Source: fintech.global — 2026-07-08
Summary
Sixfold's "Future of Underwriting" study of 543 US and European underwriting executives and underwriters found 99% of executives and 86% of underwriters more optimistic about AI's impact, with every executive surveyed saying AI made teams faster, better, or both. Still, 77% of respondents worried about losing talent to AI-forward competitors.
Key Takeaways
- A large-sample industry survey (543 respondents) rather than a single vendor's self-reported adoption statistics.
- Strong positive sentiment on AI's impact contrasts with significant talent-retention anxiety among underwriting teams.
- 8 in 10 underwriters still spend 30 minutes to 4 hours chasing broker data per case — a bottleneck AI tools haven't yet solved.
- Suggests insurance underwriting is past the "does AI help" debate and into "how do we retain staff while deploying it."