Insurance giant Travelers is rapidly expanding its use of artificial intelligence, recently announcing a new agreement that equips roughly 10,000 engineers and data scientists with AI assistants. Yet company leadership is clear that technology alone is not the differentiator. Instead, Travelers sees deep institutional expertise—augmented by AI—as the real engine of sustainable profit growth.
Chief executive officer Alan Schnitzer revealed that more than 20,000 employees now use AI tools regularly. He also confirmed that AI-driven efficiency gains in claims processing have contributed to reductions in call centre staffing.
Technology investment drives financial performance
According to Schnitzer, Travelers’ strong financial results are closely tied to its long-term investment in technology and innovation. Over nearly a decade, the company increased the total value of insurance policies sold by an average of almost 7% annually. During the same period, its underlying combined ratio improved significantly, falling to 83.9.
Despite increased spending on technology, Travelers improved its expense ratio by approximately three points—around a 10% gain. Schnitzer described this evolution as a transition from the company’s original innovation strategy to what it now calls “Innovation 2.0,” where AI plays a central role, with quantum computing on the horizon.
From innovation foundations to AI-first strategy
Innovation 1.0 laid the groundwork for Travelers’ success by building internal technical capabilities and modernising operations. Innovation 2.0 builds on that foundation, positioning AI as a core operational driver across the organisation.
Schnitzer emphasised that this shift is not experimental. AI tools are already embedded in daily workflows, automating millions of transactions and supporting decision-making at scale.
Automation reduces claims call centre headcount
One of the most visible impacts of AI adoption has been in claims operations. Schnitzer confirmed that Travelers’ claims call centre workforce has declined by roughly one-third, with four centres being consolidated into two.
Automation and analytics have helped reduce loss adjustment expenses and improve the company’s loss ratio. AI systems now refine indemnity payouts while increasing operational efficiency across claims handling.
More than half of all claims are now eligible for straight-through processing, with customers opting into this automated pathway in roughly two-thirds of cases. An additional 15% of claims are processed using advanced digital tools, and both figures continue to rise.
AI voice agents handle first contact
While automation now handles much of the claims workflow, Travelers recognises that many customers still prefer phone interactions. To address this, the company has deployed a generative AI voice agent that manages initial calls.
Early adoption has exceeded internal expectations, according to Schnitzer, suggesting growing customer comfort with AI-driven service interactions.
Beyond claims: AI across the enterprise
AI’s impact at Travelers extends well beyond call centres. Schnitzer noted that AI use cases are improving underwriting quality, operational efficiency, and experiences for customers, agents, brokers, and employees alike.
Greg Toczydlowski, executive vice president and president of business insurance, explained that generative AI agents are being used to mine internal and external data sources. These tools synthesise risk characteristics more efficiently, accelerating underwriting timelines and supporting more granular pricing strategies.
Smarter underwriting through advanced models
Commercial underwriters are now supported by AI models that summarise historical claims data, refine pricing, and evaluate risk with greater speed and consistency. Toczydlowski said these tools are helping underwriters perform strongly in current markets while also shaping broader industry transformation.
In personal insurance, executive vice president Michael Klein highlighted AI’s role in renewal underwriting. Proprietary predictive models score each account in the property portfolio, flagging high-risk policies for underwriter review. Generative AI then consolidates relevant data into actionable summaries.
The result has been a 30% reduction in average handling times, allowing underwriters to focus on decisions most likely to improve profitability.
Speciality insurance gains speed
In specialty insurance, AI has dramatically reduced submission intake times—from hours to minutes—according to Jeffrey Klenk, president of bond and specialty insurance. AI tools are also being used to streamline policy renewals, further reducing administrative overhead.
Productivity, not promises, define AI’s role
Despite workforce reductions in claims operations, Schnitzer avoided speculating about future job cuts. Instead, he emphasised rising productivity per employee, driven by automation and efficiency gains.
He argued that AI amplifies human expertise rather than replacing it, positioning Travelers to benefit from advanced tools capable of managing complex workflows, stakeholder interactions, and vast volumes of unstructured data.
With dozens of generative AI tools already in production and agentic AI embedded across operations, Travelers views AI not as a future aspiration but as a present-day competitive advantage—one that is reshaping insurance delivery, accelerating innovation, and redefining how work gets done across the industry.
