The AI Kickstart Roadmap for Independent Insurance Agencies

The Rundown

Catalyit LIVE’s session on an “AI Kickstart Roadmap for Independent Insurance Agencies” made the case that AI adoption can’t be treated like a side experiment. Hosted by Scott Wingo and featuring SMART Services CEO Jerry Fetty, the session focused on helping agencies build a deliberate AI strategy that improves readiness, efficiency, and security — without creating compliance headaches or operational messes.

The Context

• Fetty warned that AI is already creeping into workflows, whether agencies are actively managing it or not.
• He stressed the need for guardrails, including AI tool inventories, governance policies, data boundaries, and internal controls.
• The discussion also drew a line between public AI tools and enterprise AI systems, urging agencies to match the platform to their risk tolerance and business needs.
• Real-world use cases included drafting emails, translating policy explanations, streamlining onboarding, and improving consistency across routine tasks.
• A major theme: staff training and clear use policies are just as important as the tech itself.

Why it Matters

For independent agencies, AI isn’t just a shiny productivity tool — it’s quickly becoming an operational and compliance issue. The winners likely won’t be the agencies that adopt AI fastest, but the ones that adopt it with structure, security, and a plan for what’s coming next.