Where Small Carriers Saw ROI
Where pilots tend to pay back first: intake, note summarization, leakage controls, and triage.
Small carriers usually don’t win by “doing everything with AI.” They win by removing manual effort in repeatable steps and improving how decision-critical info is captured and reviewed.1
Where ROI shows up first
In early pilots, the fastest payback tends to come from “assistive” capabilities that sit alongside the current workflow:
- Intake triage: route to the right queue, spot missing fields, and standardize first contact details.
- Notes summarization: convert long narratives into a structured summary that preserves decisions (coverage/liability/severity/next action).
- Document extraction: pull key values from PDFs and link back to the source for review.
The “secret” is scope: focus on 1–2 steps that burn time every day. Don’t start with full automation.
A pilot design that makes ROI measurable
A good pilot is controlled and side-by-side: the workflow stays the same, but reviewers get an assist view (summaries, flags, extracted fields). That makes it safe—and makes outcomes measurable.
If the team trusts the assist layer, you can then graduate to limited automation (for example: drafting a summary that an adjuster edits and approves).
A simple ROI model you can explain in one slide
For early pilots, keep the model simple. ROI usually comes from a combination of:
- Time saved: less reading, faster handoffs, fewer “where are we?” pings.
- Rework avoided: fewer missed requirements, fewer incomplete submissions, fewer reopened loops.
- Quality lift: consistent capture of decision-critical details.
ROI (monthly) ≈ (minutes saved per claim × claims/month × loaded cost/minute)
+ (rework avoided × cost per rework)
+ (quality lift × expected value) Sources
- EY — Unleashing the potential of generative AI: a game changer for P&C insurance claims. ey.com