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InsurTech is changing more than how people buy insurance: it is reshaping service, pricing, claims, and loss prevention. The five biggest shifts range from tools already used by insurers—such as AI and mobile claims—to blockchain applications that remain limited. Their promise is greater convenience, personalization, or prevention, but none guarantees lower premiums, faster settlements, or fairer decisions.
1. AI and generative AI across insurance workflows
What is changing
Insurers use or explore AI for customer service, claims handling, fraud detection, data analysis, information gathering, and risk assessment. Generative AI can produce or summarize text and help staff find information; other AI systems may classify claims, detect patterns, or support decisions. These uses can affect what customers experience, even when the technology is not visible in an app or conversation.
How mature it is
Adoption is substantial in the European Economic Area, though adoption does not mean every system is fully integrated or proven to improve outcomes. EIOPA’s 2026 report, based on its 2025 survey of 347 insurers in 25 EEA countries, found that 65% were already using generative AI and 23% planned to use it. Those figures describe reported use and plans, not the share of insurance decisions made autonomously by AI.
In the United States, the NAIC’s AI Model Bulletin was adopted in December 2023. As of March 2026, the NAIC said its AI Systems Evaluation Tool was being piloted by 12 states; adoption was anticipated at the Fall 2026 National Meeting, not yet completed at the time of that status update.
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What customers should watch
AI may help insurers handle routine questions or process information, but it can also produce errors, obscure how a decision was reached, or reflect bias in data or system design. EIOPA has also highlighted cyber and operational risks, reliance on external providers, and the possibility that dependence on a small number of providers could concentrate risk. When an automated decision affects coverage, pricing, or a claim, customers should be able to seek an explanation and a human review.
2. Telematics, connected homes, and wearables
How connected data is used
Usage-based auto insurance can use driving behavior to tailor pricing. Connected-home sensors may detect water leaks, smoke, or unusual activity and give occupants or insurers an earlier chance to respond. Some life and health offerings link wearables with wellness programs. These technologies can make risk assessment more individualized and support prevention rather than responding only after a loss.
The trade-off in personalization
More detailed data can also mean more sensitive data collection. Customers should understand what information a program collects, why it is needed, how long it is retained, and whether participation is optional or affects price or eligibility. Data security and clear explanations matter because driving, home activity, or health-related information can reveal private patterns.
Granular pricing can have distributional consequences as well as individual benefits. In an April 15, 2026 speech, EIOPA Chairperson Petra Hielkema noted that driving patterns may reflect circumstances such as shift work or socioeconomic conditions. A pricing model that treats those patterns as simple risk signals may create unfair outcomes, even if it uses more data.
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3. Digital service and mobile claims
What customers can do digitally
Chatbots can answer basic billing, policy, and claims questions; voice assistants can provide basic policy information; and mobile apps can let customers submit photos or other claim materials and track progress. Photo-based claims tools can reduce the friction of documenting visible damage, while digital service can make routine interactions available without a phone call.
Where convenience stops
A digital submission is not the same as a settled claim. These tools can make it easier to send information or check status, but they do not guarantee faster settlement, a favorable coverage decision, or a better outcome. Complex claims may still require investigation, additional documentation, or direct contact with an adjuster. Customers should retain records of submitted materials and use the insurer’s stated escalation route if a digital channel does not resolve an issue.
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4. Flexible digital distribution and app-based cover
Coverage designed for changing needs
Digital distribution can make it easier to find or manage insurance through a phone. The U.S. Government Accountability Office documented products tailored to particular needs, including renters or auto cover that could be turned on or off through a mobile app. For some customers, this kind of access may fit a short-term or changing need better than a traditional purchase process.
Check the policy, not just the interface
An app-based buying or management experience does not by itself establish that a policy is “embedded insurance.” That term generally refers to insurance offered as part of another purchase or service; it should not be applied to every product available through an app. Nor does a convenient interface tell customers whether coverage is active, what exclusions apply, or how to make a claim. Those details still depend on the actual policy terms.
GAO’s 2019 report also discussed risks associated with innovative uses of insurance technology, including data accuracy, privacy, data ownership, and the possibility that rating models could embed prohibited factors. Those points are a documented risk analysis, not evidence of how prevalent a particular practice is today.
5. Blockchain and smart contracts
Potential insurance uses
Blockchain is a shared recordkeeping approach that can make entries auditable across participants. In insurance, proposed uses include maintaining policy records, streamlining administration, improving claims transparency, and reducing opportunities for fraud. A smart contract could, in theory, use a defined condition—such as a verified travel disruption—to trigger a payment under a suitable policy.
Why this remains an emerging approach
The NAIC describes current blockchain implementation in insurance as limited. A smart contract can only act on the conditions and information it is given; it does not remove the need to define coverage clearly, verify outside facts, handle exceptions, or provide recourse when a customer disputes a result. Blockchain is therefore a selective approach to particular recordkeeping or automation problems, not a general replacement for insurers’ existing systems.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What responsible adoption should include
The value of an insurance technology depends not only on efficiency, but on whether it works reliably for customers and can be challenged when it does not. The International Association of Insurance Supervisors’ AI Application Paper, dated July 2, 2025, highlights governance considerations that apply especially to AI systems:
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- Accountability: an insurer should remain responsible for decisions made with a vendor’s system.
- Human oversight and redress: customers need a way to raise a concern, seek review, and correct material errors.
- Robustness and resilience: systems should be monitored for failures, cyber threats, and operational disruption.
- Explainability and fairness: insurers should assess how decisions are made and whether outcomes disadvantage particular groups.
- Outcome monitoring: deployment should be evaluated over time, not treated as successful simply because it saves effort or processes more cases.
Rules and supervisory approaches differ by jurisdiction. NAIC materials describe U.S. state-level activity, while EIOPA’s findings concern the EEA and IAIS guidance addresses international supervisory considerations. These sources do not establish one global set of binding requirements for every insurer.
How to judge the promise of InsurTech
These five shifts solve different problems, so there is no meaningful single “best” innovation. AI has broad reported adoption in the EEA, connected devices can support personalization and prevention but depend on sensitive data, mobile claims improve access to routine tasks, app-based distribution can make some coverage easier to manage, and blockchain remains a limited option for specific use cases. For customers, the practical test is whether a tool makes coverage or service clearer and more useful without making decisions harder to understand, contest, or secure.
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