Brokers can use artificial intelligence to improve their work each day, but only to “remove effort, not judgment”, former Hollard tech chief Jamie Smith says.

He told a webinar hosted by insurtech Kanopi last week that a broker’s value “still sits in your judgment. The goal isn’t to replace that, it’s to free up time so you can do more of it.”

He says advanced technology can best be used to help with “pre-qualification and triage”.

“Gather client information, structure your submissions, identify any missing data. So by the time you engage with your client, you’ve got a nice, structured form ready to go.

“Let the AI do the heavy lifting on comparing options and identify different coverage.”

Mr Smith says this AI use model can be trusted because “that’s where it’s strong” – looking at patterns and finding what stands out as different during document ingestion.

AI can perform workflow follow-ups, diary entry and task status tracking. It can examine many pages of documents to compare wording, and also draft emails. “Make sure you read it, and you click the send button,” Mr Smith said.

“Use it to help you for that, but not for final product recommendation, complex or unusual risks or advice because the machine gave you the answer.”

Mr Smith recommends businesses define where they won’t use AI and says not everything should be automated. Preparation is key before introducing AI processes.

“High-impact or ambiguous decisions may need human judgment and control. Design friction intentionally. Decide where you need checkpoints or escalation, and start logging decisions properly before you apply AI.

“Otherwise, you’ll just accelerate the mess you already have.”