Today, with Dais, his team built a platform enabling API connections. Agencies communicate with carriers and policyholders for a host of services (e.g. CSR responsibilities) and expertise (e.g. underwriting). “Agents are entrepreneurial, ambitious, competitive and they want to drive the industry,” he says.

2020 has been a challenging year for everyone. The pandemic has caused millions to lose their job, upended the economy, and inflicted untold emotional damage on many families. Social unrest has created division, stress, and has caused many more businesses to shutter, many never to return. 

Very few carriers are thinking about creating platforms yet, but there are some pioneers who are already making significant strides.

The next few years will bring big changes to the agency tech world, adds Ron Berg, executive director at the Agents Council for Technology (ACT). “There has never been a better time for our distribution channel because of the technology advances that our carriers are making and the investments by the technology vendors. Do we have a long way to go? Yes, but we’re seeing more willingness by independent agents to adopt technology advancements than ever before.”

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Despite the pandemic, small commercial insurance is incredibly hot right now. Most likely this is due to an increased focus on bringing offline processes online, and this is the lowest-hanging fruit available in the small commercial space.