Are Insurance Companies Ready for Agentic AI?

Samesurf is the inventor of modern co-browsing and a pioneer in the development of core systems for Agentic AI.

The insurance industry is entering a period of rapid transformation, driven by the abundance of data, advanced computing power, and increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence models. Once cautious and slow to adopt new technology, insurers are now embracing AI as a practical tool to streamline operations and strengthen customer connections. The most visible change is taking place in the contact center, which is shifting from a cost-driven function into a strategic, intelligence-enabled asset.

AI adoption in contact centers is expanding across functions such as marketing, underwriting, claims, and customer service. Leading carriers now rely on AI-enabled agents that can provide round-the-clock support, answer policy questions, and manage routine billing inquiries. A major improvement has been the replacement of rigid, outdated Interactive Voice Response systems with AI-powered voice agents. Unlike traditional IVRs which lock callers into predetermined menus, these advanced agents greet customers in a natural manner, recognize intent through real language, and route conversations more effectively. This reduces friction, accelerates service, and strengthens relationships, ultimately lowering churn and increasing loyalty.

Behind these advances is a new construct known as Agentic AI. Unlike earlier tools, Agentic AI has the capacity to operate in a more autonomous fashion, carrying out tasks within simulated sessions and interacting with digital content in a way that mirrors human browsing. This new approach not only enhances efficiency but also sets the stage for a broader reimagining of how customer interactions are managed across industries.

Defining Agentic AI and its Strategic Advantages

While conventional conversational AI has played an important role in automating routine tasks, a more advanced construct now reshapes the landscape: Agentic AI. The distinction between the two is clear. Conventional AI operates on predefined rules or responds to narrow inputs, while Agentic AI systems act proactively, set goals, and improve on their own. They can perceive their environment, reason, and take purposeful actions to achieve defined objectives without continuous human oversight. This shift moves AI beyond task automation into a new manner of operational transformation.

The strategic advantages of Agentic AI are both broad and profound. In underwriting, the AI-enabled device can personalize risk scores by analyzing real-time data from IoT devices, connected vehicles, and wearables. This capability allows a home insurance policy to adjust coverage if the system detects that a property has remained unoccupied for a prolonged period, which raises the risk of fire or theft. In fraud detection, Agentic AI identifies suspicious activity in real time by comparing claims across demographics, behaviors, and locations. This level of autonomy and adaptability reduces underwriting turnaround times from weeks to minutes. 

Why Proactive Engagement is the New Standard

The adoption of Agentic AI marks a fundamental shift in the insurance business model. For decades, the industry has operated within a “detect and repair” framework, where a policyholder files a claim after a loss, and the insurer assesses and repairs the damage. Conventional AI has sped up this reactive process by accelerating claims processing. Agentic AI, however, allows a complete re-imagining of this approach.

By design, Agentic AI acts proactively. It can analyze real-time data from multiple sources, including IoT devices, market trends, and environmental reports, to predict potential risks before they result in a claim. For health insurers, an agentic system could interact with policyholders by providing personalized wellness tips or prompting preventive screenings, ultimately reducing long-term risk and potentially preventing a claim altogether. When an insurer moves from a transactional “detect and repair” role to an advisory “predict and prevent” partnership, the customer relationship strengthens, loyalty increases, and the business becomes more resilient and profitable. This advantage goes beyond cost savings and creates a new source of competitive differentiation.

Human and Agentic AI Collaboration

As insurers adopt Agentic AI, the role of human agents is evolving rather than disappearing. The most effective customer service models will combine human and AI-enabled agents in a hybrid workforce. AI, with its speed and scalability, handles structured, repetitive, and high-volume requests such as password resets, billing inquiries, and claims submissions. This allows human agents to focus on high-value interactions that require empathy, judgment, or complex problem-solving.

In this collaborative model, the AI enabled device acts as a virtual assistant by providing human agents with real-time insights, suggested responses, and relevant content during a call, thus enabling faster and more accurate issue resolution. 

Core Use Cases for an AI-Powered Contact Center

In modern insurance contact centers, Agentic AI and conversational AI support a range of core use cases. In customer support, AI-enabled agents provide round-the-clock service by handling common queries about policies, payments, and claims. The AI agent can instantly explain premium payment options or calculate a new life insurance premium in seconds, which reduces wait times and improves accessibility, especially during peak periods.

