As the P&C industry heads into 2026, insurers are navigating a complex environment defined by rising risk complexity and increased pressure on margins. At the same time, the technology landscape is advancing faster than ever.
Against this backdrop, several trends stand out as defining the year ahead, shaping how insurers operate, compete, and grow. Here, Guidewire experts share their perspectives on what’s changing and why it matters, covering strategic areas from AI and data analytics to climate risk and ecosystem strategy.
1. Intelligent Insurance Is the New Operating Model
Introduced at Connections 2025 and defining how insurers operate through 2026 and beyond
Why this shift is happeningInsurers have spent years modernizing core systems and testing automation and AI. While this work improved technology, it often failed to change day-to-day operations. Teams still work in silos and intelligence is applied unevenly across the business.
What’s changing
Intelligent Insurance represents a shift in how insurers run their business. Instead of treating AI, analytics, pricing, and automation as separate initiatives, insurers are using them together as part of a single operating approach. Intelligence is embedded directly into workflows, so insights support decisions as they happen, from underwriting and pricing to claims and operations.
This is not about adding more tools. It is about connecting data, decision logic, and workflows so the business learns and improves continuously.
Why it matters
Intelligent Insurance provides the foundation for the trends shaping insurance in 2026 and beyond. It moves insurers from isolated innovation to enterprise-wide intelligence, where insights are consistently applied across the organization. The result is faster decisions, better outcomes, and operations that improve over time.
Insight — Brian Desmond, Chief Marketing Officer, Guidewire
Desmond emphasizes the importance of operating on modern cloud platforms that make intelligence accessible across the organization, so insights reach the people making decisions when they need them.
2. 2026 will be the Make or Break Year for AI Operationalization in Insurance
What’s driving this trend
More than 60% of P&C insurers are piloting or deploying AI technologies, but fewer than 15% have scaled them across core operations. Many pilots stall due to siloed data, legacy infrastructure, and a lack of governance. Meanwhile, the pressure on insurers continues to intensify as they strive to integrate greater speed and accuracy into every stage of their operational workflows.
The trend
In 2026, insurers will move beyond experimentation and focus on execution. AI, both predictive and generative, is embedded directly into underwriting, pricing, and claims workflows. Instead of stand-alone pilots, AI operates at the point of decision, inside the core systems employees use every day, guiding actions in real time.
Why it matters
At the operational level, AI acts as a true force multiplier by sharpening the entire decision-making process from initial risk selection through to final pricing precision. Value is no longer theoretical. It manifests in measurable outcomes throughout the insurance lifecycle. For a closer look at how generative AI is already delivering impact, see “Reimagining Workers’ Compensation in the Age of Generative AI.”
Insight — Laura Drabik, Chief Evangelist, Guidewire
Drabik highlights that “AI succeeds when it solves real business problems,” pointing to use cases like FNOL automation, underwriting guidance, fraud detection, and document intelligence.
3. Insights-Ready Architecture is the New Baseline for Insurance Competitiveness
Why this trend is happening
Data has always been the foundation of insurance, but in the age of AI, data quality directly drives decision quality. Many insurers still rely on siloed systems, inconsistent standards, and manual processes, limiting the value of analytics and automation. As risk becomes more dynamic, from climate to cyber to inflation, insurers need trusted, real-time data more than ever.
The trend
The industry is moving beyond the simple act of collecting data toward a more sophisticated model of making it "insights-ready." This evolution involves the creation of governed and contextualized information that is available exactly when and where a decision is made. Furthermore, this trend is marked by the emergence of "systems of insight" that bridge the gap between raw data and operational workflows, turning stagnant information into active models and predictive analytics that are woven directly into the business.
Why it matters
When data is fragmented or unreliable, the insights built on it will be too, weakening decision-making across the lifecycle.
Insight — Leo Tenenblat, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Data and Analytics, Guidewire
Tenenblat emphasizes the importance of “insights-ready data” and operational analytics as the engine behind next-generation underwriting, claims, and pricing.
