90%! According to the latest survey by brokers, digitalization will reshape the insurance brokerage ecosystem.

Ask AI · How does digitalization reshape the cooperative relationship between insurance brokers and insurance companies?

The world’s fifth-largest insurance group and the largest insurance service provider in the UK, Aviva Group, recently conducted a broker survey showing that 90% of brokers are now willing to manage their business through digital means. The survey collected responses from 250 insurance brokers between January 23 and February 5, 2026.

Meanwhile, the results indicate that over one-third (36%) of brokers believe that digital innovation is one of the keys to business success, ranking higher than competitive pricing (32%). This is especially evident in strengthening market connections, with 89% of brokers believing that digital innovation is improving the relationship between insurance brokers and insurance companies.

Additionally, nearly 44% of brokers think that current quote and claims management are more transparent, while two-fifths of brokers express a desire to use more artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to provide personalized insights and faster quotes.

The survey also shows that faster claims settlement (46%) and quicker quotes (36%) are top priorities for brokers, with nearly one-third (29%) hoping to achieve these improvements through further automation.

Financial industry research from Yan Shu Institute believes that Aviva Group’s 2026 insurance broker survey not only reveals superficial trends of digitalization in the industry but also uncovers deeper transformations: digital technology evolving from a tool to a core competitive advantage, broker-insurer relationships shifting from confrontation to collaboration, and AI and automation becoming new engines of industry efficiency. This survey, covering 250 brokers over two weeks, essentially declares a global insurance brokerage industry transition from traditional manual services to an intelligent ecosystem. The reasons, impacts, and significance behind this go far beyond the data itself.

1. Explosive Demand: The Underlying Reasons for the Rise of Digital Self-Service

(1) Cost and Efficiency Dual-Driven Forces

Traditional insurance brokers rely on offline communication, paper-based processes, and manual underwriting, with each transaction taking days and human costs accounting for over 60%. Digital self-service streamlines processes online and standardizes them, reducing processing time by over 70%. Brokers can focus their efforts on high-net-worth client maintenance, and efficiency gains directly translate into profit margins. This is the core motivation for 90% of brokers to adopt digitalization.

(2) Generational Shift in Customer Behavior

The new generation will become the main force in insurance consumption. These customers prefer online self-querying, comparison, and purchasing, rejecting cumbersome offline procedures. The essence of brokers’ digital transformation is to adapt to these behavioral changes. The 10% year-over-year growth in digital self-service directly reflects customer demand driving industry supply-side reforms.

(3) Breaking Industry Homogeneity in Competition

Traditional insurance broker competition focuses on low-dimensional factors like price and rebates, leading to internal competition. Digital tools enhance service efficiency, response speed, and personalization, creating barriers to differentiation and encouraging brokers to embrace digital transformation proactively.

2. Value Reconfiguration: The Core Logic of Digital Innovation Surpassing Price

36% of brokers in the survey see digital innovation as a key to success, ranking higher than competitive pricing (32%), marking a shift from “price wars” to “value battles” in the insurance brokerage industry.

(1) Marginal Diminishing Returns of Price Competition

Insurance products are highly homogeneous, with limited room for price reductions. Long-term price wars erode industry profits and shrink service quality. Both brokers and insurers face a “thin profit, hard survival” dilemma, creating an urgent need for new competitive dimensions.

(2) Full-Chain Value Creation through Digital Innovation

Digital innovation is not just about applying single technologies but involves upgrading the entire process: customer acquisition, quoting, underwriting, claims, and after-sales. AI enables rapid quotes and higher conversion rates; automation reduces disputes in claims; digital management lowers operational costs. Ultimately, this creates a win-win situation for “enhanced customer experience + increased broker profitability + risk control for insurers.”

(3) Long-termism Replaces Short-term Gaming

Price is a short-term tactic to attract customers, while the high efficiency, transparency, and personalized services brought by digital innovation are key to long-term customer retention. The shift in brokers’ mindset is fundamentally from “one-time transaction” to “long-term customer management.”

3. Relationship Rebuilding: Digital Innovation Bridges the Gap between Brokers and Insurers

89% of brokers agree that digital innovation improves relationships with insurers, breaking the traditional “broker commissions, insurer cost control” antagonism, and building a digitally collaborative ecosystem is of great significance.

