CFC mulls wider agentic underwriting deployment as AI laggards face frustration | The Insurer The Insurer from Reuters The Insurer The Insurer TV Cyber Risk Sustainable Program Manager E&S Parametric Data Hub Reinsurance Month Sign in Subscribe Articles Region London Market Europe US / Americas Bermuda Asia Pacific Topics Broking Casualty Cyber ILS InsurTech and innovation Legacy Legal/ Regulatory Lloyd’s Losses M&A Parametric People Moves Property catastrophe Results Specialty Events & Conferences Events Content Types News Analysis Viewpoint Commentary Interview News Analysis Commentary Viewpoint Interview Events Videos CFC mulls wider agentic underwriting deployment as AI laggards face frustration By Rebecca Delaney Published: Wed 3 Jun 2026 CFC is looking to expand its agentic underwriting pilot to cover additional products and territories beyond cyber, the company's underwriting leaders told The Insurer. Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words "Artificial Intelligence AI" in this illustration created on February 19, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration However, deputy chief underwriting officer Tim Boyce said this would not lead to complete disintermediation in the quoting process. In April, CFC ​announced the launch of Lane Assist within its cyber underwriting team. Under the pilot, data extraction is automated using agentic ‌AI, which scrapes information from new business submissions to populate underwriting models and propose a quote. “We are surfacing a decision to an underwriter who is always in the loop to assess that and decide whether or not they want to release that quote, whether or not they want to add something to it, question it, change it, or ​whether or not actually the agentic has made the wrong decision,” Boyce said. The April announcement said the pilot has the potential to ​significantly accelerate the operational workflow from enquiry to quote, particularly for high-volume, mass-appetite risks. “That's in a pilot phase at ⁠the moment with one of our products, but we hope to be able to launch that out more broadly across other product areas and also ​other territories that we operate in,” added Boyce. Recently installed chief underwriting officer Nick Line affirmed: “We're piloting it so carefully, but it will scale up as ​we learn. If you think in a year's time, that will be much more extensive.” Boyce continued that the pilot aims to streamline underwriters’ day-to-day activities rather than replacing their role within the quoting process entirely. “We don't see a world where the underwriter gets completely disintermediated from that. Because even with agentic AI, there's still an element that it ​could act like a black box, so you still need an underwriter in the loop on it,” he said. TALENT CHALLENGES Boyce warned that a failure ​to utilise AI tools to speed up workflows will be a “bone of contention” among underwriting talent that feel constrained by what their executive committee determines to be an ‌appropriate level ⁠of use. “I think there already is a lot of frustration within other insurance companies where certain organisations are not embracing additional tools which people perceive as allowing them to go faster,” he said. “I think we'll start to see a shift in people flocking towards companies that are more AI-native or tech-native, because it gives them the ability to utilise their skills in a more effective way.” While experienced underwriters can free up time spent on data entry ​to focus on executing skilled commercial ​decisions, what does this mean ⁠for entry-level roles? “There's a lot of discussion about entry-level jobs being at risk. I'll turn it the other way around and say there's certain tasks that we all do that are at risk; as in, actually there's a ​chance that they become automated and we don't have to do them anymore,” said Line. Repetitive tasks of the ​past that have since ⁠been eliminated by technology include photocopying and scanning for multiple hard copies of documents. “There are very few jobs in what we do that are made up of mostly those tasks. Part of the task can be automated, other tasks are human in the loop,” Line added. “This concept of we'll stop hiring people ⁠until they're 25 ​doesn't make any sense. We still hire people out of school and university. They ​might just be doing some different things.” Boyce affirmed that refining the tasks of underwriting assistants produces responsibilities that fosters greater intellectual stimulation and career progression. “I would argue that those people have ​been promoted, because they no longer have to do all of those really boring administrative tasks. They're actually doing more high-value pieces of work,” he said. 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