Sep 24, 2026 · 14 min · 6 segments
Recorded on 09/18/26 Oxbow Partners’ Manmeet Singh Bawa expects AI to automate brokers’ information processing and administration, shifting value to judgment, advocacy, negotiation, and strategic…
Manmeet Singh BawaGuest
Andrew KligermanHost
So if AI can automate much of the analysis, research, and administration that brokers perform today, where will brokers create value in five years' time?
They've been information intermediaries, they've been market intermediaries, and they've played the role of a trusted advisor.
where gathering information, preparing submissions, comparing quotes, reviewing policy wording, et cetera, are all increasingly tasks that AI can perform better, faster, and often more accurately.
In my mind, the value is increasingly shifting to areas where judgment, advocacy, and influence will matter way more.
So in five years from now, I think the highest value brokers will feel more like strategic risk advisors, where they might be helping clients understand emerging risks, whether it's cyber, climate, AI-related exposures.
They will also start being capital advisors where you're helping clients navigate increasingly complex insurance and risk transfer markets that start to emerge.
They become better claim advocates such that when a large loss occurs and a client really needs the comfort of that trusted advisor fighting for their best outcome.
I'd say the last area where I see brokers increasingly focus would be orchestrating relationships.
And by that, what I mean is bringing an ability to access markets influence outcomes and negotiate solutions that are bringing together the right stakeholders.
An example that I might take for the benefit of your listeners would be, you know, a large manufacturing client looking to renew a global program.
And so today a broker might spend weeks, you know, gathering exposure information, building a submission, comparing codes or whatnot.
But in the future, AI allows them to do this work in a matter of minutes.
But where your broker's value becomes much more about helping the client answer, how much risk should we retain? Or what market should we participate in? Or what are the right trade-offs? So what are the trade-offs that exist between premium and coverage? Or how should we structure our overall risk financing strategy? And I see that as just a fundamentally higher value conversation.
So if AI can automate much of the analysis, research, and administration that brokers perform today, where will brokers create value in five years' time?
They've been information intermediaries, they've been market intermediaries, and they've played the role of a trusted advisor.
where gathering information, preparing submissions, comparing quotes, reviewing policy wording, et cetera, are all increasingly tasks that AI can perform better, faster, and often more accurately.
In my mind, the value is increasingly shifting to areas where judgment, advocacy, and influence will matter way more.
So in five years from now, I think the highest value brokers will feel more like strategic risk advisors, where they might be helping clients understand emerging risks, whether it's cyber, climate, AI-related exposures.
They will also start being capital advisors where you're helping clients navigate increasingly complex insurance and risk transfer markets that start to emerge.
They become better claim advocates such that when a large loss occurs and a client really needs the comfort of that trusted advisor fighting for their best outcome.
I'd say the last area where I see brokers increasingly focus would be orchestrating relationships.
And by that, what I mean is bringing an ability to access markets influence outcomes and negotiate solutions that are bringing together the right stakeholders.
An example that I might take for the benefit of your listeners would be, you know, a large manufacturing client looking to renew a global program.
And so today a broker might spend weeks, you know, gathering exposure information, building a submission, comparing codes or whatnot.
But in the future, AI allows them to do this work in a matter of minutes.
But where your broker's value becomes much more about helping the client answer, how much risk should we retain? Or what market should we participate in? Or what are the right trade-offs? So what are the trade-offs that exist between premium and coverage? Or how should we structure our overall risk financing strategy? And I see that as just a fundamentally higher value conversation.
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