Driven by intensifying competitive pressures, a softening market and rapid advances in artificial intelligence, four in 10 insurers are now using AI in underwriting, a move that marks a pivotal phase in their digitalisation, according to new research by Sollers Consulting.
The automation of underwriting is rapidly becoming a strategic priority for insurers across all major markets. This marks a turning point for a function that has historically lagged behind management and distribution in terms of digitalisation.
In 2025, the share of insurance IT roles requiring specific underwriting expertise doubled, expanding faster than any other specialisation in the sector.
According to a Sollers study spanning ten markets, 126 AI use cases are currently active within the insurance sector, with 13 specifically focused on underwriting.
Although this represents a smaller portion relative to claims operations, the field is experiencing rapid expansion.
The most significant advancements are presently seen in commercial insurance, where one-fifth of providers use AI for processing data from unstructured documents and triaging incoming submissions.
Jakub Śliwiński, Head of Underwriting at Sollers, commented: “Underwriting was the last major function to be digitised, and the pace is now changing rapidly.
“We are already seeing AI support triage submissions and help underwriters generate quotes more quickly and consistently in standardised lines. Extending this to more complex, lower-volume risks will take another one to two years, as the necessary data foundations first need to be put in place.”
For the moment, the impact of AI on underwriting remains uneven, focusing heavily on the intake of submissions and document processing, rather than on pricing and risk selection.
This balance, according to the report, is likely to shift as insurers expand their digitalisation initiatives and introduce underwriting workbenches that more tightly integrate pricing models and user interfaces.
To scale these systems past the initial submission intake, organisations will need a fundamental redesign of IT and business architectures, as well as careful change management.
In the near term, insurers are finding a sensible focus in portfolio analysis and data aggregation. Using AI to gain near real time visibility into portfolios containing highly customised contract terms solves a major operational hurdle, Sollers noted.
This is becoming increasingly relevant for regulators and at the same time frees up capacity for underwriters without altering core risk selection.
The acceleration of underwriting technology is also revealing distinct regional trends across global insurance hubs:
According to the report, the London insurance market is currently leading the global transition away from traditional spreadsheet reliance. Companies in this region are prioritising the implementation of adaptable pricing platforms that link directly with their core underwriting infrastructure.
In Australia, modernising pricing and underwriting has become a priority following a series of mergers and acquisitions, leading at least one prominent insurer to start the total digitization of its commercial underwriting process.
North American insurers are increasingly extending the use of AI from personal lines to complex commercial risks.
Across the wider UK personal and commercial market, as well as in France and the Nordic countries, the focus is on data integration and interoperability – the foundations that enable automation in the first place.
Finally, Poland and Central and Eastern Europe are moving the fastest from pilot stage to production readiness in automated pre-screening and OCR-driven document processing.
