The Agent's New Mandate: Data Now Rules Carrier Selection

CHICAGO, IL – December 02, 2025 – For decades, the relationship between insurance agents and carriers was built on a foundation of familiar metrics: competitive pricing, reliable service, and strong personal connections. But a fundamental power shift is underway, driven not by handshakes, but by data streams. A new industry report reveals that for the first time, independent agents are prioritizing a carrier’s real-time digital capabilities above all else, signaling a point of no return in the industry's technological transformation.

According to the 2025 Insurance Agency-Carrier Connectivity Trends report released today by industry technology provider Ivans, nearly a third of agents (29%) now cite access to real-time risk appetite information as the single most important factor when choosing a carrier partner. This represents a dramatic surge from just 12% in 2024, dethroning traditional service functions like policy downloads, which now rank a distant second at 23%. This isn't just a statistical blip; it's an ultimatum from the front lines of the insurance world.

The Digital Ultimatum

The message from over 700 surveyed industry professionals is unambiguous: the age of manual processes and information delays is over. Agents are no longer willing to waste precious time navigating opaque carrier websites or submitting applications into a black box, only to discover days later that the risk doesn't fit the carrier's appetite. This inefficiency directly impacts their ability to serve clients and grow their business.

The report highlights the commercial submission process as the primary battleground for this digital push, with a staggering 72% of agents demanding greater automation in this area. The cumbersome, paper-intensive workflow of gathering client data, completing multiple carrier-specific applications, and tracking submissions manually has long been a major pain point. By demanding real-time appetite data directly within their preferred agency management systems, agents are seeking to pre-qualify risks instantly, eliminating wasted effort and dramatically accelerating the quoting process.

“This year’s survey results make it clear that strong partnerships are built on real-time data and easy-to-use workflows,” said Michael Streit, president of Ivans, in the report’s announcement. “Agents want to connect with carriers in the workflows they use every day and will reward those investing in agency-carrier connectivity with deeper relationships and more business opportunities.”

This demand extends beyond just knowing if a carrier will consider a risk. It’s about efficiency at every level. The survey also found that data upload from management systems and automated "book roll" processes for moving entire books of business were high priorities, each cited by 51% of respondents. The goal is a seamless, "once-and-done" data entry environment where information flows freely and accurately between agent and carrier systems, freeing up agency staff to focus on advising clients rather than re-keying data.

The Carrier's Race to Adapt

This agent-led mandate places immense pressure on carriers to accelerate their digital transformation or risk being sidelined. The carriers that succeed in this new landscape will be those that view technology not as a cost center, but as the primary channel for building and maintaining their most critical distribution partnerships. The competitive battlefield is no longer just about product or price; it's about the ease of doing business.

Industry-wide technology spending reflects this urgency. Analysts at Forrester predict an 8% increase in tech spending across the insurance sector in 2025, with investments heavily focused on data, automation, and AI to improve operational processes and profitability. Carriers are in an arms race, not just against each other, but to keep pace with the expectations set by other industries.

This involves more than simply building a better portal. It requires a fundamental re-architecting of legacy systems to support open APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that can seamlessly integrate with a diverse ecosystem of agency management systems and rating platforms, from major players like Applied Systems and Vertafore to a growing number of specialized insurtech solutions. The carriers who expose their underwriting rules and appetite data through these real-time connections are the ones winning agents' business. Those who remain in walled digital gardens, forcing agents to conform to their proprietary and often clunky systems, are seeing their submission flows dry up.

From Connectivity to Cognition: The Rise of AI

The current push for real-time connectivity is more than just a quest for efficiency; it is the essential groundwork for the next, more profound phase of the industry's evolution: the widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence. The clean, structured, real-time data that agents are demanding is the very fuel that powers sophisticated AI and machine learning models.

This evolution is already moving from small experiments to broad operational change. As carriers gain confidence in their data pipelines, they are increasingly deploying AI to automate underwriting for less complex risks, reducing a process that once took days to mere minutes. By analyzing vast datasets in real-time, AI models can assess risk with greater precision, flag anomalies, and enable the kind of hyper-personalized products that agents say their clients want. The Ivans report notes that 52% of agents value carriers that offer customized products, a feat far more achievable with data-driven, AI-enabled underwriting.

This shift towards "agentic AI" is not about replacing human underwriters but augmenting them, allowing them to focus their expertise on the most complex and nuanced submissions. Similarly, in claims processing, AI is already handling initial intake, fraud detection, and simple payouts, improving speed and accuracy while enhancing customer satisfaction.

Redefining the Value of Partnership

Ultimately, this technological sea change is redefining what it means to be an agent and what constitutes a valuable carrier partnership. By automating the mundane, technology is elevating the role of the agent from a transactional processor to a strategic risk advisor. Freed from the drudgery of manual data entry and follow-ups, agents can dedicate their time to understanding client needs, navigating complex risk landscapes, and providing the expert counsel that no algorithm can replicate.

The carriers that understand and facilitate this evolution will be the winners. The new contract between agent and carrier is clear: provide the seamless, real-time data and tools needed to operate efficiently, and in return, you will gain a more strategic, more effective, and more loyal distribution partner. In the insurance landscape of 2025 and beyond, connectivity is not just a feature—it is the foundation of the entire relationship.