Two-Thirds of Independent Agents Plan to Expand AI Use in 2026

According to the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America [2026], two-thirds of independent insurance agencies plan to increase their use of artificial intelligence this year. That number puts AI adoption squarely in majority territory for the independent channel, and it raises a practical question for every agent who has not yet committed to a direction: what are the two-thirds actually doing, and what happens to the third that is not?

What are agencies actually doing with AI right now?

The IIABA survey does not spell out every use case, but the pattern across the independent channel is fairly consistent. Agencies are applying AI to tasks that eat time without requiring judgment: drafting client communications, summarizing coverage options, pulling renewal data, and managing follow-up sequences. A smaller group is experimenting with AI for quoting support and lead qualification. According to Vertafore's 2026 Agency Trends Outlook, AI and technology development are actively reshaping how agencies operate, with a particular emphasis on workflow efficiency and producer capacity. The agencies moving fastest are not replacing staff. They are trying to get more production out of the same headcount while market conditions stay competitive.

For a working agent, the more useful framing is this: AI tools that handle routine communication and documentation free up time for relationship work, which is still the core of retention in this business. That is a straightforward value proposition. The agencies treating AI as a research project are falling behind agencies treating it as a workflow tool.

What is driving this shift in 2026 specifically?

The timing is not accidental. According to Vertafore [2026], independent agencies are operating in a period of simultaneous pressure from market changes, technology development, and evolving client expectations. Rate increases in personal and commercial lines have driven more shopping behavior among policyholders, which means agencies face more inbound comparison shopping while also trying to hold their existing books together. AI tools that accelerate quote turnaround or automate renewal outreach address a real operational bottleneck, not a hypothetical one.

There is also a competitive dynamic at play. Carrier direct channels and large aggregators have been using automation at scale for years. Independent agencies that still process renewals and client communications entirely by hand are not competing on service quality alone. They are competing against operations that can move faster and at lower cost per interaction. The two-thirds planning to expand AI use in 2026 appear to understand that gap and are trying to close it.

How does AI adoption connect to how clients find agencies?

This is the part most agencies are not thinking about yet. According to Agency Checklists [2026], AI-powered search tools are changing how prospects discover local insurance agencies, with accurate profiles, reviews, and demonstrated expertise becoming more important to search visibility, not less. When a prospect asks an AI search tool for a local insurance agent, the tool pulls from structured, citable sources: Google Business Profiles, review platforms, agency websites with clear specialization signals. Agencies with thin profiles, few reviews, or inconsistent contact information are less likely to surface in those results.

This creates an interesting situation. An agency can invest in AI tools for internal operations and still lose ground in local discovery if its external profile is weak. The two trends are connected. Internal AI efficiency means nothing if the phone is not ringing. Agents who want to benefit from the AI-search shift need accurate, complete Google Business Profiles and a steady volume of recent client reviews. For a practical starting point on building that visibility, this breakdown of Google Business Profile factors for insurance agents covers the specific elements that affect local ranking. The fundamentals of generating more Google reviews are also worth revisiting if your review volume has stalled.

Why This Matters for Insurance Agents

The IIABA survey number is not just a data point. It is a signal about where the competitive floor is moving. When two-thirds of your peers are actively expanding a capability, the agencies that hold still are not staying neutral. They are falling behind relative to the channel average. That dynamic tends to accelerate: as more agencies automate routine tasks, the agencies still doing those tasks by hand will find it harder to compete on response time, renewal retention, and producer output.

At the same time, AI adoption inside an agency does not automatically translate to more clients finding the agency. Local search visibility, client reviews, and profile accuracy are the external signals that AI search tools use to surface recommendations. An agency can be well-run and invisible. The agents who come out ahead in this cycle will be the ones who treat internal efficiency and external discoverability as two parts of the same problem, and work on both at once.

If you have not yet identified which AI tools would have the most impact on your specific workflow, the IIABA survey is a reasonable prompt to do that audit now rather than in the middle of renewal season. Start with the tasks that take the most time and require the least judgment. Those are the ones AI handles best, and freeing up that time is where the real return shows up.