Insurance & AI: 5 x more success through smart automation

High inflation is testing the insurance sector to the limit. While the costs for insurance benefits and administration are continuously rising, inflation is weakening the demand for insurance and leading to noticeable losses in premium income. According to the German Insurance Association (GDV), this double pressure on the industry is one of the biggest current challenges. To remain competitive in this challenging environment while maintaining a high level of customer service, you need to find new ways to increase efficiency. AI-based automation, especially in customer service, offers enormous potential to reduce costs and improve service quality at the same time.

Customers expect seamless and personalised service experiences across different channels. They want to have the freedom to choose the channel that best suits their needs and preferences – be it a call to customer service, an email, a chat with an employee, the use of an online portal or a mobile app. However, the flexibility of service times is also a decisive factor for greater customer satisfaction. Customers expect not only continuous availability but also fast and efficient responses to their enquiries at all times, regardless of the channel chosen. Long waiting times or unanswered messages lead to frustration and can affect trust. This makes it all the more important that you set up your customer service efficiently – and strengthen it with intelligent bots. This is because AI assistants process customer enquiries around the clock.

Customers expect insurance companies to provide service beyond standardised answers and processes — right from the first contact. Policyholders appreciate it when they are addressed not only by name but also when customer service has contract data and previous interactions on screen at all times. This creates a feeling of appreciation and trust. With the help of AI, you can easily fulfil these requirements and still work highly efficiently. Modern AI bots clarify issues independently and conclusively and deliver customised solutions.

The insurance industry is faced with a rapidly increasing flood of service requests. Due to climate change, natural hazards such as storms, floods and heatwaves are increasing in frequency and intensity. This leads to an increasing number of claims that insurance companies have to process. At the same time, new legal regulations, for example, in sustainability or consumer protection, are constantly unsettling policyholders and increasing their need for advice and information. AI allows you to adapt the capacity of your customer service flexibly and efficiently to the volume of enquiries.

The ongoing shortage of skilled workers is also causing problems in the insurance industry – mainly because customer service in this area requires specific skills that are not readily available in the labour market. This makes the search for qualified talent extremely difficult for many insurers. A situation with consequences: A lack of staff in customer service leads to long waiting times, inadequate advice, and ultimately higher staff turnover due to overwork. It is therefore important to take countermeasures at an early stage – and to utilise the potential of modern technologies to do so. By using AI to relieve your service employees of tedious routine tasks and allow them to concentrate on more demanding activities, you can improve their working conditions. This is an important step towards greater job satisfaction and a decisive advantage in the competition for qualified specialists.