4. The Unified Pricing Pivot will play a Critical Role in Solving the Insurance Speed-to-Market Challenge
What’s driving this trend
Pricing has grown increasingly complex as insurers contend with inflation and regulatory shifts alongside shifting risk dynamics and emerging variables. Yet many insurers still rely on fragmented rating engines and inconsistent processes managed by siloed teams, a combination that slows product updates while reducing overall pricing accuracy.
The trend
Carriers are moving toward unified, collaborative pricing models that centralize data, logic, and workflows. This means actuaries, underwriters, product teams, and data scientists can work from a single source of truth, enabled by platforms that unify pricing and rating.
Why it matters
Unified pricing is essential because it reduces errors and dramatically improves speed to market by accelerating product launches while ensuring regulatory consistency. This approach supports the transition toward more dynamic and analytics-driven pricing strategies that allow carriers to remain competitive in a fast-moving landscape.
Insight — Dawid Kopczyk, Senior Director, Pricing and Rating, Guidewire
Kopczyk recommends that “pricing must be done in real-time and be transparent and collaborative.” He emphasizes that modern pricing teams require shared tools and shared language to succeed.
5. The Rise of the Underwriting Command Center: 2026 Marks the End of ‘Inbox Underwriting’
Why this trend is accelerating
Underwriters face overwhelming complexity, fragmented systems, manual processes, increased data requirements, and rising profitability pressure, while many are still juggling PDFs, emails, spreadsheets, and disconnected tools that slow decisions and introduce inconsistencies.
The trend
In 2026, the industry will move away from "inbox-driven" underwriting, where work is managed through fragmented PDFs and emails, in favor of unified underwriting command centers. These platforms will consolidate disconnected tools into a single environment that orchestrates data, workflows, and decision support in real time. This aligns with the industry’s movement toward underwriting environments that streamline the submission lifecycle through integrated risk data and real-time collaboration at the point of decision.
Why it matters
Unified underwriting supports stronger risk selection and faster quote-to-bind cycles while simultaneously reducing leakage and creating a more scalable operating model.
Insight — Mike Quintal, Vice President, Policy and Billing, Guidewire
Quintal leads product strategy and development for Guidewire’s underwriting solutions. He emphasizes the importance of bringing together underwriters, data, and workflows in a single, connected environment to drive consistency and better decisions.
6. Property-Specific Data will Redefine 2026 Underwriting Standards
Why this trend is intensifying
Climate-related losses continue to rise, creating significant pressure on underwriting and pricing while simultaneously impacting reinsurance costs and overall profitability. Traditional models that rely on broad geographic zones like ZIP codes can no longer accurately capture risk as wildfire, flood, and wind patterns shift and the risk can differ from house to house in the same neighborhood.
The trend
Insurers adopt granular, property-level hazard intelligence to improve risk selection and portfolio resilience. This includes dynamic peril scores, geospatial data, and real-time hazard insights embedded directly into underwriting and pricing workflows.
Why it matters
Accurate hazard data supports more sustainable risk-based pricing and smarter underwriting, providing critical mitigation guidance as well as enabling better portfolio diversification.
Insight — Chris Folkman, Vice President, Product Management, Analytics, Guidewire
Chris Folkman leads product strategy for Guidewire HazardHub, focusing on property-level risk intelligence. Folkman notes that “address-level hazard intelligence is essential for understanding real risk and pricing accurately in CAT-prone regions.”
7. The Ecosystem Advantage: Partnerships are Accelerating 2026 Innovation
What’s driving this trend
As insurers navigate the rising complexity of modern operations, they must balance the urgent need for automation and AI adoption with the integration of vast new data sources and the continuous evolution of customer expectations.
The trend
Insurers adopt ecosystem-driven innovation models built on curated, pre-integrated insurtech partnerships. Ecosystems like the Guidewire Marketplace offer a one-stop shop for trusted insurtech partners that can be integrated seamlessly into core systems.
