Insights from the Datos Regional Life Insurance, Annuities, and Group Benefits Forum: Agentic AI

Sureify recently attended Datos Regional Life Insurance, Annuities, and Group Benefits Forum: Agentic AI, where carriers, technology leaders, and industry partners came together to discuss what’s next for AI in insurance. Jim Amarando, Senior Technical Solutions Consultant at Sureify, also took the stage to share Sureify’s perspective during his session, The Distribution AI Fast Pass.

A year ago, insurers were still talking about possibilities and pilots. This year, focus has shifted to execution, scale, and measurable business value. We heard three themes over and over in Des Moines – all of them about speed and ROI.

1. Carriers Are Done Waiting

74% of life and annuity carriers already have AI in production, they’re not waiting to try new things out. “Doing it good enough now is better than doing it perfect later.”

Carriers and Distributors that are making progress are learning by doing. Meanwhile, those that are stuck in the planning stages risk falling behind.

2. The Challenge Isn’t AI. It’s Everything Around It.

If there was one quote that seemed to resonate across sessions and conversations, it was this: “The barrier isn’t budget, it’s talent.”

We heard that carriers struggle to connect people, process, and technology across legacy environments. This is exactly what Sureify has seen and is focused on solving: how to create the right foundation for AI to scale. Using Disney’s famous “Utilidor” system as an analogy, Jim highlighted how truly exceptional experiences need the infrastructure operating behind the scenes.

And honestly, that’s an area where Sureify has invested heavily for years. We’ve seen firsthand that sustainable AI outcomes require connected systems, trusted data, and workflows that reflect how insurance actually gets done.

3. The Industry Is Looking Beyond Efficiency

Common discussions we had with peers centered on measurement. AI initiatives today lack clearly defined KPIs. As a result, measuring ROI remains a challenge.

That conversation naturally led to what many see as the next phase of adoption.

Over the next 12 to 24 months, the industry is expected to shift from efficiency-focused use cases to more agentic, decision-oriented AI. The focus will move toward systems that can recommend, orchestrate, and execute portions of underwriting, claims, and intake workflows.

Our participation at Datos was only the beginning of the conversation. To explore the actionable strategies for AI operationalization we presented further, I invite carrier teams to schedule a remote briefing or an in-person lunch-and-learn. Please reach out to me for additional details and to book your session.