Capacity and AI don’t eclipse the broker’s role; they sharpen it
The insurance brokerage model is being reshaped from two directions at once. On one side, technology, particularly artificial intelligence and advanced analytics, is transforming data flows. On the other, abundant capital capacity is shifting how risk programmes are structured and negotiated. According to Carrie Kelley (pictured), Price Forbes CEO, these forces are not displacing the broker, but they are defining where the real value sits.
Kelley, due to speak on ‘Rewriting the playbook: the future of broking’ at the Bermuda Risk Summit 2026, hosted by the Bermuda Development Agency on March 9-11, told Bermuda:Re+ILS that “AI will undoubtedly enhance analytics, workflow efficiency and execution, but it will augment rather than replace the broker’s role.”
Technology is the most visible pressure point on change. Across financial services, automation narratives often assume intermediaries will be the first casualties of AI-driven efficiency. Kelley suggested that the reality is more nuanced for insurance broking.
The reason lies in the nature of insurance placements themselves. While analytics can improve the quality of risk insight and speed up operational processes, the market still functions through negotiation, judgment and trust between counterparties. “Ultimately, trading relationships and market judgment remain central to successful placements in our industry,” Kelley said.
That dynamic becomes even more important as the underlying risk landscape grows more complex. The increasing interconnectivity of exposures requires brokers to interpret a growing volume of risk data and translate it into structures that markets are actually willing to underwrite.
Here, technology becomes a tool rather than a substitute. Kelley reinforced that “enhanced actuarial tools and richer historical data now allow us to assess and advise on these exposures with greater precision.”
At the same time, the capital environment is shifting in ways that further elevate the advisory dimension of broking. “Following a prolonged period of constrained capital, improving conditions and abundant capacity are creating opportunities to deploy A-rated re/insurance capital more efficiently,” Kelley said.
When capacity tightens, the broker’s role often revolves around assembling enough balance sheet to complete a placement. When it expands, the focus moves upstream toward the architecture of the programme itself: “In a softening market, our focus shifts toward refining programme structures, optimising capacity utilisation and enhancing terms and conditions for clients,” Kelley explained.
This is where the combination of analytics and market connectivity becomes decisive. “The broker’s role is increasingly about combining data-driven insight with market connectivity to deliver optimal outcomes for clients.” Being positioned between buyer and provider, brokers have a detailed view of underwriting appetite across the market.
That positioning is becoming more important as new sources of capital enter the sector. Institutional investors continue to seek diversification through insurance risk, but accessing those opportunities requires careful structuring. As Kelley explained, “as alternative capital providers continue to enter the re/insurance market seeking diversification, brokers play a pivotal role in structuring access and aligning investor appetite with client needs.”
The result is a brokerage model that is becoming both more analytical and more strategic. But, Kelley pointed out that talent expectations actually remain largely unchanged: “While technology is improving operational efficiency, broking remains a relationship-driven business, so core skills in negotiation, structuring and client advisory remain critical.”
Indeed, rather than reduce the broker’s relevance, the twin forces of technology and capital expansion are concentrating it. Data may improve the tools and abundant capacity might expand the options, but turning those inputs into executable transactions still depends on the same combination of market judgment and relationships that has always defined the business.
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