Shaping the future of insurance: Personalization, AI, and tech-driven opportunities in 2026

At the start of 2026 the insurance landscape is evolving at a remarkable pace. From the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) to the growing demand for hyper-personalized experiences, we’ll explore the future of insurance by gathering insights from a panel of industry experts. Learn how agencies and carriers can leverage technology to enhance the customer journey, improve risk prevention, and unlock greater operational efficiency. Our panel includes: 

• Mimi Chizever, Vice President for Emerging Technology, Nationwide 
• Swathi Jillella, Director, Emerging Technology Research and Exploration, Nationwide 
• Judy Sivy, CEO, ProtectALL Insurance 
• Jason Walker, President, Agency Revolution 

When it comes to risk prevention, what technology do you see clients and carriers embrace the most? Where do you think there is opportunity?

Mimi Chizever: We are seeing strong traction in risk prevention with Internet of Things (IoT)-powered solutions, particularly telematics and smart-home ecosystems, because they are relatively easy to deploy and do not require a full operational overhaul. In personal and commercial vehicles, telematics gives us and our customers real-time insight into speed, braking, distraction, and route risk, which enables usage-based insurance, safer-driving coaching, and faster, more objective claims handling. In homes, smart IoT devices such as water-leak sensors, automatic shutoff valves, smoke and CO detectors, temperature and humidity sensors, and connected security help prevent or reduce losses from fire, water, and theft, often paired with premium credits, subsidized devices, or installation support. We also see agricultural, industrial, and commercial IoT, enabled by AI-powered video summarization tools and computer vision, supporting equipment health, environmental monitoring, worker safety, slip-and-fall avoidance, and event verification, with advancing predictive analytics and machine learning refining loss control, underwriting, and pricing. The next opportunity on the horizon is true closed-loop prevention, such as smart homes that detect leaks, shut off water, and dispatch mitigation, or fleet programs that enroll high-risk drivers into personalized coaching. By combining IoT with increasingly autonomous AI frameworks, insurers can focus human attention on the riskiest driving behaviors or properties, predict which alerts matter, and use micro-interventions, coaching, and incentives to make prevention a continuous, near real-time feedback loop across homes, vehicles, and businesses. 

Swathi Jillella: Nationwide is shifting our focus from a “repair and replace” model to a “predict and prevent” model. Currently, we see massive embrace of Internet of Things devices and telematics—not just in personal auto, but in smart home sensors and commercial fleet monitoring.  

The real “frontier” for 2026 is computer vision and digital twins. At Nationwide, we have an opportunity to use high-resolution aerial imagery and AI-driven property analysis to help members understand their risk profile in real-time. Imagine a “digital twin” of a policyholder’s home or business that alerts them when their roof integrity might be compromised or when brush fire risk increases. The opportunity lies in proactive resilience—giving the member the tools to protect themselves before the claim ever happens. 

Judy Sivy: Telematics and connected home devices like water-leak and fire detection are the most widely adopted risk-prevention technologies today. Customers are motivated to adopt technology for the potential discounts. However, where I see the biggest opportunity is in the messaging. These tools are often positioned around discounts, but the real value is safety. Telematics is a great example—especially for parents of teen drivers. The data can be used as a proactive coaching tool, helping parents have better conversations and reinforce safer driving habits before something goes wrong. When technology is tied back to protecting your family, not just lowering a premium, adoption becomes much more meaningful. 

What are the greatest opportunities to use technology to improve the customer experience?

Mimi Chizever: The greatest opportunities in customer experience come from making insurance feel easier, more transparent, and more tailored to a customer’s context. Emerging technologies, especially conversational and agentic AI, are poised to drive a steep change rather than just incremental gains. Instead of long, static forms, customers can interact through natural conversational interfaces across web, mobile, chat, and voice that understand implication and intent, such as “I just had a pipe burst, what do I do?” Agentic AI can work behind the scenes to orchestrate complex, multi-step tasks like initiating First Notice of Loss, collecting photos, checking coverage, scheduling inspections, and keeping the customer updated. The same AI capabilities can enable real-time track-my-claim style visibility, proactive notifications, and clear, plain-language communications, with the ability for customers to ask follow-up questions in conversation. Embedded and contextual experiences will make insurance show up naturally in the flows where people already are, such as financing a home, buying a car, or running payroll, while AI copilots can give agents, brokers, and service teams a single, augmented view of the customer with recommended next steps. Taken together, these shifts point to a potential revolution in the experience and interactions with our customers. 

Swathi Jillella: The highest-value opportunities are about reducing friction and being proactively helpful: it’s the removal of friction through “invisible technology.” Technology should make interactions easier, more predictable, and more personal. 

