It is early days for generative AI (GenAI) and adoption across insurers—and even earlier days for AI agents and agentic AI adoption. In Celent’s recently released third annual survey on GenAI usage in insurance, 22% of participating insurers stated that they plan to have an agentic AI solution in place by year-end 2026.
Celent anticipates the current wave of GenAI adoption across financial institutions will remain focused on advancing intelligent virtual assistants (IVAs) and AI copilots that respond to queries and requests from employees and clients. Microsoft and Salesforce, for example, have introduced agentic copilot agents that can integrate with various tools and workflows, leveraging existing data and completing tasks across different applications.
IVA and copilot advancements will deliver a more natural and conversational user experience overall, improved intent recognition, and a variety of GenAI skills.
Celent expects usage of GenAI-powered IVAs and copilots to steadily grow and improve. Consumers and employees will have increasing access to GenAI-powered assistants, copilots, and tools, spanning business applications.
With advancements, insurers will be increasingly comfortable delegating tasks to specialized AI agents that support specific parts of the insurance value chain. Celent anticipates that claims and underwriting, along with marketing and sales enablement, will also lead in adoption.
Celent recommends that insurers develop their AI/GenAI strategy with the anticipation that agentic AI-supported workflows will become a viable option in the near term.
