Will AI replace insurance agents?
No. AI will not replace licensed insurance agents, but it is already taking over the unlicensed half of the job: answering quote requests, collecting details, booking calls and chasing renewals. The agents who lose ground will be the ones whose only edge was being available. Here is what the job data, the licensing law and the shopping data actually say.
The short version
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects insurance agent jobs to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as all occupations, with about 43,100 openings a year.
- Under the NAIC's model law for producer licensing, selling, soliciting and negotiating insurance require a license. Software cannot hold one.
- AI is good at the work around the sale: the first reply, intake questions, scheduling, reminders and x-date follow-up.
- The real threat is speed. Shoppers now collect 3.5 quotes on average and buy 48% of new auto policies digitally. An agency that answers tomorrow is not in the running, whether its competitor is a person or a system.
What does the job data say about insurance agents?
The job is growing, slowly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts about 572,600 insurance sales agent jobs in 2025 and projects employment to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, "about as fast as the average for all occupations," with about 43,100 openings a year. The median annual wage was $62,280 in May 2025.
The same BLS page is honest about the pressure. It says many clients "do their own research and purchase insurance online, which reduces demand for an insurance sales agent's services." It also says agents "will still be needed to help clients understand their options and choose a policy that is right for them." Both are true at once, and that tension is the whole story of AI in insurance.
There is a second signal worth knowing. The Insurance Information Institute reports that from 2014 to 2023, independent agents' share of the personal life insurance market grew from 46% to 52%. Over a decade in which buying online became normal, the share going through independent agents went up, not down.
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance sales agent jobs, 2025 | About 572,600 | BLS |
| Projected employment change, 2025 to 2035 | +3% | BLS |
| Projected openings per year | About 43,100 | BLS |
| Median annual wage, May 2025 | $62,280 | BLS |
| Independent agents' share of personal life insurance, 2014 to 2023 | 46% to 52% | Insurance Information Institute |
Can AI legally sell insurance?
Not on its own. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Producer Licensing Model Act, its model for state producer licensing laws, says it plainly: "A person shall not sell, solicit or negotiate insurance in this state for any class or classes of insurance unless the person is licensed for that line of authority in accordance with this Act."
The definitions are what matter for AI. The model act defines "negotiate" as "conferring directly with or offering advice directly to a purchaser or prospective purchaser of a particular contract of insurance concerning any of the substantive benefits, terms or conditions of the contract." It defines "solicit" as "attempting to sell insurance or asking or urging a person to apply for a particular kind of insurance from a particular company."
Read those two definitions next to what an AI assistant can do and a clear line appears. Asking a shopper which coverage they want, who their current carrier is and when their policy renews is intake. Booking them with a producer is scheduling. Telling them which limits to carry, or which carrier's policy is better for their house, is advice about the substantive terms of a contract, which is licensed work. A well-built AI system stays on the intake side of that line and hands everything else to a licensed person.
Regulators are also watching how carriers use AI. The NAIC adopted its Model Bulletin on the Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems by Insurers in December 2023. It states that decisions or actions made or supported by AI "must comply with all applicable insurance laws and regulations." According to the NAIC's own tracking map, 24 states and Washington, D.C. had adopted it as of April 1, 2026. The bulletin is aimed at insurers rather than agencies, but the direction is clear: AI is allowed, and a licensed, accountable human stays responsible for what it does.
This is a description of how the model law reads, not legal advice. Your state's version may differ, so have your compliance contact review anything an AI system says to shoppers before it goes live.
Which parts of an agent's job can AI do today?
Picture a typical quote request, from the moment a shopper submits it to the moment a policy is bound. Most of the early steps are logistics. The later steps are the job only a licensed agent can do.
| Task | AI assistant | Licensed agent |
|---|---|---|
| Reply to a new quote request after hours | Yes, in under a minute | Next morning, usually |
| Collect coverage type, carrier, x-date and ZIP | Yes | Yes, but it costs producer time |
| Book a call and send reminders | Yes | Yes |
| Re-contact a shopper six weeks before renewal | Yes, automatically | If someone remembers |
| Answer "what are your hours" or "do you write commercial auto" | Yes, from approved answers | Yes |
| Recommend coverage or limits | No, this is advice on the contract's terms | Yes |
| Quote, negotiate and bind a policy | No | Yes |
| Advocate for a client during a claim | No | Yes |
The first five rows are where most agencies lose time and, more importantly, lose shoppers. The last three are why people pay an agent at all. AI takes the first set so producers can spend the day on the second.