Agentic AI also streamlines the claims process by guiding customers through claims submission, collecting photos and documents, and validating details. By triaging thousands of claims based on severity, the system ensures that the most urgent cases reach a human agent immediately with all relevant information already collected, reducing wait times and customer friction. Additionally, Agentic AI enables proactive customer engagement. It sends personalized reminders for policy renewals, helping to prevent missed payments and policy lapses. For health and life insurers, the system can analyze a customer’s lifestyle and goals to recommend the most suitable policy mix and provide rewards for healthy habits, strengthening the customer relationship.

Ensuring a Flawless Customer Journey

A successful hybrid model depends on a seamless transition from an AI-enabled agent to a human agent, known as a handoff. This step is crucial for comprehensive and satisfying customer support, as a poorly executed handoff can erase the benefits of automation. AI-enabled agents handle routine tasks efficiently but lack emotional intelligence and may misinterpret complex or ambiguous requests. Customers facing sensitive or complicated issues need human judgment, and the AI system must recognize when to trigger a handoff, either through a direct request or cues in the customer’s tone.

A proper handoff is a warm transfer, where the AI-enabled agent provides the human agent with a concise summary of the conversation, the customer’s issue, and the actions already taken. This context prevents the customer from repeating themselves, a major source of frustration. A cold transfer, on the other hand, forces the customer to re-explain their situation to an agent without context, making them feel ignored. By designing AI systems to facilitate smooth, warm transfers, insurers can maintain trust and satisfaction. 

Samesurf is at the Heart of the Agentic AI Contact Center

For an insurance company to successfully implement an Agentic AI-powered contact center, it requires a foundational technology that bridges human and AI agents in a seamless and secure manner. Samesurf’s patented technology provides a critical piece of the puzzle, serving as a pioneer in foundational elements for Agentic AI and holding patents for systems that enable autonomous AI agents to perform simulated browsing. Samesurf’s intellectual property covers the role of cloud browsers within Agentic AI systems and the ability for autonomous AI agents to simulate human browsing of digital content.

A key feature of Samesurf’s technology is its human-in-the-loop functionality, which allows a human agent to observe, supervise, and intervene in an AI-led interaction. This provides a real-world application of the hybrid workforce model by giving human supervisors the “eyes and hands” needed to manage complex situations. Samesurf’s platform enables a support or sales agent to interact with a customer’s content in real time, providing guidance and context without requiring installs, coding, or IT modifications.

The technology also enables a flawless warm handoff. When an Agentic AI system determines a human agent is needed, the platform transfers full context and in-page control to the human agent, ensuring the customer does not have to repeat themselves. 

Moreover, Samesurf addresses critical concerns about data security and regulatory compliance. The platform can redact sensitive content automatically, preventing the real-time sharing of information such as credit card numbers and ensuring compliance with regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA. For insurers, which handle large volumes of sensitive personal data, this provides a secure, compliant, and frictionless channel for human oversight, thereby making it a vital component of any responsible and effective Agentic AI framework.

A Hybrid Future

Agentic AI is transforming how insurance companies operate, which shifts the focus from reactive problem-solving to proactive customer support. By anticipating potential issues before they occur, insurers can prevent disruptions, streamline processes, and deliver a smoother, more reliable experience for policyholders. In this model, AI-enabled agents handle repetitive or administrative tasks, which frees human agents to make complex decisions and provide personalized guidance when it matters most.

Integrating Agentic AI into insurance operations requires careful planning. Companies must address regulatory compliance, ethical considerations, and workflow adjustments. Starting with small, controlled pilot programs allows organizations to evaluate effectiveness and refine processes before scaling. In this context, Samesurf’s patented simulated session technology and secure content redaction create a controlled environment where AI-enabled agents and human agents can collaborate safely. This combination protects sensitive information while allowing AI to perform tasks efficiently. Companies that adopt this approach can boost operational efficiency, improve client satisfaction, and gain a competitive advantage in a market where trust and responsiveness are essential.

Visit samesurf.com to learn more or go to https://www.samesurf.com/request-demo to request a demo today.