning, and producers are forced to manage more customers than ever. Today, they spend over 60% of their time on service work, administrative tasks and renewals instead of client-facing work that drives growth.
This is not just inefficient—it’s a direct threat to the health of the business. Experienced brokers are so busy servicing existing accounts that they can’t pursue new business, and organic growth stalls.
AI: The Growth Multiplier
AI is emerging as one of the few scalable ways to rewire organic growth in our industry. AI can automate prospect targeting and outreach, assemble benchmark-rich, hyper-personalized meeting prep, and triage renewals so producers can focus on the highest-risk, highest-churn accounts. Done right, it can help producers renew more customers without adding headcount.
AI shouldn’t replace producers, though. It should make them more effective. The growth levers are simple:
• Automated Prospecting: AI can pull together prospecting data, analyze renewals, premiums and coverage gaps, and execute campaigns that target the most likely-to-convert leads. Producers can walk into their office with meetings already on the calendar, driven by AI agents working around the clock. The effectiveness of one-to-one personalized campaigns is clear: At my company, we consistently see open and click-through rates for AI-driven campaigns at two to three times those of traditional, manually run campaigns.
• Meeting Preparation: AI can aggregate industry benchmarks, loss data and coverage analytics, enabling producers to deliver highly relevant, personalized presentations. Instead of generic pitches, producers can show clients exactly where coverage falls short, what risks they face and how to mitigate them. This can help increase conversion rates and deepen client trust.
• Renewals And Retention: AI can help identify at-risk accounts, flag coverage gaps and competitive threats, and automate renewal workflows so producers can invest their time where it matters most. It lets them focus on the highest-value renewals, improve retention and uncover upsell opportunities that would otherwise be missed.
The consequences of inaction are clear. If you walk into a meeting with a standard pitch while your competitor uses AI to tailor every interaction, I believe you will lose. Over time, your growth rate will go negative if you don’t act.
Adoption Barriers: Lead Through The Noise
Trust in AI is a hurdle we need to overcome. Tolerance for mistakes is low when AI interacts with customers. Some companies are hesitant to let AI run outbound campaigns because they fear embarrassing errors. At the same time, doom‑laden narratives about AI replacing white-collar roles may fuel skepticism and slow decision‑making, especially in an industry already anxious about talent and change.
The reality is different. AI isn’t replacing producers; it’s making them more effective and more scalable. In fact, according to the 2026 report from Grant Thornton, 52% of insurance companies already report revenue growth from AI. The firms that delay adoption are not avoiding risk; they are transferring their work to competitors who move faster.
AI can also help level the playing field. Large brokers have invested tens or hundreds of millions in personalized analytics and bespoke messaging. Now, AI can help midsized and small agencies deliver comparable value at a fraction of the cost, but only if they act.
The Human Edge In An AI-First Era
As AI becomes ubiquitous, the last real differentiator is human. When everyone has access to similar capabilities, what matters is how your producers use the time AI gives back to them. AI can free up time for producers to consult, build trust and deliver value. If they don’t use that time wisely, they will lose, even with the best technology stack.
The future belongs to leaders who use AI not just for efficiency gains, but to drive durable, compounding growth.
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