How AI agents are reshaping insurance sales

AI systems are evolving from simple information and comparison tools into powerful engines that prepare decisions and trigger concrete actions. At the heart of this shift is a concept that is currently most visible in retail: agentic commerce.

Agentic commerce in online retail

In online retail, AI-based assistants such as ChatGPT already handle product research, comparisons and preselection, before seamlessly guiding users into the purchasing process. Platforms such as Amazon, Shopify or Walmart are opening up their infrastructures to enable this kind of AI-mediated interaction.

At the same time, new payment infrastructures are emerging – from providers such as Visa, Mastercard and Stripe – that make it technically possible for AI systems to initiate and complete transactions.

For now, the actual purchase remains an active decision by the customer. However, we are already seeing where the journey may lead: today, AI systems handle research and comparison; in the medium term, they could make preselected recommendations that customers merely confirm. In the longer term, AI agents could take decisions themselves, within clearly defined parameters. The real shift, therefore, takes place before the transaction – at the point where options are assessed and narrowed down.

Current obstacles in insurance

The insurance sector is already showing early stages of this development. AI systems are taking over parts of the advisory process, structuring customer needs and comparing tariffs. Initial ChatGPT-based applications in the associated marketplace now allow consumers to receive quotes and product recommendations directly via conversational interfaces.

The actual policy purchase, however, still takes place via the insurers’ own systems. Users are guided out of the AI environment and complete the contract on the provider’s platform.

A key reason why completion remains with the providers lies in regulation. Advisory duties, documentation requirements and legally valid customer consent all have to be fulfilled, and so far these obligations are tightly linked to insurers’ proprietary systems.

From a technical standpoint, developments such as the proposed European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) could enable insurance contracts to be concluded entirely via AI agents. But this would also require a clear legal framework before it becomes reality.

There is another reason why agentic commerce is particularly demanding for insurers: highly consultative products are defined by a multitude of performance criteria. For automated systems to work reliably, benefits, conditions and tariff features must be described in a standardised, unambiguous way and be directly comparable.

A new player in the distribution landscape

Even so, agentic commerce is fundamentally reshaping the roles within sales and distribution across industries. Alongside customers and providers, AI systems are emerging as a new type of intermediary that aggregates information, evaluates options and makes pre-selections.

For customers, this means their influence is shifting. While search and comparison are still active steps today, parts of the decision-making process can increasingly be delegated. AI systems structure the shortlist automatically, based on individual preferences.

For providers, one thing is clear: digital commerce is at a turning point. This is the moment to shape that future actively – and to do so early.

Text: Luisa-Marie Schmolke, ERGO Innovation Lab