In 2026, we are looking at multi-modal AI interfaces. This goes beyond simple chatbots. It’s about a seamless experience where a customer can start a claim via a voice assistant, upload a video of the damage for rapid assessment, and receive a payment via digital wallet. For Nationwide, it’s about using technology to be more “human.” If we automate the routine data entry and administrative “noise,” our associates and agents can focus on providing the empathy and expert advice that customers need during their most stressful moments.

Judy Sivy: The biggest opportunity is cutting down on the back-and-forth that frustrates customers—especially during new business, renewals, and claims. Clients don’t want to answer the same questions multiple times or chase down documents. Technology that keeps information in one place and streamlines those everyday service tasks can make a big difference.   

Proactive communication matters just as much. Automatic updates, easy access to documents, and visibility into what’s happening without having to ask goes a long way. From the agency side, having real-time visibility into claims is especially important—it allows us to step in, explain what’s happening, and help bridge the gap between the carrier and the client when questions or issues come up. The goal isn’t to replace the advisor, but to free them up to focus on guidance and advocacy when it’s needed most. 

Jason Walker: The greatest opportunities to leverage technology for enhancing customer experience in the insurance industry lie in personalization and seamless interaction. With automation and AI-driven tools, agencies can provide tailored experiences that meet the unique needs of each client. By utilizing AI-generated content, agencies can efficiently create personalized communications for key milestones such as policy renewals or claim filings. This not only strengthens customer relationships but also ensures consistent engagement, which is crucial in a competitive market. The ability to automate and optimize workflows allows agencies to focus on building deeper connections with clients, ultimately improving retention and satisfaction. 
 
Moreover, technology facilitates a client-centric approach, enabling customers to interact with their agents through various digital channels. Agencies are increasingly adopting self-service forms, live chat and text messaging to cater to clients’ preferences for digital communication. This continued shift towards a digital-first approach ensures that clients have easy access to services and information, enhancing their overall experience. As agencies continue to integrate these technologies, they are better positioned to meet evolving client expectations and stay ahead in the industry.

AI and its impact to the industry continues to be a top topic. How have you seen agents and carriers embrace the technology?

Mimi Chizever: We are seeing both agents and carriers move from experimenting with AI to embedding it directly into day-to-day work, particularly through copilots and early agentic systems that can take action within workflows. On the carrier side, AI is being integrated into core operations, with specialized models helping underwriters search and interpret guidelines, summarize complex submissions and records, and classify service and policy-change requests efficiently. Claims teams are using generative AI to summarize thousands of claim log notes each week, allowing adjusters to spend more time listening, investigating, and showing empathy instead of sifting through files. Insurers are also deploying AI agents to automate parts of claims triage and high-volume service work, as well as powering internal knowledge assistants that let associates query policy, product, and procedure content in natural language rather than searching manuals.  

On the agent and broker side, many employees are interested in AI, with younger staff driving adoption and agency owners focusing on policies and training to ensure AI augments rather than threatens roles. Forward-leaning agencies are embedding AI into CRMs and agency management systems for lead assessment, prospect research, and next-best-action recommendations, giving producers and CSRs lightweight assistants that prep outreach, surface talking points, and streamline documentation. Organizations are investing in AI governance, risk frameworks, and internal model catalogs to safely scale from a handful of pilots to dozens of production use cases across underwriting, claims, customer service, and distribution. 

Swathi Jillella: We’ve moved past the hype cycle of generative AI and into the utility era. Carriers are embracing AI for operational intelligence. We’ve seen this internally with projects like Contract AI for procurement teams—using AIto search thousands of documents in minutes to compare contracts, identify insights and risks that would take humans days or months to find. Agents are embracing AI as a “co-pilot.” The best agents are using AI to synthesize huge amounts of client data to help identify potential opportunities to expand coverage. It’s helping them move from being “policy sellers” to “risk advisors.” 

The commercial winners are teams that pair measurable business outcomes with strong governance and integrate AI into daily workflows so staff see immediate benefit. Nationwide’s sensible approach is to pilot rapidly, require explainability and audit trails, and scale only where we demonstrate clear productivity or customer-value improvements. 

Judy Sivy: Most agencies are using AI as a support tool to work smarter day to day. It’s being used to compare quotes to issued policies, analyze coverage differences, draft emails to clients and carriers, and keep communication consistent. When integrated into agency management systems, it can also automatically summarize and log emails and phone calls, summarize activity, and create follow-up tasks so nothing gets missed. 

AI is also showing up in phone systems and on agency websites to handle routine questions and improve responsiveness. When it’s executed well, it doesn’t replace the agent—it frees up the more administrative tasks so agents can spend more time on client relationships and providing meaningful customer experience.  

