For decades, underwriting was defined by manual processing and a great deal of paperwork. Broker submissions typically arrived by email, requiring underwriters or their assistants to manually re-key information into multiple, disconnected systems. Renewal cycles could consume entire quarters, with teams buried in duplicative forms and document review.

Although by no means extinct, that model is gradually getting outdated.

Today, AI can ingest broker submissions directly, pull payroll or credit data from third-party sources, and even pre-populate policy wordings. Rules-based engines already triage low-complexity risks with minimal human touch.

So, where does that leave the underwriter of tomorrow?

Automation and AI are not erasing the profession. They are reshaping it. By taking on the rote tasks, AI creates space for underwriters to focus on what machines cannot replicate—i.e., critical thinking, nuanced judgment, and the human aspects of client engagement and risk assessment.

Moving Beyond Renewals

Historically, many underwriters could build an entire career around renewals. Once a book was established, the role was largely about defending it—processing the paperwork, ensuring terms stayed consistent, and keeping competitors at bay. Growth was treated as the responsibility of distribution or product teams, not underwriting.

But as AI tools seep into operating models, carriers are and will increasingly expect underwriters to contribute directly to top-line expansion. In practice, this means moving beyond renewals to a broader advisory role. A property underwriter who once focused narrowly on building coverage should be expected to sit with a client in the publishing sector and raise questions about directors and officers liability, cyber exposure, or employment practices risk. The conversation shifts from “Here’s your renewal” to “Here’s how the industry and your business is evolving, and I would recommend the following protections, or you replace your existing provider as we can offer you…”

The underwriter becomes part of the growth strategy. Underwriters deepen relationships with brokers and clients, positioning the carrier as a partner rather than a commodity provider, and identify opportunities. Indeed, at some companies, underwriters are increasingly being judged on new business written and pipeline conversion, not just renewal retention.

Solving the Talent Crisis

It’s well accepted that the industry is facing a talent crisis: many senior underwriters are retiring, while younger professionals show little interest in careers defined by paperwork and renewals. Recasting the underwriter as a tech-enabled advisory, client-facing role changes that value proposition. It makes the profession more appealing to graduates who might otherwise gravitate toward consulting, finance or technology.

It’s also a retention strategy. Underwriters who feel their work contributes directly to growth are less likely to see themselves as interchangeable and less likely to jump to competitors. By giving underwriters broader mandates—e.g., sales, relationship-building and specialization—carriers not only keep talent engaged, but they also build loyalty.

Specialists Will Thrive

Automation is already absorbing the flow business: routine property schedules, small commercial renewals and other risks that follow predictable patterns. But the more complex the exposure, the more indispensable human expertise becomes.

Multi-national programs, emerging industries and specialty lines all require expertise and judgment. A cyber policy for a midsize retailer, for instance, can be priced largely through automated scoring models. By contrast, designing coverage for a Petro-chemical firm drilling oil with a complex supply chain demands an underwriter who understands not only the oil and gas sector but regulation and reputational as well as commercial risk.

This shift creates a bifurcation in the profession. A lean cadre of generalists will manage automated portfolios, ensuring efficiency and compliance at scale, while specialists will be called on for nuanced decisions and bespoke solutions. Their expertise will carry premium value, both for carriers that can market “deep bench strength” in complex sectors and for clients seeking tailored coverage that a rules engine cannot produce. In effect, specialization remains a differentiator.

Training and Incentives Must Evolve in Tandem

This evolution calls for skills that many underwriters have never been asked to master. Success now hinges on the ability to engage clients directly, to look across product lines and recommend integrated solutions, and to speak the language of data and AI. The underwriter who can sit with a broker and explain not just the quote but why the model produced it, what data drove the decision, what assumptions were made, and where judgment came into play, will command far more trust than one who simply passes along a number from a system.

The risk is that without these capabilities, automation could create professionals who suddenly have hours freed from paperwork but no road map for converting that time into value. The opportunity lies in redirecting those hours toward higher-value activities: prospecting new accounts, deepening broker relationships or diving into specialty risks that cannot be commoditized.

Carriers cannot simply bolt on AI tools and expect the underwriter’s role to transform overnight. They need to take concrete steps to shift culture, combining humans and AI assistants. One effective lever is performance metrics: renewals should remain important, but new business written and pipeline conversion must become the primary benchmarks of success.

The transition can be jarring for underwriters accustomed to stable portfolios, yet, within a year, the impact on growth can justify the discomfort. Ultimately, underwriters respond to the incentives in front of them. Without cultural reinforcement, automation risks creating idle capacity rather than meaningful expansion.

Carriers need to do two things in parallel: invest in training that equips underwriters with sales, advisory and data literacy skills, and redesign incentives to reward those behaviors. That might mean embedding underwriters in client meetings earlier in the process, pairing them with distribution teams on joint growth targets, or sponsoring certification programs in data analytics and AI governance.

For underwriters, the task is to embrace a steep learning curve: becoming comfortable in front of clients, building fluency in data-driven decision-making, and redefining themselves not as risk gatekeepers but as growth partners.

This is not a small cultural shift, like a regional carrier expanding into a neighboring state. It is a wholesale redefinition of the profession. The profile for future underwriters will consequently change, as will the means by which they are trained on risk management and pricing in an AI-driven process. Yet, for carriers willing to set the right expectations, and for underwriters willing to broaden their skill sets, the payoff is clear: a more dynamic, visible and valued role at the center of their growth strategy.