Skills, technology and trust define next-gen intermediaries
Brokers and adviser will have to adapt their business models to remain relevant in an environment being shaped by artificial intelligence (AI), automation and data. They will have to move beyond product sales to build advice-led, technology-enabled practices that live up to shifting client expectations.
An executive level discussion
This was the tone set by the first panel discussion at the FIA Advice Summit 2025. Panellists were asked to position advisory businesses for long-term success under the tagline, An unscripted interview. The session was moderated by FIA Non-Life Executive Committee Chair and CEO of PSG Short Term Administration, Henriette Senekal, and featured Efficient Group Chief Economist, Dawie Roodt; Hollard Insure CEO, Andrew Coutts; Santam Broker Solutions CEO, Fanus Coetzee; and Marsh McLennan Africa CEO, Guy Royston.
Senekal got the discussion underway by reflecting on the many challenges that non-life insurance intermediaries had endured over the past five years and highlighting some emerging issues. Business interruption (BI) claims under the Covid-19 pandemic, insurers’ grid failure exclusions, policy wording inconsistencies across the market, tougher risk mitigation requirements and Ombud scheme decisions all featured under the challenges column. Emerging issues included a soft market alongside changes being introduced by special risks insurer Sasria. “How do we build sustainable practices with all the change being thrown at us?” Senekal asked.
Coetzee framed his response under five broad themes spanning climate, economy, regulation, skills, and technology. He used his firm’s recent Insurance Barometer report to illustrate how differently business and household consumers and intermediaries perceived the risk landscape. Households worry about affordability, crime, infrastructure decay and climate; businesses singled out the economy and cost pressures; and brokers worried about proactive risk management and the need to sell advice, not product.
Frequency and severity of extreme weather losses
The Santam exec said the industry would have to get creative in response to the frequency and severity of extreme weather losses, despite year-to-date 2025 being relatively benign. In the context of low insurance penetration, especially among lower-income households and informal businesses, insurers could innovate through modular cover and parametric solutions. “Climate and ESG risks are things that insurers will have to deal with at a high level,” Coetzee said, before commenting on the growing compliance burden facing all industry stakeholders.
“With COFI on the horizon and the Omni-Risk Return around the corner, we are going to have to invest a lot more money in compliance,” he said. He singled out automation as one possible response to the growing compliance burden alongside skills development, systems improvements and partnering with other bodies to lobby the regulator to drive down compliance costs. Turning to succession, the panellist said the challenge went beyond finding a buyer to transferring clients, management and institutional knowledge.
Artificial intelligence (AI) was described as a game-changer, especially for direct-to-consumer businesses. It enables end-to-end customer experiences and introduces pressure on insurers from parallel and completely unrelated industries. “AI and big data are going to put significant pressure on the intermediary model too,” Coetzee said. In this context, brokers will have to invest in technology and leverage their human traits to build trust relationships with clients.
There is a bigger debate around both the cybersecurity and business model risks being introduced by the widespread adoption of AI and technology. “We are worried about the model risk in AI, and the extent to which it is going to cause unemployment worldwide, and the ethical debate around what AI should be used for,” he said. More broadly, Santam sees intermediaries as allies in closing the insurance gap, building trust and growing a sustainable insurance industry.
Six tech impacts brokers must be aware of
Coutts responded to a question on the impact of technology in the intermediated model under six headings. First, the whole underwriting world is shifting because of technology. For example, insurers are applying machine learning and predictive modelling in their accumulation management protocols to reduce severity exposures from climate risk. Second, technology is redefining the claims experience, making it possible for insurers to identify fraud at the back end and drive straight-through processing to reduce cost and improve client service.
Thirdly, data has become critical to how insurers conduct business. “We have got large language models that take unscripted data and turn it into useful information,” Coutts said. “This has fundamentally shifted the way that we look at reporting, scorecard monitoring and how we utilise trend analysis.” The fourth heading involves rethinking risk management and product type; the Hollard CEO noted a shift from simply paying a claim to assisting clients with pre-loss services and post-loss recovery.
Technology stood out as a key differentiator in customer experience (fifth) and driving down costs (sixth). “A big piece of work being done in the insurance industry centres around customer experience management; we have seen big shifts towards digital, mobile-first ecosystems of value,” Coutts said, adding that this creates challenges in the intermediated environment. On reducing costs, the panellist recommended a mix of systems integration, straight-through processing and self-service.
Ensuring brokers’ sustainability
Senekal asked Royston what brokers could do to ensure their sustainability. His first observation was that the risk conversation had been elevated to the C-suite level and that demand for advisers and brokers had never been greater. “We need to shift from selling products and competing on price, which is a zero-sum game in the long run, to becoming a trusted adviser and partner to our clients,” he said. He encouraged brokerages to differentiate their service offerings and move their value proposition up the complexity curve.
AI, data, and digital technologies are transforming the role that brokers play. Marsh is responding to this shift by investing heavily in data and insights to enable it to work smarter on behalf of clients. Royston singled out three areas that Marsh was “leaning into” in response to the ongoing focus on niche markets and innovations. “The first is leveraging advanced technology and AI to work smarter, improve internal efficiencies and unlock capacity,” he said. These efficiencies are then reinvested into client servicing.
The second area the multinational brokerage is leaning into is client-centric service and advice. “We cannot compete at the lower end of the market,” Royston said. “So, we are focusing on comprehensive risk management services that go beyond insurance procurement to include risk assessments, consulting, risk advisory and claims consulting.” And the third involves continuous learning and specialisation. Brokers were challenged to deepen their product knowledge, study emerging risks and find ways to service specialist niches.
An era of unprecedented economic growth
Although Roodt was the first of the panellists to speak, your writer felt his insights would make an excellent close. The economist argued that AI could introduce an era of unprecedented economic growth, saying that the pace of global growth would accelerate dramatically as machines make capital productive without human input.
The implication for all industries, including insurance, is that productivity will depend less on physical assets and more on how well we adapt and apply new technologies. Roodt predicted that prices of most goods will keep falling as AI and automation reduce production costs, while the value of specialised skills and services should rise. To remain relevant, brokers and financial advisers will have to interpret and translate technological changes for their clients. “You must become real advisers,” he said. “You need information and must make sure that you stay on top of the most recent technological developments.”
Choose to focus on the opportunities
Senekal wrapped up the debate by acknowledging that the industry faced a difficult road ahead. She urged brokers to focus on the opportunities in the wider landscape rather than on short-term challenges. You can excel by keeping the end client at the centre of the value proposition, specialising rather than generalising, partnering with insurers that enable growth, investing in young talent and adopting technology today rather than later.
Writer’s thoughts:
Technology will not replace advisers, but advisers who fail to use technology effectively may find themselves replaced. How are you using technology to strengthen your practice while keeping your human advantage? Please comment below, interact with us on X at @fanews_online or email us your thoughts [email protected].
