Life, annuities, and group benefits carriers moved AI from pilot to production fast. 73% run AI in production today, up from 37% in 2025. But the challenge has shifted from experimentation to execution: only 7% have scaled AI enterprise wide, and talent gaps have doubled, now cited by 40% of carriers, up from 24% in 2025.
This report sorts carriers into four stages of AI maturity – Exploring, Ready to Scale, Hitting Walls, and Compounding – built on deployment maturity and data readiness. Most sit in Hitting Walls: production AI capped by legacy integration and persistent talent scarcity. Most carriers still can’t prove AI is paying off – only 33% report positive ROI.
The report shows where returns are real, why investment concentrates in low-risk use cases like summarization, and the three moves that separate carriers building lasting advantage from the majority still expecting an edge they haven’t earned.
Clients of Datos Life, Annuities & Benefits practice can download this report.
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