Is the Third Wave of Insurance Transformation here? Intelligence at scale for core systems

Over the past two years, our work has had the privilege of being recognized by respected industry organizations for the work we do with insurers across the globe. Last year, we were recognized in Everest Group's Insurance IT Services PEAK Matrix Assessment. This year, we were named a finalist in the ISG Software Innovation Awards for our AI-powered insurance transformation approach.

While these recognitions are deeply meaningful to use also prompted to reflect on a broader question: what are analysts, insurers, and the market really rewarding today?

Across underwriting, claims, policy administration, distribution, customer experience, and data transformation, a significant shift is emerging in what insurance leaders prioritize. The conversations taking place today are very different from those of three or four years ago.

Transformation Is No Longer About Technology Refresh

Not long ago, transformation programs were largely evaluated by the systems they replaced and the technology milestones they achieved. Success often meant migrating a legacy platform, modernizing infrastructure, or completing a multi-year implementation.

Today, the discussion starts somewhere else.

Insurance leaders want to understand how quickly a transformation initiative can translate into business outcomes. Whether the goal is improving underwriting productivity, accelerating claims resolution, launching new products faster, or delivering a better policyholder experience, operational impact has become the primary measure of success.

The carriers creating the most momentum are not treating transformation as a technology exercise. They are treating it as a business strategy enabled by technology.

AI Is Becoming an Operating Model Decision

AI has rapidly moved beyond the stage of curiosity and experimentation. Most insurers no longer need to be convinced of AI’s potential. What they are trying to determine is how to operationalize it responsibly and at scale.

The difficult questions are no longer about models. They are about governance, accountability, integration, trust, and measurable value.

Across the market, a growing shift away from isolated pilots toward embedding intelligence directly into underwriting workflows, claims operations, service functions, and decision-making processes is visible. The organizations making the greatest progress are thinking less about individual use cases and more about how AI reshapes the way work gets done across the enterprise.

In many ways, AI is becoming less of a technology discussion and more of an operating model discussion.

The common thread across every function is the same one shaping the industry's third transformation wave — less time on execution, more time on decisions that matter.

Legacy Modernization and AI Must Happen Together

Another significant shift is a growing recognition that modernization and AI can no longer be treated as separate journeys.

Many organizations initially assumed they needed to complete large-scale modernization programs before pursuing meaningful AI initiatives. In practice, waiting for a perfect future state often delays innovation and reduces the value organizations can realize along the way.

The insurers generating the strongest outcomes are pursuing both priorities simultaneously. They are modernizing core platforms, strengthening data foundations, and introducing AI-powered capabilities in parallel. Rather than viewing modernization as a prerequisite to innovation, they see them as complementary efforts that reinforce one another.

Deep Industry Expertise Is Becoming a Differentiator Again

One of the interesting developments in the AI era is that while technology has become more accessible, domain expertise has become more valuable than ever.

Generative AI has lowered the barriers to experimentation, but it has not reduced the complexity of insurance. If anything, it has exposed the gap between demonstrating what AI can do and applying it effectively within complex insurance environments.

The gap between a promising idea and a production-ready solution often comes down to understanding underwriting processes, claims operations, regulatory obligations, data quality considerations, and the practical realities of running an insurance business.

As technology becomes easier to access, industry knowledge becomes harder to replace. The organizations that combine both will continue to have a meaningful advantage.

Has The Insurance Industry Third Transformation Wave arrived?

Our conversations across the insurance sector today point to, industry entering its third transformation wave.

The first wave was digitization. The second was modernization. The third is intelligence at scale.

This shift is fundamentally different. Digitization focused on access. Modernization focused on efficiency. The new wave focuses on decision-making: how insurers underwrite risk, resolve claims, serve policyholders, support distribution partners, and operate entire business functions with greater speed and precision.

This is also why industry recognition is evolving. The market is placing greater value on organizations that can combine industry expertise, engineering discipline, modern platforms, data, and AI into a cohesive transformation strategy.

That is the transformation journey many insurers are now embarking on, and it's one I'm excited to see unfold.