Unlocking the power of agentic AI in insurance | DXC Technology Insights

Industry Spotlights | September 18, 2025

Unlocking the power of agentic AI in insurance

By Bill Pieroni, Global Head of Insurance Strategy and AI at DXC

Insurance is entering the agentic age, a new era powered by intelligent, autonomous systems that can perceive, reason, act and learn, redefining how insurance stakeholders operate, compete and grow.  

This goes beyond automation; it marks a structural shift that changes the speed, precision and economics of the entire industry.

Agentic AI consists of intelligent agents that can sense changing conditions, interpret context, make decisions, take action and learn from results autonomously.    

Putting agentic AI to work

Across the insurance industry, scaled deployments of agentic AI are already delivering measurable results, according to a DXC benchmark study.  

In P&C, for example, underwriting expense ratios are projected to decline by 15 to 20 percent, while claims expense ratios are expected to drop by more than 15 percent. In life insurance, underwriting costs will fall by more than 25 percent, and benefit expenses by nearly 20 percent.

According to the same benchmark study, claims that once took weeks to resolve will now take hours or less, and payment errors will drop by over 30 percent. These are not incremental gains but step-change improvements.

From insights to action

Agentic AI moves beyond workflow automation and analytics. It empowers systems to combine historical, contextual, third-party and synthetic data with connected platforms to coordinate complex processes and make informed decisions. The result

  • Faster cycle times: Underwriting processes cut by up to 75 percent

  • Improved retention: Customer loyalty increases by 10 to 20 percent

  • Higher productivity: Output per colleague more than doubles

  • Enhanced economics: Marginal cost trends toward zero while precision improves

This technology also enables firms to optimize price, product, experience and operating economics simultaneously at scale, a capability that was previously beyond reach.

Why it matters now

Markets are moving toward real-time, predictive and adaptive operations. Firms that deploy agentic AI early can capture structural advantages such as lower marginal cost, faster execution and stronger retention that compound over time. Late adopters will struggle to close the performance gap and forgo learning-curve effects.

However, many firms are not ready to capitalize on agentic AI. Legacy technology, disconnected data, manual workflows and fragmented governance can slow execution and block leverage. 

Without addressing this capability debt, organizations risk widening the gap between those shaping the future and those struggling to keep pace.

Firms can address these challenges by:

  • Designing connected systems: Modernize infrastructure with orchestration layers, APIs, and cloud extensions to connect legacy cores to agentic systems.
  • Rethinking their operating model: Redefine roles, governance and incentives to support enterprise-wide AI adoption.
  • Creating consistency: Standardize workflows and embed business logic to enable intelligent orchestration from triage to resolution.

These are supported by five key enablers that drive sustainable scale and impact: 1) strategic alignment; 2) organizational readiness and performance management; 3) governance and risk management; 4) process and workflow design; and 5) data and technology enablement.

 

The big picture

Agentic AI is here, and the question for industry firms is whether to lead or follow. Acting now unlocks superior economics, faster execution and lasting competitive advantage, while waiting means falling behind as the market moves beyond traditional operating models.  

The good news is DXC has the expertise to help clients move from pilots to scaled adoption, and to lead the next phase of transformation.

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    About the author

    Alessandra Cox, is the Product Leader, Life & Wealth Insurance at DXC Technology.

    Bill Pieroni leads global strategy and growth for Insurance Software & Business Process Services at DXC. He has 25+ years of experience leading global organizations in insurance, technology and enterprise transformation.

    This blog originally appeared in Insurance Thought Leadership