ITC Vegas 2025 turned Mandalay Bay into the beating heart of global insurance innovation. With over 9,000 industry professionals, 762 sponsors, and 14 content stages buzzing with energy, the conference wasn’t just a gathering: it was a momentum shift for the P&C industry.
From AI-powered underwriting to modular system design, the conversations were bold, the connections electric, and the message clear: the future of insurance isn’t coming; it’s already here. And it’s being built by those willing to rethink data, reimagine workflow, and embrace transformation, without losing sight of trust and transparency.
Here are the three questions insurance decision-makers should be asking now to stay ahead of the curve.
#1 How can we operationalize AI to drive measurable value without disrupting our systems or workforce?
AI was everywhere. The answers were not. That’s why we sat down with insurance leaders across the P&C space, not to talk hype, but to tackle the real questions, such as:
How can we operationalize AI to drive measurable value without disrupting our systems and workforce? Here we share the answers.
Understand the Spectrum of AI in Insurance
Not all AI is created equal. To operationalize effectively, carriers must first distinguish between:
- Traditional automation which follows fixed, rules-based logic to handle repetitive tasks. For example, automatically send renewal notices or update policy records based on predefined triggers (like policy expiration dates).
- Machine learning which learns from historical data and uses statistical models to make predictions. For example, flag potentially fraudulent claims or predict which policies are likely to lapse, based on past patterns.
- Agentic AI which goes further by combining reasoning, planning, and autonomous action. Think of it as a smart digital teammate, acting independently, making decisions, and adapting to support you and your team. For example, a digital assistant that helps underwriters assess risk, suggest coverage options, and adjust quotes while adapting to new information as it comes in.
Avoid One-Size-Fits-All
Generic AI platforms are powerful, but often lack insurance-specific context, like underwriting, claims history, or regulatory nuances.
Duck Creek’s approach is different: purpose-built, insurance native, and enterprise ready. Our collaboration with Microsoft ensures our solutions are built on secure, scalable, and enterprise-ready infrastructure, and our recent First Prize for Best Agent at the 2025 Vista Agentic AI Hackathon proves that practical innovation is already underway.
Here’s what our experts recommend prioritizing:
- Insurance-Built. Solutions that understand policy lifecycle, claims complexity, and the regulatory environment are better equipped to deliver AI for insurance outcomes.
- Focus on Tools and Autonomy. Native integrations, flexible workflows, and built-in transparency help you deploy and scale on your terms, without the heavy lift.
- Prioritize Value. Decision-makers are prioritizing policy, rating, and claims: all essential to scale, compete, and grow in a fast-moving market.
In fact, Datos Insights, in their exclusive, carrier-only pre-show panel discussion, shared what they’re seeing on projects: responsible scaling, entry-level role redesign and team upskilling, and tying AI projects directly to enterprise-wide data strategies.
Bottom Line: AI is no longer experimental: it’s operational, strategic, and accelerating. Selecting the right one prioritizes partnership to start strong and remain competitive for the long haul.
#2 Is our core architecture flexible enough to integrate emerging technologies quickly and securely?
Remember when digital wallets felt like the future? No more fumbling for cards or cash. Just tap and go. That shift transformed how your policyholders think about convenience and trust in payments.
Well, have you heard of stablecoin, the digital currency designed to stay stable in value? Fireblocks reports it’s no longer fringe, and use is ramping up. (State of Stablecoins 2025 Report, March 2025)
While stablecoin may not be the next big thing on the insurance horizon, growing interest in different payment types is a big red flag for the industry. Just like digital wallets, customers will expect modern payment methods that simplify their lives and integrate them seamlessly into their digital routines.
Which brings us to our question: Is our core architecture flexible enough to integrate emerging technologies quickly and securely?
Flexibility Isn’t a Feature. It’s a Foundation.
Here’s the reality: payment rails are changing fast. And carriers who wait to retrofit later will face costly disruptions. This is where payment orchestration becomes a strategic capability, not just a tech upgrade.
Can your carrier:
- Onboard new rails (card, ACH, wallets, stablecoin) without rearchitecting core systems
- Route and fallback dynamically (e.g., choose stablecoin vs fiat depending on cost, speed, geography)
- Normalize data and reconciliation logic so your downstream systems (billing, claims, financials) see a consistent view
- Centralize risk, compliance, reserve logic, and monitoring
- Expose flexibility outward to clients, agents, partners—without coupling them to a single rail
Why It Matters for P&C Carriers
Payments touch every part of the insurance lifecycle, from underwriting and billing to claims and agent compensation. Each flow has its own timing, compliance rules, and customer experience requirements.
