The AI Gamble No One’s Trained For...

Insurance execs are betting big on artificial intelligence — and slightly less on actual intelligence. Accenture’s latest survey found that 90% of insurance leaders plan to pour more money into AI by 2026, even as many admit their teams wouldn’t know a data strategy if it bit them in the actuarials.

Everyone’s calling AI a “growth engine,” not a “cost-cutter,” but half the industry is also realizing their data is about as trustworthy as a weather forecast in London. That “AI productivity boom”? Mostly people double-checking weird chatbot suggestions.

Still, AI’s going mainstream: a third of insurers have rolled out AI across multiple departments — from claims to customer service — while nearly a third of C-suites are using generative AI themselves (probably to help write press releases about using AI).

The catch? Hardly anyone’s updating job descriptions, training staff, or telling employees what’s happening. Only 40% feel ready for AI’s grand takeover, and just 20% say they have any say in how it’s used. Employee trust is dropping faster than premiums after a no‑claims bonus.

And yet — optimism reigns! Nearly half of execs say they’d increase AI investment even if the so-called “AI bubble” pops. Translation: “We have no idea where this is going, but it looks cool on PowerPoint.”

Accenture’s bottom line: the tech isn’t the problem, the people are. If insurers can bridge the gap between shiny algorithms and slightly terrified humans, 2026 might just be the year the industry goes from policy paperwork to policy powered by AI.

Until then, expect plenty of optimism — and a few AI‑generated “We value your patience” emails along the way.

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