BOSTON, MA, JUNE 9, 2026 — Insurance operations leaders are more confident about the industry’s future this year than last. They’re also more stretched, more pres
sured, and more likely to be sitting on data they can't act on. And a growing number are deploying AI faster than they're preparing the people expected to work alongside it.
Those are the central findings of Covenir‘s second annual 2026 Insurance Operations L
eaders Trends Report, based on a February-March 2026 survey of 152 U.S.-based insurance operations decision-makers at carriers, MGAs, and Insurtechs.
Key Findings
70% of organizations have AI running in live operations, up from 58% one year ago, but 20% are simultaneously cutting training budgets while only 7% are protecting them
29% now expect outsourcing partners to have AI solutions embedded in their services
88% of ops leaders are optimistic about the industry’s future, up from 83% in 2025, but 65% say their teams are more stretched than they’ve ever been.
68% of organizations saw budget increases, yet the segment with the highest growth, mid-sized carriers with 500-999 employees, also reports the highest team strain at 83%
90% say they are confident their operations deliver on their brand promise but 42% say brand promise breakdowns most often happen at First Notice of Loss, the function most exposed to stretched teams and defunded training programs
81% say operational insights are critical to business success, yet 47% either aren't using their data or can't translate it into decisions
“Insurance operations leaders are doing something truly hard right now,” said David Squibb
, President and CEO of Covenir. “They’re staying optimistic while absorbing real pressure, deploying AI while cutting the training budgets that make it work, and sitting on operational intelligence they know is valuable but haven’t y
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et build the infrastructure to act on. The organizations that close those gaps in 2026 are the ones that pull ahead, and the window is narrowing.”
The Tension at the Center of the Industry
Eighty-eight percent of insurance operations leaders say they’re optimistic about the industry’s future, up from 83% in 2025. But 91% of executives report their teams are more stretched than they’ve ever been, almost double
that of managers or individual contributors. Budgets are growing too: nearly 68% of organizations saw increases. But the segment with the highest budget growth, mid-sized c
arriers with 500-999 employees, also reports the highest team strain at 83%, raising serious questions about where the investment is actually going.
AI Is Moving Faster Than the People Running It
Seventy percent of organizations now have AI running in live operations, up from 58
% one year ago. But 20% are simultaneously cutting training budgets while only 7% are actively protecting them. The result is a widening gap between the technology being deployed and the people expected to use it.
There is another nuance that shows up in the data. Among organizations with AI in early deployment, the impact is landing where you'd expect: custom
r satisfaction and efficiency gains. But among the more advanced warranties who are running AI across multiple functions, a different pattern is emerging. Fifty-four
percent of that group say headcount is where they plan to cut investment most in 2026, more than five times the rate of their less m
ature peers at 11%. This suggests that while AI isn't yet driving mass elimination of jobs in insurance operations, that moment is getting closer as organizations mature in their AI adoption. This shift is also reshaping what warranties ex
pect from their partners: 29% now say they expect outsourcing partners to have AI solutions embedded in their services, signaling that outsourcing is becoming part of their AI strategy, not just a cost line.