Want to see the first three steps running for an agency like yours? On a free 30-minute Where AI Fits call we map where your quote requests come from, how fast they are answered today, and which of these steps AI should take.
Book a Where AI Fits callSo who is actually at risk?
Not agents. Slow agencies. The shopper has changed faster than the agency has. J.D. Power's 2026 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study, released June 4, 2026, found that 53% of auto insurance customers shopped in the past year, down from 57%, and that shoppers now receive an average of 3.5 quotes, the highest in the study's history. Nearly half of new auto policies, 48%, are now purchased digitally, up from 36% five years ago. The study also found that shoppers who use AI during their insurance journey are more likely to switch insurers and feel more confident in their choices.
Put those numbers together and the risk comes into focus. A shopper who requests three or four quotes in one evening is not waiting for anyone. If the lead was bought, it was probably shared: EverQuote says its shared leads go to at most three agencies, 1.9 on average. The Lead Response Management study, which analyzed more than 15,000 leads, found the odds of qualifying a lead fall 21 times when the reply comes at 30 minutes instead of 5.
And most agencies are not set up to reply at all outside office hours. When we reviewed the public quote funnels of 75 independent agencies in August 2026, 70 showed nothing set up to answer a quote request after the office closed: no live chat, no instant reply, no stated after-hours line.
That is the real replacement risk. An agent whose value to a shopper is expertise, judgment and advocacy is safe for a long time. An agency whose value is "we picked up the phone" is competing with every system that picks up faster.
How should an insurance agency use AI right now?
Start where the time goes and the shoppers leak. Five moves cover most of it.
- Answer every quote request within a minute. A short text in the agency's name, with one real question, beats a callback tomorrow. Our speed to lead guide covers the research behind the five-minute rule.
- Let AI do intake, not advice. Coverage type, current carrier, x-date, ZIP, best time to talk. Anything about premiums, limits or what a policy covers goes to a producer.
- Park and wake the x-dates. A shopper who renewed elsewhere in March is reachable again before next year's renewal. Let the system re-contact them six weeks out.
- Put the phone on AI after hours. An AI receptionist can take the details and book a call when nobody is in the office.
- Keep a human one message away. Any shopper who asks for a person should get one, fast. That is both good service and good compliance.
If you want to see what these cost you today, the lead leak calculator sizes the share of your lead budget that waits more than an hour for a reply. If you are comparing tools, our guide to AI tools for insurance agents lists ten, with prices and cons.
What will an agent's week look like in five years?
This is our read, not a forecast. Fewer hours on intake, call-backs and renewal reminders, because software handles them. More hours on the conversations that need a license and a relationship: coverage reviews, commercial accounts, claims, retention. The number of agents may not change much, if the BLS projection holds. What each agent spends the day on will.
Questions agents ask about AI
Will insurance agents be replaced by AI?+
Can AI replace insurance agents completely?+
Is insurance sales a dying career?+
Can an AI chatbot quote insurance?+
What AI tools do insurance agents use?+
How do I start using AI in my agency?+
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Insurance Sales Agents," Occupational Outlook Handbook. Jobs 2025, projected change 2025 to 2035, openings, median wage May 2025, and the quoted lines on online buying. bls.gov
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners. "Producer Licensing Model Act" (Model 218), Section 2 definitions and Section 3, License Required. naic.org (PDF)
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners. "Artificial Intelligence" topic page, on the Model Bulletin on the Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems by Insurers, adopted December 2023. naic.org
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners. "Implementation of NAIC Model Bulletin: Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems by Insurers," status as of April 1, 2026. naic.org (PDF)
- J.D. Power. "2026 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study," press release, June 4, 2026. Figures read from the release as distributed through Business Wire. jdpower.com
- Insurance Information Institute. "Facts + Statistics: Life insurance," independent agents' share of the personal life insurance market, 2014 to 2023. iii.org
- EverQuote. "Exclusive auto insurance leads for agents," on shared lead distribution. everquote.com
- Lead Response Management Study (InsideSales.com with Dr. James Oldroyd). More than 15,000 leads; 21-fold decrease in the odds of qualifying from 5 to 30 minutes. leadresponsemanagement.org
- LeadSixty. "The Insurance Agency Speed-to-Lead Report 2026", a review of 75 agencies' public quote funnels, August 2026.
Published September 13, 2026. Every figure was read on its source and checked again before publishing; see how we research and write. Found an error? Email hello@leadsixty.com.
AI will not replace your agents. It can give them their evenings back.
Book a free 30-minute Where AI Fits call. We look at where your quote requests come from, how long they wait for a reply, and which steps AI should take, and we tell you honestly if it is not worth it.
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