Commercial property and casualty insurers are moving quickly to adopt artificial intelligence in underwriting, but many have yet to build the strategic foundation needed to use those tools with confidence.
According to Convr’s 2026 Insurance Talent and Tech Trends Survey, based on responses from 211 commercial insurance professionals, there is broad momentum behind AI adoption across underwriting functions. Nearly 90% of respondents said they expect more underwriting tasks to be automated in the coming years, 70.6% said their organizations delivered new AI underwriting tools in 2025, and 65.9% plan to introduce additional tools in 2026. More than half, or 53.6%, said AI is already deployed in at least one production underwriting workflow.
Despite that pace, the survey points to a sizeable confidence gap around strategy. Only 20.4% of leaders said they are highly confident their organization has a clear, actionable AI strategy for underwriting. More than 40% placed themselves in the bottom half of the confidence scale, while 56.9% described their organization’s attitude towards AI as cautiously open, interested but still wanting proof before making a stronger commitment.
John Stammen, chief executive officer of Convr, said the industry has moved beyond debating whether AI belongs in underwriting. The bigger issue now, he said, is how carriers implement it. In his view, the survey shows many are deploying tools before putting in place the strategic framework needed to make those investments produce durable business results.
The findings also highlight why insurers feel pressure to move. Respondents said the biggest factors slowing underwriting today are manual data entry, cited by 35.1%, dated and legacy technology at 27.5%, and too many submission data sources at 24.6%. At the same time, 63% said their organizations operate in hybrid technology environments, with legacy cores overlaid by cloud-based tools, suggesting that integration remains a central operational challenge.
When asked what would most help underwriting teams, respondents pointed to AI tool training, cited by 47.4%, pre-screened and enriched submissions at 46.9%, and simpler access to data at 45.5%. Those responses suggest carriers are not just looking for more AI, but for more usable AI supported by better data, clearer workflows and stronger execution.
Convr argues that the next phase of AI adoption in commercial P&C will belong to carriers that can close the gap between tool deployment and strategy. For insurers, the message from the survey is that speed alone will not be enough. The competitive advantage may go to firms that can combine automation with clarity, training and a more deliberate operating model.
Key findings
