Artificial Intelligence (AI) is attracting unprecedented capital investment ranging from data centers and energy to compute infrastructure, research and business applications. How are insurance companies thinking about AI’s medium-term impact on operations and members? How can AI enable proper transformation, efficiency gains, member acquisition and loyalty, and improved contact center and adjacent experiences? 

I recently sat down with Tiffany Gschwendtner, SVP and Global CX Leader at TTEC Digital, to find out.  

Tony Alonzo: Claims remain one of the biggest pain points in insurance, with customers often frustrated by inconsistent experiences, poor communication and the need to follow up repeatedly. How can TTEC and Genesys help address these challenges? 

Gschwendtner: Genesys provides the orchestration layer, uniting digital and voice interactions, AI and workforce engagement into a single platform. TTEC applies that orchestration to the realities of insurance operations, designing experiences around how claims flow, not how systems are organized. 

In practice, this means using automation to streamline early and ongoing moments in the journey, such as first notice of loss, claim creation, proactive claim updates and scheduling follow‑ups with adjusters. It also means shifting from reactive service to digital‑first, outbound engagement, where insurers set clear expectations, push timely updates and reduce the need for customers to chase information. When combined with integration into core claims platforms like Guidewire, these interactions can be informed by real‑time context and tailored to the individual claimant, creating a more personalized, consistent experience across channels. 

When executed well, the impact goes well beyond faster resolution. Insurers see more consistent experiences, better visibility and accountability across a claim’s lifecycle, lower cost to serve through automation and stronger trust at a moment that defines the brand. 

Ultimately, improving claims experiences isn’t about adding tools; it’s about orchestrating people, process and technology around the moments that matter most. That orchestration sets the foundation for how insurers think about broader customer experience and digital transformation.

What differentiates TTEC’s approach when insurers are evaluating and deploying a customer experience platform for claims operations? 

Gschwendtner: Claims organizations often treat customer experience platforms as a technology refresh rather than a transformation initiative. What differentiates TTEC is that we lead with consulting, not configuration. We help insurers rethink operating models before technology decisions are made — identifying what should be automated, where human expertise adds value and how digital and assisted journeys should work together. This enables insurers to redesign claims experiences end-to-end, align technology investments to business outcomes and build practical AI roadmaps. 

For claims organizations, customer experience technology decisions increasingly influence digital strategy, AI adoption, and customer trust. The insurers that succeed don’t view deployment as a one‑time event — they use it as an opportunity to modernize how claims work and how customers are supported over time. That’s where TTEC’s consultative approach truly makes the difference. 

What are some AI and digital best practices that insurers should consider adopting? What are the AI capabilities that you see as being day-one deliverables for anyone in the industry?   

Gschwendtner: With TTEC’s deep experience across the insurance value chain, from policy servicing to claims, we see leading insurers taking a pragmatic, outcome-driven approach to AI, focusing AI investments on high-volume, high-friction journeys like claims status, billing and policy servicing. Day-one capabilities such as virtual agents, intelligent routing, agent assist and automated summarization can deliver immediate operational value while improving responsiveness and consistency. In claims specifically, these tools enable proactive communication and free agents to focus on complex conversations that require empathy and judgment. 

How do these capabilities improve experiences in areas like claims where empathy, consultation and responsiveness are so important? 

Gschwendtner: Empathy, consultation and responsiveness are foundational to the claims experience. Policyholders often engage with insurers during stressful, high-stakes moments, making the quality of the experience just as important as the outcome itself. 

Modern customer experience, digital and AI capabilities can help insurers scale these human qualities rather than replace them: 

  • Empathy: Proactive updates, clear expectations and timely communication reduce uncertainty and build trust. When customers understand what’s happening and what comes next, they feel more supported throughout the claims process.  
  • Consultation: By integrating customer, policy and claims data, insurers can equip agents with real-time context and next-best actions. This enables more personalized guidance and helps agents act as trusted advisors rather than simply answering questions.  
  • Responsiveness: Automation can handle routine tasks and status updates, allowing adjusters and agents to focus on more complex interactions. Intelligent routing and self-service tools also help connect customers to the right resource faster and with less effort.  

While these principles are especially important in claims, they apply across sales, service and policy operations as well. When implemented thoughtfully, technology can strengthen human connection by helping insurers deliver more consistent, personalized and efficient experiences. 

How should insurers think about deploying Genesys Cloud and measuring the ROI of experience? And what do you see as changing in the industry in the next five years? 

Gschwendtner: Insurance relationships are fundamentally different from other financial services. Interactions may be less frequent, but when they occur, they are high‑impact moments that shape long‑term trust. That reality should directly influence how insurers deploy platforms like Genesys Cloud™. 

