Every few months, a new survey lands confirming what many insurance industry insiders already know: businesses are leaning into AI, results are generally positive, and the risks are real but manageable with the right oversight. Gallagher’s 2026 AI Adoption and Risk Survey is notable, however, because of the scale and specificity of what it found in terms of the ways businesses are working with AI.

More than 1,200 global businesses participated. The findings matter for anyone in insurance, whether you’re advising clients or running your own operations.

AI Adoption in Business Is No Longer Optional

According to the study, a year ago, 45% of businesses had operationalized AI in some part of their operations. That number is now up to 63%. Even more telling, in 2023, 18% of businesses weren’t experimenting with AI at all. Today, that figure has dropped to just 4%.

For insurance brokers and carriers tracking enterprise AI adoption trends, that shift indicates that the focus has become operational rather than experimental. With 82% of respondents reporting a positive organizational impact, the productivity case for AI in the workplace is no longer something businesses are choosing to measure rather than debate.

AI Risks in Insurance Are Growing Alongside the Benefits

Skills gaps remain the most commonly cited challenge, with more than half of respondents saying they’re struggling to find and develop the talent needed to use AI effectively. That’s a people and training problem rather than a technology one, and it won’t resolve itself just because adoption keeps climbing.

The other persistent issues are familiar to anyone working in insurance risk management: AI errors and misinformation (flagged by 57% of respondents), legal and reputational exposure from misuse (56%), and data privacy risks (55%). These aren’t theoretical. One in five insurance professionals surveyed said a client had experienced a loss tied to AI-related risks in the past year, and just over half of those losses were covered by existing insurance.

AI liability coverage is struggling to keep up. Most insurance professionals featured in the survey described current policy wording as too vague for AI-related claims. The industry’s closest comparison is how cyber insurance developed — slowly, through accumulated claims experience. That’s a workable path forward, but it means meaningful coverage gaps will exist in the near term.

AI Tools for Insurance Brokers and Carriers: Why the Difference Matters

For brokers and carriers, there’s a practical takeaway here that goes beyond advising clients on AI risk.

The tools your own teams use matter just as much (if not more!) General-purpose AI is widely available and genuinely useful, but it wasn’t built with insurance workflows, compliance requirements, or carrier guidelines in mind. When something goes wrong with a generic tool in an insurance context, the consequences tend to land in familiar places: E&O exposure, a damaged client relationship, a compliance conversation you didn’t want to have.

Insurance-specific AI technology, designed around how brokers and carriers actually work, reduces that friction. Training your team on these modern AI insurance tools and deploying them in a thoughtful way can fit your business, meet your compliance obligations, and protect your clients.

The Bigger Picture

The Gallagher survey puts a number on something the industry has been feeling for a while: the window for a cautious, wait-and-see approach is closing. Most of your peers are already using AI in some capacity. The differentiator now isn’t adoption — it’s how thoughtfully you’ve approached it.

Zywave helps brokers and carriers put AI to work in ways that are practical, compliant, and built for the insurance industry. Learn more about how Zywave supports your business by exploring our resource center or contact us for a demo.