Reimagining life insurance through agent empowerment and customer-centric innovation

The life insurance industry has arrived at a critical point. Aging populations, declining birth rates and evolving life journeys have transformed the market landscape, and evolving consumer expectations and digital technologies are challenging insurers to rethink their strategies and adapt their offerings. Capgemini’s World Life Insurance Report 2026 and its companion study on agent enablement reveal a clear path forward: success depends on customer-centricity, empowering agents and building a reliable foundation for scalable growth.

 

Shaping the next generation of customer-centricity

 

The past 16 years have shown a decline in life insurance penetration in mature markets – from 5.4 per cent in 2007 to 3.6 per cent in 2023. Within the same timeframe, life insurance’s share of consumer assets has dropped from 7.5 per cent to 5.8 per cent. These trends reflect a growing disconnect between insurers and the people they serve. Many customers, particularly younger generations, view life insurance as complex, impersonal and irrelevant to their current needs. Additionally, the triggers that have pushed previous generations to purchase life insurance are now either being delayed or skipped, with today’s under-40s preferring insurance products that provide living benefits.

 

Insurers must innovate with customer-centric solutions to meet these shifting market conditions and consumer expectations. Doing so means embedding living benefits at the core of modular product offerings, simplifying underwriting processes and personalising pricing to align with each consumer’s unique set of needs.

 

Engagement must also evolve. Dashboards that gamify protection with rewards systems can help customers visualise life scenarios, track benefits and interact with their coverage in a way that feels meaningful. This shift towards customer-centricity can help insurers reposition life insurance as a financial enabler as opposed to just a safeguard, a critical step towards reclaiming relevance and driving adoption among younger consumers.

 

Enabling tech-powered, agent-led advisory

 

Agents remain the most influential channel in life insurance distribution, yet they are often underserved. Capgemini’s research shows that 61 per cent of agents struggle with lead conversion, largely due to outdated tools, fragmented systems and inefficient workflows.

 

As the role of the agent evolves from transactional seller to trusted advisor, the need for more intelligent, integrated platforms that provide access to real-time data, generate personalised quotes and provide contextual advice has become ever more pertinent. Empowering agents with AI-powered tools and consumer insights enables them to offer personalised support and build value-driven relationships. During onboarding, insurers should look to provide extensive training on living benefits and AI tools, while modernising compensation models to attract and retain the next generation of talent.

 

Insurers that have embraced this shift are seeing measurable success. Best-in-class insurers – those that have invested in automation, AI and agent enablement – are outperforming their peers with 38 per cent higher net promoter scores, 11 per cent lower expense ratios and 6 per cent higher revenue growth. These organisations are doing more than just digitising their processes – they are reimagining the entire insurance journey, from onboarding to claims.

 

Building a foundation for scalable growth

 

Despite the promise, challenges remain with life insurance transformation. Only 41 per cent of insurers have achieved their digital transformation goals. Progress is often hindered by integration complexity, misalignment between technology and business objectives, and talent shortages. Many insurers also continue to operate with fragmented agent platforms, which leads to inconsistent experiences and missed opportunities across captive and independent channels. On top of this, gen AI adoption remains uneven. Though 67 per cent of best-in-class insurers are ready to deploy the technology, only 25 per cent of mainstream insurers are prepared to do so. One of the key obstacles linked to this disparity is the shortage of skilled talent in experience design, AI engineering and data science.

 

Overcoming these challenges and reaching the under-40 market will require insurers to master ecosystem agility and adopt embedded strategies. Younger consumers live in a digital world and expect insurance to be seamlessly integrated into their everyday life experiences. This means partnering across financial services, wellness and HR platforms to deliver timely, contextually-relevant value. APIs and data integration are essential to expanding accessibility and embedding hybrid, cross-industry solutions into digital ecosystems. Acting on these fronts will enable insurers to meet consumers where they are with solutions most relevant to them.

 

To address transformation issues, drive customer-centricity and empower agents, we recommend a unified digital toolbox that serves all agent types. This approach ensures consistency, scalability, and efficiency while enabling agents to deliver high-touch, high-tech service.

 

Paving the path forward

 

Looking ahead, the path to growth lies in combining human connection with digital innovation. By adopting a holistic strategy that includes modernising core systems, empowering agents with intelligent tools and redesigning the customer journey around simplicity, empathy and personalisation, insurers can unlock new growth, enhance customer loyalty and future-proof their business. The future of life insurance belongs to those who act decisively. It belongs to those who innovate their solutions, position their agents for success and embed the technologies that pave the way for transformation.

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For deeper insights and strategic recommendations, explore the full World Life Insurance Report by Capgemini