What stands out is the need to design for moments that matter, not just interaction volume. For insurers, Genesys Cloud should be treated not as a contact center replacement, but as a relationship orchestration platform –– one that connects episodic interactions into a consistent, personalized experience over time. 

That means capturing context across channels and journeys, so customers aren’t starting over with each interaction, and thoughtfully blending digital, AI‑driven and human‑assisted experiences especially in moments that require reassurance, consultation or guidance. 

Over the next five years, we see three trends reshaping the insurance industry: 

  • Changing customer expectations: Younger consumers expect personalized, transparent and responsive experiences, pushing insurers toward more proactive, data-driven engagement.  
  • AI-driven transformation: AI is enabling insurers to anticipate needs, personalize interactions and determine where automation, assistance and human expertise create the most value.  
  • Continuous optimization: Insurers are moving beyond one-time technology deployments and embracing ongoing improvement, using interaction insights to refine experiences and adapt to evolving expectations. 

The insurers best-positioned to succeed view episodic engagement as an opportunity. By deploying Genesys Cloud with a focus on orchestration, personalization, and adaptability, they can turn infrequent interactions into meaningful moments that strengthen customer trust.  

Can you elaborate a bit more about how an insurance company in 2026 should think about their technology investments and how to manage the ROI of experience? 

Gschwendtner: The first mindset shift is recognizing that experience is no longer a soft metric. For insurers, experience directly affects efficiency, retention, trust and long‑term value, especially in moments like claims. Technology investments should be clearly tied to the outcomes an organization is trying to improve, whether that’s faster resolution, lower cost to serve, improved containment or more consistent engagement across channels. 

Insurers should also view technology as an evolving capability, not a one‑time deployment. Platforms like Genesys Cloud support incremental use cases, continuous optimization and the ability to layer in AI over time. This allows organizations to manage risk, prioritize quick wins and build momentum rather than relying on a single transformation event. 

Managing the ROI of experience requires broadening how success is measured. Traditional metrics like handle time and cost per contact still matter, but they must be paired with indicators such as customer effort, journey completion, digital adoption and agent effectiveness to understand true impact. 

AI plays a critical role but only when applied deliberately. We see insurers with strong returns using AI to automate the right interactions, augment employees where judgment and empathy matter most and continuously learn from every engagement. 

Ultimately, insurers best-positioned to succeed treat technology investments as part of a continuous experience lifecycle, designing with intent, deploying with discipline, and optimizing relentlessly.

When experience is managed this way, ROI becomes something leaders can actively shape, not just measure. 

Beyond claims, how can insurers use technology to improve sales and renewal experiences while strengthening customer relationships and brand loyalty?  

Gschwendtner: The opportunity for insurers is to move beyond transactional interactions and toward continuous, connected engagement across the customer lifecycle.  

Technology can improve key customer journeys in several ways: 

  • Sales: Digital-first experiences, combined with real-time customer context, enable more personalized and consultative conversations when advisor support is needed.  
  • Renewals: Proactive outreach, self-service tools and intelligent agent support help reinforce policy value, simplify decision-making and reduce churn risk.  
  • Service: Customers increasingly expect to resolve routine needs independently while retaining easy access to human assistance when complexity arises. The most effective experiences blend automation with seamless escalation.  

Across all journeys, consistency is the differentiator. By connecting digital, AI-powered and human-assisted interactions, insurers can create more seamless experiences that build trust, strengthen loyalty and reinforce brand value over time. 

How is TTEC’s financial services practice responding to this challenge, and how is Genesys enabling your practice in the back office and sales experience? 

Gschwendtner: We see this as a pivotal moment for the insurance industry. Insurers are investing in technologies that simplify operations, improve efficiency and create more connected customer experiences across the policy lifecycle. 

Genesys Cloud can provide the foundation through deep integrations with platforms like Guidewire and Duck Creek, omnichannel engagement capabilities and AI-powered orchestration. 

At TTEC, we help insurers translate those capabilities into measurable business outcomes. We work with carriers to redesign customer and employee experiences across claims, sales, service and back-office operations, using Genesys as the engagement layer connecting people, systems and data. 

Together, TTEC and Genesys can help insurers modernize operations, improve customer experiences and drive long-term business value. 

As competition intensifies, the insurers best-positioned to stand out are those that use technology not just to modernize infrastructure, but to differentiate through experience, building more resilient operations, stronger relationships and long‑term value for customers and the business. 

To learn more about TTEC and its SmartApps Cloud suite, visit: https://www.ttecdigital.com/solutions/smartapps-cloud

And to see how Genesys Cloud can help your financial services organization enhance experiences for customers, members and clients, get a demo today.