Jason Walker: AI has become an indispensable tool in the insurance industry, with agents embracing it to enhance efficiency and improve client interactions. Agencies are utilizing AI to automate repetitive tasks, such as drafting emails and responding to client inquiries allowing them to focus on more strategic activities. This reinvestment of time into personalized client engagements not only improves efficiency but also strengthens client relationships. Additionally, AI is being used to optimize process workflows, enabling agencies to identify areas for improvement and implement changes that enhance overall effectiveness. 
 
Furthermore, agencies are leveraging AI-generated content to maintain consistent communication and build a strong brand identity across multiple channels. Agencies are using AI-generated content to create a unified brand presence through social media, blogging, texting, web content and even direct mail. By using AI to draft content for key client milestones and educational tools, agencies ensure that they remain active and relevant online. This proactive engagement not only enhances client satisfaction but also boosts retention by keeping agencies top of mind. As AI continues to evolve, its integration into daily operations will become even more critical for agencies looking to stay competitive and meet the changing needs of their clients. 

How do you see the role of personalization evolving, and what opportunities does it present for agencies and carriers?

Mimi Chizever: We are entering an era of hyper-personalization, where personalization moves far beyond using a name in an email, but rather transforms into an always-on, data-driven understanding of each customer’s risk, preferences, personality, and context. For agencies, this creates an opportunity to deepen their role as knowledgeable, trusted advisors, with AI-enhanced insights that surface specific risks and coverage and prevention opportunities for each client, enabling more relevant outreach, tailored options, and higher-quality conversations. This could take the form of a renewal conversation that reflects real changes in a client’s operations or recent environmental and climate shifts, proactive outreach when new exposures appear, or personalized options that balance cost, coverage, and risk appetite.  

For carriers, the same capabilities enable the design of modular products and customer journeys that can be assembled and adjusted at the individual or micro-segment level while still running on a common, compliant core, improving speed to market and operational efficiency. Shared personalization engines across carriers and agencies can power consistent, connected experiences across self-service, contact centers, and producers, so each interaction builds on the last. Ultimately, hyper-personalization aligns economic outcomes by matching protection, prevention, and service to real customer needs, increasing satisfaction and loyalty, managing loss costs more effectively, and supporting more targeted, sustainable growth for both agencies and carriers. 

Swathi Jillella: Personalization used to mean “putting the customer’s name in an email.” In 2026, it means hyper-contextualization. With the data and expertise we have at Nationwide, we can offer usage-based coverage. If a commercial client only operates their machinery on weekdays, or if a personal lines member is a seasonal driver, their coverage should reflect that. 

For agencies, this is a goldmine for retention. When an agent can reach out and say, “Based on your specific driving patterns and home upgrades, we’ve found a way to optimize your coverage,” they are providing a level of value that a generic “quote-bot” cannot match. It transforms the insurance relationship from a “bill you pay once a month” to a “service that evolves with your life.” 

Judy Sivy: Technology is making it easier to deliver a more personal experience without it feeling forced or scripted. When agencies use data and AI well, clients receive information, reminders, and guidance that actually applies to them—not generic messages sent to everyone.  From the client’s perspective, it feels like their advisor knows them and is paying attention.  

Jason Walker: Personalization is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of effective communication and customer engagement within the insurance industry. As technology continues to advance, the role of personalization is evolving from basic segmentation to hyper-personalized experiences tailored to individual preferences and behaviors. This evolution presents opportunities.

Personalization allows for more meaningful interactions between agents and their clients. By leveraging data analytics and AI-driven insights, agencies can understand client needs on a deeper level, offering tailored advice and products that align with individual life and business stages and risk profiles. This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also builds trust and loyalty, leading to long-term relationships and increased client retention.

Moreover, personalization opens up opportunities for cross-selling and upselling by identifying complementary products that suit a client’s current and future needs. Agencies can benefit from increased revenue streams while providing greater value to their clients. 

Are there other insurance technology trends you’re looking forward to gaining momentum going into 2026?

Mimi Chizever: Looking ahead, insurance is becoming more intelligent, predictive, and seamless. Generative and agentic AI can act as always-on copilots for underwriting, claims, and agency workflows, taking action while humans stay in control. Quantum computing will begin to enable faster, more precise portfolio, reinsurance, and pricing decisions. Ambient intelligence in homes, vehicles, and workplaces will monitor conditions and prevent losses, shifting insurance from indemnification to proactive protection. Smart homes, connected devices, and consumer robotics will create new risk categories while enabling automated inspections, dynamic coverage, and maintenance partnerships. Embedded, contextual insurance is expected to scale with daily activities, powered by interoperable data across carriers, agencies, and IoT platforms. Customers will expect seamless, AI-driven experiences with remembered context, proactive suggestions, and rapid resolutions. Agencies and carriers that deliver this while maintaining trust, transparency, ethical AI, and operational resilience will set the standard for the next decade. The leaders who emerge in the coming several years will be those who pair advanced technology with disciplined execution, governance, and customer trust. 