Why it matters
Ecosystems accelerate the pace of innovation and reduce integration costs. This efficiency enables faster experimentation and provides insurers with direct access to specialized capabilities.
Insight — Will Murphy, Vice President, Marketplace and Technology Alliances, Guidewire
Murphy states that “ecosystems combine speed, flexibility, and trust, giving insurers the ability to innovate with confidence.”
8. MGAs Are Recognized as Innovation Engines
What’s driving this trend
MGAs are growing nearly twice as quickly as the broader insurance market, fueled by a rising demand for niche expertise, flexible capital, and rapid product innovation. They distinguish themselves through their ability to launch specialty programs and leverage modern technology, which allows them to adapt with agility as new risks emerge in the market.
The trend
Modern MGAs become innovation engines — using technology, data, and agility to lead growth in specialty markets. By embracing automation and analytics within cloud-based platforms, these organizations can scale their programs and manage delegated authority more efficiently, ultimately setting themselves apart through their specialized underwriting expertise.
Why it matters
Modern MGAs are exerting a growing influence over distribution and product design as well as risk innovation, making it essential for both carriers and MGAs to remain at the cutting edge of technology to stay competitive in an evolving market.
Insight — Zach Gustafson, General Manager, Claims and InsuranceNow, Guidewire
Gustafson underscores that “MGAs are technology leaders that play a critical role in expanding access to coverage, especially in specialized and emerging risk segments.”
9. Knowledge Management Infrastructure Becomes the Strategic Defense Against the Talent Cliff
Why this trend is emerging
The insurance industry is experiencing one of the largest generational workforce transitions in its history. A significant portion of experienced underwriters, claims professionals, adjusters, and pricing specialists are reaching retirement age. At the same time, carriers struggle to attract and retain Millennial and Gen Z talent, groups that expect modern tools and immediate access to information.
This talent gap creates a growing operational risk: institutional knowledge is leaving the organization faster than new employees can replace it.
The trend
Knowledge management becomes a strategic imperative for insurers rather than a simple documentation exercise. To protect their core operations, carriers are investing in comprehensive platforms designed to capture and structure a vast range of organizational intelligence, from underwriting guidelines and claims playbooks to the historical institutional expertise that defines their competitive edge.
Guidewire’s acquisition of ProNavigator, a leading knowledge management insurtech, reflects this shift. Knowledge management solutions are evolving from static repositories into dynamic, AI-ready knowledge hubs that continuously stream searchable, up-to-date intelligence directly into everyday employee workflows.
Why it matters
This trend solves two converging challenges:
- Knowledge Retention and Workforce Resilience
Insurers preserve critical expertise, reduce training time for new hires, and ensure consistency as experienced employees retire. - Trusted Data for AI and Analytics
High-quality, well-organized knowledge becomes a powerful data asset. AI models, copilots, and analytics engines depend on trusted information because, as with all data-driven systems, insights are only as strong as the data behind them. Knowledge management establishes a single source of truth, serving as the foundation for accurate AI outputs, automated guidance, and reliable decision support.
Insight — Joseph D’Souza, Senior Director, ProNavigator Sales, Guidewire (Former ProNavigator Founder and CEO)
D’Souza says, “With a major workforce transition underway, insurers can’t afford to lose institutional knowledge. Modern, AI-ready knowledge hubs preserve expertise, equip new talent, and ensure AI is built on trusted information.”
Looking Ahead
The year ahead will challenge insurers but it also offers unprecedented potential. Success belongs to the insurers who move beyond traditional boundaries by embedding intelligence into their core operations and scaling AI with purpose. These are the organizations that will ultimately set the pace for the industry's transformation and secure a lasting lead in the market.
As insurance evolves beyond the era of simple digitization, it is entering a new phase defined by an industry-wide shift toward becoming more intelligent, connected, and collaborative.