Think of AI as a trade tool. While builders are great with hammers, they keep up to date with the latest power tools. Similarly, brokers now need to be great with AI tools.
At JAVLN, AI is encouraged. Our team uses AI tools daily. Marketing, engineering, customer service, sales.
As a tech CEO, I see it as my responsibility to build an organisation of digital AI natives. Training people how to prompt properly. How to imagine use cases. How to experiment safely. We’re seeing a step change in productivity gains.
Why the urgency? Because AI has moved from speculation to daily reality. The world is changing faster than ever.
Recent Deloitte research from Australia shows AI use among employees jumped from 32% to 38% in less than a year. The Federal Government's AI Adoption Tracker reports 40% of SMEs are now adopting AI. That's a 5% jump in a single quarter.
Over the next five years, I believe we'll see the rise of what I call the super-powered broker, but without a cape. The early adopters who've invested time in training, practised prompting and done the homework to use these new trade tools at a professional standard. Those who know how to leverage AI to deliver superior, timely advice to their clients.
Multiply that across a team of 10 or 15, and you have a whole brokerage team working at a level that wasn't possible three years ago. A super-powered team, but sadly still no capes. That's a real competitive advantage.
Capability and expertise come from practice - trying new tools, actively learning, regularly and putting the time in. The early value of AI is often in stripping time out of administrative drag and lifting productivity. Document sorting, first-draft submissions, chasing wordings, converting messy client inputs into clear underwriting information.
AI doesn't change who owns the advice, but it changes how quickly you reach an informed, personalised recommendation. Importantly, AI will also improve the quality and consistency of your advice - which is arguably more important than the productivity gains.
What clients will notice is better service. Faster turnaround. Clearer explanations. With AI adoption rising, expectations are unlikely to slow down. AI won't replace advisers. But it will supercharge brokers and redefine what "good" looks like.
Two stories are competing for attention right now. One warns that AI will hollow out entry-level learning and erode risk expertise. The other argues it will hand time back to brokers to do what matters most.
I'm in the second camp.
Brokers who treat AI as craft, with training, controls and a clear "human in the loop" standard, may end up looking more human to clients, not less.
But safeguards matter.
Allianz's Risk Barometer warns that AI adoption is often "moving faster than governance, regulation, and workforce readiness can keep up." Good, regularly updated AI safe usage and data privacy policies must sit alongside AI use.
Your clients will expect AI-level service. Make sure you're ready to deliver it.
