AI & Agents — Liberty Mutual’s 2026 Study

Liberty Mutual released its 2026 Independent Agency Growth Study last week. The numbers, and the take on insurance by agents, are fascinating. To tabulate the statistics, Liberty Mutual reached out to 1,149 agency principals and staff members.

The firm wanted to know about:

• Client retention in insurance agencies

• How insurance customer expectations are changing

• Client acquisition in agencies

• AI adoption in insurance agencies

• AI use cases in agencies

• The growing roles of women in agency leadership

Over the next couple of weeks, Weekly Industry News will do stories on the study. The focus this week is artificial intelligence and the independent agent. It’s the 3rd year Liberty Mutual has included AI in the study.

Liberty Mutual learned the average time saved each by using AI is four hours. An impressive 65% of agents say they have used AI at work in the past year. That’s up from 37% a year ago.

Most agencies are using AI for simple tasks like generating market content and to summarize notes for meetings. Many agencies say they’ll be expanding AI use in the next year to include data analysis and work flow automation.

• Agents saved 4 hours a week on average using AI

• 41% of agents use AI weekly

• 18% of agencies have a well-defined AI use policy

Liberty Mutual’s survey learned AI adoption is growing:

• 65% of agents used AI for work in the past year

• Up from 37% in 2025, a 75% increase

• 41% of agents used AI weekly for work

• An increase from the 18% in 2025

• 69% of agents are interested in using AI for work

• That’s up from 57% in 2025

• 83% of AI users expect the frequency of their AI use to increase in the next year

Agents are starting to have more positive attitudes about AI:

• 45% of the agents surveyed find AI an opportunity and not a threat

• That’s an increase from 28% in 2024 and 35% in 2025

• 56% say AI can make them more efficient

• That’s up from 39% in 2024

• In the future, 52% of agents agree AI will help grow their agency

• That number was 33% in 2024

• 70% of millennial and Gen Z employees like AI and think it will make their business more efficient

• Just 55% of Gen X feel that way

• Only 42% of boomers believe it will make their business more efficient

• 66% of millennial and Gen Z employees say AI will grow their business in the future

• Only 49% of Gen Z believe that

• Just 42% of baby boomers are buying the argument

AI use is steadily growing in the independent agency system:

• 43% say their agency is very likely to put AI into practice in the next five years

• That is up from 25% in 2024

• 14% of agents AI tools, or AI solutions are being used at their agency

• That’s more than twice 2025’s numbers

• Larger agencies with 11 or more employees, or $5 million or more in annual premium, are more likely than smaller agencies to have used AI tools

AI in the workplace & policies in place for controls:

• Only 18% of agents say a well-defined policy on the use of AI is in place

• That’s barely up from 12% in 2025

• 29% of agency owners & principals claim to know enough to make business decisions about AI

• That’s not much of an increase from 26% in 2025 and 22% in 2024

• Just 22% of agents trust AI with business data and client information

• A slight increase from 19% in 2025

Actual AI use:

• 48% of agents using AI say they've saved about 2 hours of work per week

• 38% say they’ve saved 3 to 7 hours per week

• 14% of agents claim to have saved 8+ hours per week using AI

What agents are currently using AI to do:

• Summarize meeting notes — 44%

• Generate marketing content — 43%

• Compare policy details — 34%

• Automate routine tasks like data entry or document maintenance — 26%

From agents the study went to agencies. This is what agencies are now using AI to do:

• 18% of agents say their agency uses AI to create marketing content

• 17% of agencies use AI for the transcription and summaries meetings

• 13% use it for finding gaps and for accuracy in policies

• 10% like it for marketing automation

• 9% use it for routine tasks

Here’s a list of how agents and agencies plan to use AI in the near future:

Generate content for marketing

AI use today: 18%

Considering for AI in 1 or 2 years: 35%

Transcribing and summarizing meeting notes

AI use today: 17%

Considering for AI in 1 or 2 years: 34%

Comparing policy details for accuracy and gaps

AI use today: 13%

Considering for AI in 1 or 2 years: 39%

Marketing automation

AI use today: 10%

Considering for AI in 1 or 2 years: 41%

Analyzing customer or agency data

AI use today: 9%

Considering for AI in 1 or 2 years: 41%

Training or coaching sales people

AI use today: 7%

Considering for AI in 1 or 2 years: 32%

Taking a customer's initial contact or question

AI use today: 6%

Considering for AI in 1 or 2 years: 28%

Source link: Liberty Mutual — https://bit.ly/3TsCgJE