(1) Transparency Eliminates Trust Barriers

In traditional models, information asymmetry exists in quotes, claims, and commission settlements, leading to disputes. Digital systems enable real-time data synchronization, transparent rules for quoting, claims progress, and commission calculations, replacing manual communication and reducing conflicts.

(2) Collaborative Efficiency Lowers Cooperation Costs

Insurers can connect with brokers via digital platforms for bulk quoting, automated underwriting, and rapid claims processing; brokers no longer need to interface with multiple platforms, completing transactions through a one-stop shop. The cooperation cost drops by over 50%, upgrading from “point-to-point communication” to “platform-based collaboration.”

(3) Data Sharing Facilitates Risk Sharing

Digital systems accumulate customer profiles, claims data, and risk features, enabling insurers to price accurately and brokers to recommend precisely, forming a “data-driven risk management system.” This shifts the industry from “each fighting alone” to a shared利益共同体 (benefit community).

4. Technology Implementation: AI and Automation Become Industry Efficiency Essentials

44% of brokers perceive increased transparency in quotes and claims; 40% want to deepen AI and automation applications; 46% prioritize faster claims settlement, highlighting that technological deployment has shifted from “optional” to “necessary.”

(1) AI Addresses Core Industry Pain Points

Slow quoting and claims are two major pain points. AI models large data sets to generate personalized quotes in seconds; automated claims processing via OCR recognition and intelligent review shortens claim cycles from weeks to days, directly meeting brokers’ core needs.

(2) Personalized Services Break Homogeneity

Traditional insurance recommendations are “one-size-fits-all.” AI, based on customer age, occupation, health, assets, etc., generates customized coverage plans, achieving “thousand faces” service, increasing conversion rates and satisfaction.

(3) Automation Liberates Human Resources

29% of brokers want further automation, delegating repetitive tasks like data entry, document organization, and progress tracking to machines, allowing human agents to focus on client consulting, needs analysis, and solution design—realizing “human-machine collaboration” service upgrades.

5. Deep Impact and Industry Significance

(a) For the Insurance Brokerage Industry: Rebuilding Business Models

From “labor-intensive” to “technology-intensive”: digitalization reduces reliance on manpower. Small and medium brokers can benchmark against large institutions using digital tools, leading to a fairer industry landscape.

From “channel intermediaries” to “service operators”: brokers are no longer just product sellers but become providers of digital services. Their value shifts from “earning commissions” to “earning service premiums.”

(b) For Insurance Companies: Digitalization as a Core Competency

Forces insurers to increase technological investment, build open digital platforms, and those offering more efficient digital tools to brokers will seize brokerage channels.

Data accumulation supports precise pricing and risk management, reducing claims ratios and improving profitability.

© For Customers: Dual Enhancement of Experience and Rights

Faster quotes, quicker claims, and higher transparency turn customers from “passive recipients” into “active participants.”

Personalized AI solutions accurately match needs, avoiding “insufficient coverage” or “over-insurance,” promoting insurance inclusiveness.

6. Unique Perspective: Digitalization Is Not Replacing Humans but Upgrading Services

Industry often worries that “digitalization will eliminate brokers,” but survey data proves: Digitalization is an “amplifier” for brokers, not a “replacer.”

Machines handle standardized, repetitive tasks, allowing brokers to focus on emotional communication, complex solutions, and high-net-worth services.

Digital tools lower the entry barrier for brokers, promoting professionalism and standardization, phasing out low-end practitioners who profit solely from information asymmetry, and retaining truly valuable professionals.

7. Future Trends Forecast

Deep integration of AI: extending from quoting and claims to customer demand prediction, risk warning, and renewal reminders, enabling full-process intelligent services.

Ecosystem integration: brokers, insurers, and third-party tech providers will build digital ecosystems with data sharing and service collaboration, forming closed loops.

Compliance and security upgrades: digitalization introduces data privacy and algorithm fairness issues, prompting stricter digital compliance standards.

The core value of Aviva’s survey lies not in the percentage data but in declaring that the digital transformation of the insurance brokerage industry has entered a deep-water zone. Digital innovation is no longer an optional bonus but a survival necessity; efficiency and transparency are no longer just appeals but fundamental standards. In the future, brokers who deeply integrate digital technology with professional services and build collaborative ecosystems will become industry mainstream.