Zywave reports say AI reshapes insurance & HR markets

Zywave has released four 2026 midyear market outlook reports on commercial insurance, employee benefits, human resources and wellness. The reports show artificial intelligence has become a central force across those markets.

They examine how AI is affecting underwriting, pricing, benefits design and workforce planning, alongside broader shifts in healthcare costs, labour trends and workplace wellbeing. Together, they present AI as a factor in both operational decision-making and risk management.

One report focuses on commercial insurance, tracking pricing and capacity trends across eight lines of cover, including cyber, directors and officers liability, and employment practices liability. Another covers employee benefits, including healthcare costs, fiduciary-duty litigation, the use of AI in benefits administration and trends around GLP-1 medicines.

The human resources report explores labour market changes, including the growth of gig work, employee burnout and confidence in job prospects. The wellness report examines peptide therapies, financial stress, the use of wearable devices and mental health trends in the workplace.

AI themes

Zywave identified five common AI themes across the four reports. First, AI has moved beyond pilot projects and become part of routine infrastructure in areas such as administration, underwriting and software systems.

Second, a widening trust gap has emerged between employer interest in AI tools and employee willingness to use them. Privacy concerns are a major driver of that gap, while anxiety about AI is also contributing to workplace burnout.

Another theme centres on risk. The reports say deepfakes, voice cloning and agentic AI are creating new routes for cyberattacks, while employees' unauthorised use of AI tools is increasing the risk of data exposure.

The reports also highlight legal and governance concerns. According to Zywave, allegations of AI-washing and undisclosed algorithmic bias are contributing to directors and officers liability and employment practices liability claims, while insurers are asking more detailed questions about AI governance when assessing applicants.

A further finding is that AI is changing the shape of work rather than simply cutting jobs. Demand is falling for repetitive, rules-based roles, while analytical, technical and creative work is gaining ground.

Routine administrative tasks are also increasingly being handled by AI across insurance, HR and benefits teams. That shift is allowing staff to focus more on planning and oversight, although entry-level pathways are narrowing.

Regulatory pressure

The reports describe a regulatory environment moving quickly in some jurisdictions and more slowly in others. They cite state AI employment laws in Illinois, Texas and Colourado, as well as the phased introduction of the EU AI Act, as measures influencing compliance requirements.

At the same time, insurers are building AI governance checks directly into application processes for cyber, directors and officers liability, and employment practices liability cover. That suggests AI oversight is becoming part of standard insurance scrutiny rather than a specialist issue.

Eric Rentsch, chief product officer at Zywave, outlined the company's view of that shift.

"AI is moving past the point of exploratory discussion. It's in underwriting questionnaires, insurance pricing models, and actively being diffused into application software - from core insurance systems to worksite and benefits enrollment," Rentsch said.

Organisations making the fastest progress are treating AI use, oversight and risk as part of a single framework rather than separate workstreams.

"The employers and brokers leading the market right now are treating AI deployment, adoption, governance, and risk as one connected strategy, not separate challenges," he said.