Swathi Jillella: I’m particularly excited about two things: Embedded insurance and richer portfolio risk modeling through digital twins and remote sensing. 

1. Embedded Insurance: We are moving toward insurance being a “feature” of a purchase rather than a separate transaction. Whether you are buying a car, a home, or a piece of industrial equipment, the protection should be baked into the point of sale. 
2. Richer Portfolio Risk Modeling through Digital Twins and Remote Sensing: We are moving away from looking at portfolios as spreadsheets and toward looking at them as living, digital environments. By using high-resolution satellite imagery and aerial sensing, we can create ‘Digital Twins’ of entire geographic areas or complex commercial properties. This allows us to do two things at a scale we’ve never seen: 
   • Granular underwriting: We can understand the risk of a specific property—like the overhanging branch over a roof or the proximity of brush to a warehouse—without ever sending a human on-site providing a convenient and efficient experience compared to an in-person inspection. This speeds up the underwriting process and helps identify properties with hazards that can lead to future claims, helping customers avoid losses before they occur and maintain safer properties. 
   • Proactive catastrophe response: If a storm is approaching, we can use these digital models to simulate the impact on our specific portfolio in real-time, allowing us to reach out to members before the event with specific mitigation advice. 

Each opens new product economics and distribution models but also requires disciplined partner management and operational readiness to scale.  

Judy Sivy: I’m really looking forward to seeing more progress in using technology to make the day-to-day work inside an agency easier and more efficient. First, AI that actually helps behind the scenes — things like reducing manual data entry, speeding up renewals, and helping draft or summarize information — so teams spend less time on busywork and more time serving clients and growing the business.  Second, better connections between systems. Most agencies don’t need more software; they need the systems they already use to talk to each other. When information flows cleanly, work gets done faster, mistakes drop, and growth becomes more manageable. 

Jason Walker: Looking ahead to 2026, several technology trends are set to gain traction, offering agents new avenues for innovation and customer engagement. One notable trend is the shift from search engine optimization (SEO) to answer engine optimization (AEO). As AI-driven search engines prioritize direct answers, agents must adapt their content strategies to provide concise, relevant information. By structuring content in a question-and-answer format and simplifying it for easy consumption, agents can enhance their online visibility and credibility, attracting more customers through AI search results.

Another exciting development is the use of voice AI to support lead generation and customer service. Voice AI can streamline the prospecting process by gathering preliminary information from potential customers and directing them through the correct process funnels. This technology can engage prospects through conversational interactions, capturing essential details and routing them to the appropriate services or agents. For existing customers, voice AI can efficiently handle routine inquiries, guide them through service options, and ensure they receive timely assistance. By integrating voice AI, agents can improve both prospecting efficiency and customer service, creating a more seamless and responsive experience.

Additionally, the focus on niche coverages and building specialized customer experiences is expected to gain momentum. Agents who concentrate on niche markets can differentiate themselves by offering expertise in specific areas, thereby building stronger relationships with customers seeking personalized insurance solutions. By leveraging technology to identify and serve niche markets, agents can create tailored experiences that meet unique customer needs and stand out in a crowded marketplace.

About our panelists

Mimi Chizever is currently the Vice President for Emerging Technology at Nationwide. In this role, Mimi leads high-performing teams to drive the rapid adoption of emerging technology at Nationwide, including the integration of Generative AI. To enable and advance Nationwide’s AI capabilities, Mimi spearheaded the development of a robust foundation for activating Generative AI to enhance productivity and customer service. These efforts include leading initiatives to bolster associate expertise across the enterprise, establishing governance and ethical responsibility, and fostering a culture of innovation. 

Swathi Jillella leads R&D for Emerging Technology and Innovation at Nationwide, where she transforms bold concepts into scalable ecosystems. With over 22 years of expertise spanning architecture, engineering, and innovation, she specializes in proving the ‘art of the possible’ while driving new distribution models and modern product economics. Swathi holds an M.S. in Computer Science. 

Judy Sivy is the CEO of ProtectALL Insurance, where she leads with a commitment to excellence, innovation, and client-focused service. With decades of experience in the insurance industry, she has built a reputation as a knowledgeable and trusted leader. Her career began in commercial insurance at Liberty Mutual, where she developed a strong foundation in risk management and client advocacy. She later transitioned to a property and casualty agent role at a large brokerage, gaining invaluable expertise in helping individuals and businesses navigate complex coverage needs. 

Jason Walker is the President of Agency Revolution (AR), which offers insurance agencies turnkey digital marketing, sales and service solutions to achieve operational efficiency and profitable growth. The AR suite includes websites, sales and service pipelines, marketing automation, texting and online review and reputation management. AR has integrated with the leading third-party agency management systems (AMS) and customer relationship management (CRM) technologies to ensure timely, relevant and personalized communications around the insured’s journey.