Orchestration brings all that complexity under one roof, allowing carriers to:
- Route payments intelligently
- Adapt to new technologies without disruption
- Deliver consistent, brand-aligned experiences across every business line
The Strategic Payoff
For P&C insurers, orchestration isn’t just about keeping up; it’s about staying ahead. It lets you decouple business logic from payment rail volatility, giving you a hedge against future shifts and the agility to innovate on your terms.
Bottom line: If your architecture isn’t flexible enough to integrate emerging technologies quickly and securely, you’re not just risking inefficiency; you’re risking relevance.
#3 Are we architected to access and activate our data across systems, silos, and partners in real time and at scale?
If core systems are the engine of an insurance company, then data is the fuel that keeps it running. Whether it’s claims disbursement, fraud detection and prevention, or customer service, insurers must be able to take meaningful action on data in real-time.
The challenge, however, is still large amounts of often fragmented data and the time it takes to gather, sift, and surface insights. Which brings us to our question: Are we architected to access and activate our data across systems, silos, and partners in real time and at scale?
From Fragmented Data to Actionable Insights
Insurers aren’t just sitting on vast amounts of data. They are sitting on two types of data: structured (like policy records and claims forms) and unstructured (like adjustor notes and images). Both are valuable. But without the right architecture, they remain siloed, inconsistent, and hard to activate.
To move from fragmented data to actionable insights, insurers need access and activation. Here’s how carriers can start:
- Unify structured and unstructured data: Use modern data platforms to bring together data into a single source.
- Standardize and normalize: Clean and align data formats, definitions, and semantics so downstream systems can interpret them consistently.
- Enable real-time access: Streamline event-driven data flows to support insights for real-time decisions.
- Built for AI-readiness: Ensure data is governed and accessible without compromising compliance or security.
Building AI-Ready Data Infrastructure: The Key to Scalable Intelligence
AI’s potential is unlocked by the data it’s given: no data, no intelligence. Building AI-ready data pipelines as a foundational step is a top priority for transforming insurance. That’s why today’s leaders are investing in automated, clean, and interoperable data pipelines to support AI deployment. This shift is about more than analytics. It is about creating infrastructure that can adapt to new technologies and regulatory demands.
To operationalize AI and deliver real-time insights, carriers need to:
- Unify data across systems and silos
- Standardize formats and semantics
- Ensure data quality, lineage, and governance
- Make data accessible to AI models without compromising security or compliance
Bottom Line: Structured data access isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s the foundation for speed, scale, and the strategic agility that growth demands. Without it, innovation slows, competitive advantage fades, and customers move on.
It’s Already Happening: Inside Hagerty’s Passion-Driven Insurance Model
At ITC Vegas 2025, Hagerty shared its transformation story from a niche insurer into a global leader in the classic car lifestyle space. They also shared how its strategic partnership with Duck Creek is fueling digital modernization and scalable innovation across the enterprise.
For Hagerty, building a passion-powered ecosystem all came down to accessible data:
- Data Structure: Hagerty built one of the most comprehensive datasets on classic and enthusiast vehicles, including historical valuations, restoration trends, ownership patterns, and auction performance data.
- Data Integration: Hagerty connected data across its Drivers Club, auctions, events, media consumption, and insurance policies.
- Data Analysis. Now they can analyze customer behavior holistically, enabling cross-selling opportunities, personalized experiences, and community engagement metrics.
- Data Visualization: This data powers visualization tools, marketplace pricing, and personalized insurance offerings, giving Hagerty a competitive edge.
- Future-Ready: Today, they can launch new digital products faster, test and iterate on data models for pricing and risk.
Conclusion: From Vision to Execution
ITC Vegas 2025 made one thing clear: the future of P&C insurance belongs to those who act boldly, build flexibly, and think holistically. Whether it’s operationalizing AI, preparing for the next wave of fintech disruption, or unlocking the full power of real-time data, the path forward demands more than vision. It requires execution.
Ready to Move from Vision to Execution?
The future of P&C insurance is already unfolding, and the leaders are those who act now. Whether you’re exploring AI, modernizing payments, or unlocking real-time data, the time to build flexible, future-ready infrastructure is today.
Let’s talk about how Duck Creek can help you operationalize innovation, without disruption.
