Closing the Friction Gap: How Carriers and MGAs Can Prepare for Real AI ROI in 2025
By PS Advisory Team
2025 won’t be remembered as the “Year of the Agent.” It will be the year Carriers and MGAs take on the hard work of turning AI buzz into measurable operational gains.
The Friction Gap Is Real
Across the industry, we see the same pattern: customers expect seamless, digital-first experiences, while carriers and MGAs struggle behind the scenes with fragmented processes, manual handoffs, and legacy systems.
That growing disconnect is what we call the Friction Gap.
AI can help close it. But only if leaders resist quick fixes and commit to building the right foundation.
Where to Start with AI
AI pays off when it addresses repeatable, high-friction processes - the bottlenecks that quietly erode margins and customer trust.
These aren’t moonshots. They’re everyday pain points where even a 20–40% efficiency gain compounds into millions in savings and stronger customer retention.
Your Biggest Risk? Bad Data
As CTO Magazine put it: “Garbage in, exponential garbage out.”
Most insurers still carry years of data debt:
Legacy platforms and duplicate records
Siloed systems with no common definitions
Inconsistent governance
Without addressing this debt, AI will amplify the problem and not solve it. Success requires:
Cleaning and unifying policy, claim, and customer records
Standardizing APIs to make systems interoperable
Assigning ownership and enforcing governance
Carriers that invest here first are the ones that see sustainable ROI.
Human-in-the-Loop: The Model That Works
The winning AI model in 2025 isn’t full automation, it’s AI that suggests, humans who decide.
This approach:
Builds trust across the organization
Reduces compliance and reputational risk
Creates feedback loops that make the AI better over time
In practice, this means underwriting assistants that propose next steps, or claims models that flag anomalies while human experts make the final call.
KPIs or Nothing
AI without measurement is just experimentation. Every initiative should have hard KPIs attached. For example:
Cut quote turnaround time by 25%
Reduce triage time by 40%
Save $500K in call center costs within six months
When leaders set goals this clear, success isn’t up for debate.
Bottom Line
The opportunity is real but only for carriers and MGAs that tackle data quality, governance, and focused use cases.
2025 won’t reward hype. It will reward execution.
At PS Advisory, we help carriers and MGAs identify the highest-impact starting points, close the Friction Gap, and make AI deliver real ROI.
The insurers who act now will set the pace in 2025. Let’s talk about where AI can deliver the greatest ROI for your business.
