Insurers Are Scaling AI. Some Defense Firms Are Still Scaling Email.
by Rebecca Side
A recent article by Elizabeth Blosfield caught my attention.
Industry leaders were discussing a question that would have seemed futuristic just a few years ago:
How do insurers know when they’re ready to scale AI?
According to James Thom, now President and Chief AI Officer at Vertafore, the answer isn’t really about technology.
It’s about outcomes: embedding AI into workflows, improving decisions, driving efficiency, and creating measurable business impact.
In short, insurers have stopped asking:
“Can we use AI?”
They’re now asking:
“How quickly can we operationalize it?”
Meanwhile, parts of the insurance defense industry are still debating whether email is an acceptable project management system.
For the record, it isn’t.
The irony is hard to ignore.
Carriers are investing heavily in AI, predictive analytics, and digital transformation, while many litigation updates still arrive as PDFs attached to lengthy email chains with seventeen people copied in.
AI Has a Data Problem. So Does Litigation.
One of the most important observations in the article was that successful AI initiatives are built into core workflows.
Not bolted onto broken processes.
That’s because AI is only as good as the information feeding it.
If litigation strategy, reserve recommendations, case assessments, and key decisions are buried in inboxes, AI can’t see them.
And if AI can’t see them, AI can’t help.
As one claims executive recently told us:
“We’re trying to build an AI strategy while still chasing status reports.”
That sentence probably deserves its own conference panel.
The Clock Speed Has Changed
Craig Weber from Cognizant made another point that should resonate with anyone in insurance:
“I’ve never seen insurers do anything too quickly.”
Yet even insurers are beginning to recognize that waiting may now be the greater risk.
At CLM’s 2026 Annual Conference, one theme was impossible to miss:
Everyone is talking about AI.
But the organizations seeing real results aren’t starting with AI.
They’re starting with process, data, visibility, and workflow.
The foundations.
Because before AI can transform litigation management, organizations need structured litigation intelligence.
Not more emails.
Not more spreadsheets.
Not another status report sitting in someone’s inbox.
The Future Isn’t Artificial Intelligence. It’s Structured Intelligence.
The firms that thrive over the next decade won’t necessarily be the ones with the most AI tools.
They’ll have the cleanest data, the most transparent workflows, and the strongest collaboration with their clients.
And they’ll understand a simple truth:
You can’t build an AI-powered future on an email-powered process.
Even Lloyd’s is moving beyond paper slips.
Maybe it’s time litigation management did too.
Learn how ClaimDeck helps carriers cut case life by 200+ days, reduce spend, and make litigation AI-ready.
ClaimDeck™ eliminates claims litigation leakage for carriers while driving process into the law firm, modernizing the litigation process.
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