2025 Roundup: Three Learnings to Take into 2026

This has been an unusual year in business–and one that offers us a glimpse of what’s to come in terms of artificial intelligence (AI), the market cycle, and recruitment and retainment across the insurance industry.

We Must Not Underestimate the Push Toward Artificial Intelligence

I was in a meeting of my bank board a few months ago when an economist listed the four main drivers of the U.S. economy. First on his list was investment in AI.

That was not just surprising to me, it was a completely unexpected shock. Of course, I knew companies were investing in AI infrastructure and products. And like most others I’ve been watching the headline developments. But the idea that investment was actually driving the entire economy was news to me.

Also, on the topic of AI, a massive layoff at a local company got my attention. They let go 10% of their workforce and attributed the layoff to AI implementation. Comments in the press left no doubt that this service business had plans for even more reductions in staff going forward.

With these developments, I was reminded of entrepreneur Peter Diamandis’ maxim, written in his book “Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think,” that “change is deceptive until it’s disruptive.” The idea is that when explosive change occurs, we often think that what gave rise to it happened overnight, when the fact is that it has been building for some time. The changes that machine learning and AI will create in our economy, and our workforce, may have been brewing for a while, but they are suddenly becoming very apparent.

How Should Agency Owners Respond Now

If this is your moment of clarity, don’t panic; plan instead. If you haven’t already done so, begin to do your homework on how AI is likely to change your operations including automation of routine service tasks, financial analysis and reporting, as well as underwriting. Understanding the likely changes and how you may want to respond is quickly becoming urgent.

Recognize tasks that can be easily automated including analysis work, accounting, form completion, and a host of others. Begin to experiment, if you haven’t already, with products to help you automate in these areas. You don’t have to outrun the bear, as the saying goes, but you do need to outrun your competitors.

Understand there are certain aspects of our business that AI will likely not replace, and the most important of those are human relationships. People have always craved connection, and in a world increasingly disconnected by technology that will only increase. If you’re a transactional seller of insurance, you aren’t doomed–yet. But you will be if you don’t learn the power of building relationships and selling your products based on connection and trust instead of price. Time is short.

Recognize the Hard Market May Have Long Legs

Several years ago, during the pandemic, we began a hard market cycle that many expected to be over in a year. I did not believe we’d have a longer, and more difficult, hard market than expected. However, I have been surprised at how long the market disruption has lasted, how slowly the industry has reacted, and how seemingly the end still hasn’t arrived.

Most agents I know have reacted to this prolonged cycle by hunkering down and hanging on. They’ve shopped their customers’ accounts. They’ve moved whole books of business. They’ve added as many carriers, even substandard ones, as they can. They’ve survived rate increases and grown used to longer days and higher stress.

What many haven’t done is seen the cycle for what it could be, which is a gold mine of opportunity. Those who recognize this have prospered by automating workflows, educating clients on the market, and re-enforcing their commitment to marketing and selling new business. These agents have grown faster than rate inflation and have harvested profits, while others have cut spending to stay alive.

What This Teaches Me About the Future

Market cycles will continue to be difficult to predict. While there has been some easing of this hard market, further tightening could be on the horizon, or it could finally come to an end. The important lessons are that agency principals should never quit selling to new customers, and both hard and soft markets present opportunities.

Focusing on relationships with customers is the best defense and best offense. The agents who have relentlessly communicated with clients, educating them and helping them to not just understand what’s happening to them but what to expect in the next 12-18 months, have been able to spend less time playing defense and have instead enjoyed more time prospecting for new business while maintaining strong retention ratios.

You may avoid losing with a great defense, but you can never win without offense.

People Want to Be Part of Something Bigger Than Themselves

This year, one of my businesses, a bank, made the “Inc. 5000” for the first time and I started an aviation museum for World War II planes. Both of these accomplishments took a great deal of teamwork and sacrifice from dozens of people. It struck me how people will jump at the chance to be part of an organization that they perceive to be exceptional, exciting, and a place where they can make a difference.

In the case of the museum, it was astonishing to see literally dozens of people turn out week after week to do hard physical labor. Their reward? Well, it wasn’t just pizza and a T-shirt. It was the feeling that they were contributing to something bigger than themselves, the idea that they were part of a special group of people who were making a difference.

With the bank, we’ve built a team of people who thrive on being unique, who love working in a place that defies convention, and who can feel their own contributions impact the business’s performance.

What I Have Learned that You Can Put into Action Right Now

A key to attracting the talent you need to grow and succeed is finding ways to help every team member see value in their contribution. Like the story of the janitor working late at night at the Kennedy Space Center who told a visitor he “was doing his part to put a man on the moon,” agency owners should focus on helping their people see their value as a part of something special.

Banking, or insurance, may be boring on the surface to some, but rapid growth, outsized success, or building a unique culture likely is not. People find that exciting, especially when they understand their unique value in achieving positive results. Focus on that and watch what happens.

These three things I’ve learned, or perhaps rediscovered, this year may seem disconnected. They’re not. They each remind me that though technology often seems to dominate our world, it’s the people–and the relationships and interest they have in each other–that make it go around.