This article was written with the assistance of AI and edited by Angela Sabarese.
In a recent CLM Tech Talk sponsored by Charlee AI, host Fran Clark engaged with industry expert Ellen Carney; Jeff Goldberg, president, Goldberg Strategies; and Karen Furtado, strategic advisor, Karen M Furtado LLC, to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming claims management in the insurance industry.Â
The importance of Data
The panel identified data quality as the fundamental challenge in AI adoption. "When we think about the barriers to AI adoption…the most important one is data," explained Carney. "The insurance industry has this fabulous pile of data that we get to take advantage of. But the problem with our data is that we've had long standing data quality issues." Beyond technical hurdles, cultural resistance and regulatory concerns also slow implementation.
Enhancing Human Expertise
The discussion highlighted the critical balance between automation and human judgment. Goldberg emphasized that AI should enhance rather than replace human expertise: "With AI, automation is balanced with the human touch. And that's part of it is that with claims, especially claims tied to potentially traumatic events, having a human involved is part of being there with customer care."
Information Processing
Karen Furtado noted that AI's true transformative power comes from its ability to process both structured and unstructured information. "AI isn't just using structured data. AI is also using a tremendous amount of unstructured information, specifically, claim adjuster notes, police reports, any of the thousands of documents that you have access to. That is what's starting to make this real game changing technology."
The experts agreed that while general AI platforms abound, solutions tailored specifically to insurance deliver the most value. The technology reduces manual touchpoints, accelerates decision-making, and potentially lowers expenses while maintaining customer trust.
As the insurance industry moves from AI hype to practical implementation, companies are discovering that success lies not in automation alone, but in technology that empowers adjusters with better insights while preserving the human element of claims handling, according to the experts.