Last Updated on: December 17, 2025

From Submission Bottlenecks to Scalable Growth: How AI is Empowering Independent Insurance Agencies

The commercial insurance industry is in the midst of a major evolution. The traditional workflows that once drove agency productivity are now dragging down growth, overloading staff, and frustrating owners who are trying to scale efficiently. For independent insurance agencies—especially those in the middle market—adapting to these challenges without increasing overhead is a tightrope walk.

Enter artificial intelligence. While some still view AI as a buzzword, forward-thinking agencies are harnessing it as a genuine solution to one of the most pressing issues in the industry: operational inefficiency. In this post, we’re diving into how AI, specifically all-in-one platforms like 1Fort, is reshaping commercial insurance operations by eliminating manual bottlenecks and empowering agencies to grow without adding headcount.

This blog features insights from Toby Hung, COO and co-founder of 1Fort.

The Labor Crisis in Commercial Insurance Agencies

Staffing challenges have long plagued independent insurance agencies, but the problem is now more acute than ever. With fewer new professionals entering the insurance space and an aging workforce nearing retirement, many agencies are struggling just to stay staffed—let alone scale.

Burnout is rampant. CSRs and account managers are often expected to juggle client communication, data entry, quoting, proposal generation, policy servicing, and more—all while keeping turnaround times tight. In many cases, they’re spending up to 9 hours a week on repetitive, non-revenue generating tasks like data input and navigating multiple carrier portals.

To make matters worse, newer generations entering the workforce—Millennials and Gen Z—aren’t interested in doing business the old way. They expect technology in the workplace to mirror the tools they use in everyday life. Without that, agencies not only risk operational inefficiency—they risk losing their best talent.

Technology Missteps: Why Agencies Lose Faith in Innovation

Ironically, many agency owners have already invested in technology to solve these issues. Unfortunately, most of those investments haven’t delivered the ROI they were promised.

The problem isn’t the idea of InsurTech—it’s the execution. Agencies often fall into what’s known as the “shiny object” trap: chasing point solutions that solve one small piece of the puzzle (proposal generation, comparative quoting, document storage) without considering how those tools integrate into the broader agency ecosystem.

The result? Tool overload. Fragmented platforms. Duplicated data entry. More training, more cost, and ultimately, more frustration.

When these tools fail to deliver results—or worse, create more work—agents blame the software, cancel their subscriptions, and revert to legacy processes. It’s a cycle that has kept many agencies stuck in the past.

Bridging the Gap Between Insurance and Technology

The root cause of this cycle often lies in a fundamental disconnect between insurance and technology professionals. Technologists don’t always understand the workflow of a retail insurance agency, and insurance professionals often struggle to communicate what they really need from a tool.

That’s the gap Toby Hung, COO and co-founder of 1Fort, set out to bridge. With a background in both the insurance carrier space (AIA) and Silicon Valley tech, Toby saw firsthand how much value was being left on the table due to poor communication between these two worlds.

Instead of building in isolation, 1Fort was developed in partnership with real insurance agencies. Hundreds of hours of discovery calls, workflow audits, and pain point analysis led to a platform that was designed with agents, not just for them. That partnership-first approach is what makes 1Fort stand out among other InsurTech solutions.

What “All-In-One” Really Means for Insurance Agencies

Many platforms claim to be “all-in-one,” but 1Fort backs it up with functionality that spans the full quote-to-bind lifecycle.

Here’s how it works:

Seamless data integration: 1Fort integrates with your existing systems—whether that’s your agency management system (AMS), document storage, or CRM. Using AI, it extracts relevant data from applications, expiring policies, and loss runs.
AI-powered submission automation: Instead of manually entering data into multiple carrier portals, 1Fort uses AI agents to do it for you. That means less time clicking and more time closing.
Market access and quoting: You can plug in your own appointed markets or use 1Fort’s access to specialty carriers. Either way, quotes come back directly through the platform.
Coverage comparisons: 1Fort automatically generates side-by-side quote comparisons, highlighting differences in premiums, limits, exclusions, and even AM Best ratings.
Proposal generation: It also creates white-labeled, branded marketing proposals that are polished, consistent, and ready to send to the client—no need for time-consuming design work.
Binder delivery: Once bound, 1Fort follows through by pushing bind orders into carrier systems and retrieving policies or binders automatically.

This isn’t just another rating tool—it’s a full-stack operating system designed to manage and streamline the most time-consuming parts of a producer or CSR’s day.

Why Small and Midsize Agencies Are Winning with AI

While large national brokers have the resources to throw dozens of people at process problems, small and midsize agencies don’t have that luxury. They’re often trying to grow lean—and that’s exactly where AI provides the biggest lift.

1Fort has found its sweet spot with agencies in the $5–10M gross written premium range. These firms are often in high-growth mode but hitting a plateau because they don’t want to keep hiring to scale.

By automating submissions and proposal work, these agencies have been able to:

Close more business without adding headcount
Reallocate staff to high-value tasks
Onboard producers faster
Reduce operational costs

AI is the great equalizer. It allows boutique firms to punch above their weight and compete with well-funded PE-backed giants.

Overcoming AMS Limitations with Smarter Data Handling

Let’s face it: most AMS platforms are not optimized for real-world use. They’re clunky, outdated, and full of bad data. Producers and CSRs avoid them not because they’re lazy, but because it’s a time suck to update information line by line—and even then, the data may not be accurate.

1Fort tackles this by going outside the AMS first. It pulls fresh data directly from client-submitted forms and application documents. Then, using AI, it formats that data for quoting—and eventually, the goal is to sync that back into the AMS to improve accuracy across the board.

While 1Fort isn’t trying to replace AMS platforms, it is building smart two-way integrations that make those platforms more usable. In doing so, it avoids the trap that many startups fall into: trying to be everything to everyone, rather than being the best at a few essential things.

The Business Case for AI: Speed, Accuracy, and Retention

Automation isn’t just about saving time. It’s about creating an environment where your people can focus on what really matters—whether that’s relationship building, strategic risk advising, or building the agency’s brand.

Let’s break down the business impact:

Faster quote turnaround: Less time waiting on markets means more opportunities closed. First to quote often wins the account.
Cleaner data = fewer E&O issues: AI-extracted data is more consistent and less error-prone than manual rekeying.
Improved employee experience: Reducing admin workload boosts morale and retention—especially with younger team members who expect tech-enabled environments.
More meaningful work: Your team isn’t just pushing paper; they’re problem-solving, selling, and strategizing.

In short, automation drives revenue and retention. That’s a combination no agency can afford to ignore.

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