What Agency Leaders Should Really Be Paying Attention To
The Insurance Industry has never had more technology options than it does today.
Agency management systems, CRMs, automation platforms, AI tools, comparative raters, marketing technology, document processing tools, carrier integrations, and countless point solutions all promise to help agencies become more efficient and more profitable. For many agency owners, the challenge is no longer finding technology. It’s deciding which technology is actually worth adopting.
During a recent conversation between IA Valuations and industry leaders, including Brad Winters of Winters Financial Network, Frank Neugubauer of Cincinnati Insurance Companies, and Eric Eschliman of Agent Vista, one theme emerged repeatedly: technology can absolutely help agencies grow and create value, but only when it’s solving a real problem.
For agency owners planning for the future, perhaps the most important takeaway was that technology itself does not create value, but the way an agency uses it, does.
The Biggest Mistake Agencies Make with Technology
Technology has a way of capturing our attention. A new product launches, a vendor gives a compelling demonstration, or everyone at a conference seems to be talking about the latest AI-powered solution. Before long, it becomes easy to assume that because a tool is innovative, it must also be valuable.
But, as Brad Winters pointed out, “shiny object syndrome” is very real.
Many agencies have experienced the frustration of implementing a promising tool only to realize months later that it wasn’t solving a meaningful business problem. The technology may have been impressive, but it wasn’t moving the agency forward. The better approach is to reverse the process.
Instead of starting with technology and trying to find a use for it, agencies should start with a challenge. Are service teams spending too much time on repetitive tasks? Are producers bogged down with research? Are disconnected systems creating inefficiencies? Once a problem is identified, evaluating potential solutions becomes much easier.
As agencies enter their annual planning cycle, this distinction matters. Technology should support strategic goals, not become the goal itself.
You Don’t Need to be a Technology Expert
One of the more reassuring points from the discussion was that agency leaders do not need deep technical expertise to remain competitive. What they do need is curiosity.
The group emphasized that success isn’t dependent on becoming a data scientist or software engineer. Instead, agency leaders should focus on maintaining a willingness to learn and adapt as customer expectations evolve.
As Brad Winters observed, customers quickly adjust to what’s possible. Once clients experience a faster or more convenient way of doing business, they rarely want to return to the old way of doing things. That means agencies don’t necessarily need to be first movers, but they do need to pay attention to changing expectations and identify opportunities to improve the client experience.
For smaller agencies in particular, today’s environment offers more accessible resources than ever before. Whether through consultants, peer networks, online training, or AI tools themselves, agency owners have numerous ways to educate themselves without building an in-house technology department.
Where AI is Delivering Real Value
Much of the public conversation around AI focuses on dramatic predictions about how the technology might change business in the future. The reality inside insurance agencies is often much more practical. Rather than replacing people, most successful implementations are helping employees eliminate repetitive work and spend more time on activities that require human judgement.
For example, Brad Winters shared how his agency uses automation to retrieve policy documents and endorsements, eliminating tedious manual work that previously required employees to navigate multiple carrier portals. The result is not simply improved efficiency; it allows employees to spend more time strengthening relationships and advising clients.
Similarly, AI-powered policy comparison tools can accelerate renewal reviews by highlighting coverage changes and differences between policies. This reduces administrative effort while creating more opportunities for meaningful client conversations.
On the sales side, Eric Eschliman described how technology can gather and organize prospect information before producers ever reach out to a potential client. Instead of spending time searching for information, producers can focus on strategy, relationship development, and problem solving.
In both examples, technology isn’t replacing agency professionals. It’s helping them focus on the work that matters most.
Why Relationships May Become More Valuable, Not Less
One of the most interesting themes from the conversation challenged a common assumption: many fear that advancing technology will make relationships less important. The group suggested the opposite may be true.
As AI and automation become more widely available, smaller and mid-sized agencies gain access to capabilities that were once reserved for the industry’s largest firms. Data analysis, workflow automation, customer insights, and operational efficiencies are becoming increasingly accessible. As these technological advantages become more widespread, relationship quality may become an even stronger differentiator.
Technology can help level the playing field, but it cannot replace trust. Customers still want advice and advocacy from a trusted risk advisor. They still want to know that someone understands their business and will help them navigate difficult situations. As Frank Neugubauer noted, people buy relationships, not machines.
In fact, growing concerns around misinformation, digital impersonation, and AI-generated communication may make genuine human interaction even more valuable. When clients have important decisions to make, many still prefer talking with a trusted advisor rather than relying entirely on automated systems.
This is an important distinction for agency owners evaluating long-term strategy. Technology should enhance relationships, not replace them.
The Link Between Technology and Agency Value
At IA Valuations, we regularly analyze the operational characteristics of high-performing agencies. One observation continues to emerge: simply spending more on technology does not automatically increase agency value. According to data shared during this conversation, agencies with the highest technology expenditures were not necessarily the agencies receiving the highest valuation multiples. The differentiator was efficiency.
The most valuable agencies consistently demonstrated stronger productivity metrics, particularly in terms of revenue generated per employee. Technology contributed to value creation when it allowed employees to manage more business, serve more clients, or focus on higher-value activities.
In other words, technology spending is an investment, not a strategy.
The value comes from improving processes, increasing productivity, enhancing client experiences, and strengthening relationships. Those outcomes create stronger margins, greater scalability, and ultimately higher agency value.
Looking Ahead
Technology will continue to evolve and AI capabilities will continue to improve. New tools will emerge and agency owners will continue to face difficult decisions about where to invest their time and resources. A simple principal is at the center of this conversation: the greatest opportunity is not replacing people, but rather helping people spend more time doing what only humans can do. Build relationships. Provide advice. Solve problems. Create trust. Those are elements of a successful agency that technology cannot replicate.
As agencies plan for the future, the ones that use technology to strengthen those capabilities, rather than distract from them, will likely be the ones creating the most long-term value.
By: Colleen Elliott
Colleen Elliott is the Marketing & Communications Manager on the IA Valuations team. A graduate of The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, she has a background in sales, marketing, and communication. Colleen manages marketing campaigns, communications with agents and state partners, and helps the IA Valuations team from an operational perspective.
About IA Valuations and Agency Link – Founded in 2017, the IA Valuations team has performed over 400 valuations to independent insurance agencies across the U.S. Our advisors have 30+ years of experience guiding agency owners on maximizing their agency value, planning, and legal needs for ownership transition. In addition, IA Valuations has provided perpetuation planning, financial modeling and business planning for independent insurance agencies. Finally, IA Valuations has advised dozens of agency owners on selling their agencies through our Agency Link process. Agency Link is a platform that connects buyers and sellers together to further the growth and strength of the IA system. To learn more about IA Valuations, please visit IAValuations.com or contact@iavaluations.com.
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