How should insurers measure AI value beyond cost savings?

Insurers should measure AI value through customer effort, confidence, relationship health, and employee capability alongside cost savings and speed. A process that costs less to run may still leave customers repeating information or agents handling additional work. Leaders need to assess whether AI improves the service people receive, in addition to whether it reduces costs or improves operations for their companies.

At Digital Insurance 2026, Ryann Foelker, former Director, Strategic Design & Foresight | Innovation, AI & Digital Transformation at American Family Insurance, explained why relationship outcomes belong in that assessment: "This is not just how many reviews were completed, but whether customers were leaving those conversations feeling more confident." She described an AI-supported personal insurance review that helped agents prepare for meaningful coverage conversations. Its value extended beyond completing reviews faster to helping agents explain protection and strengthen customer relationships.

Another recent conference presentation described aligning digital service teams around two shared outcomes: client satisfaction and expense efficiency. That approach allowed teams to weigh improvements against the overall customer experience rather than treat a better result in one channel as sufficient evidence of success.

CFOs, COOs, CX leaders, and AI steering committees should begin with a limited workflow and establish a baseline before introducing AI. Track cost and completion time alongside customer confidence, repeat contact, and the work required of employees and partners. Agree on what improvement should look like, then use the combined results to decide whether to refine or expand the implementation.

Join the upcoming Digital Insurance Summit to compare how insurance leaders measure AI investments against operational performance, customer outcomes, and the relationships their businesses depend on.