Change Management in Insurance is Broken - Here is How We Fix It

Inspired by my fireside chat with Mercedes Concepcion-Gray, MBA

Every carrier says they want “transformation”. Every vendor sells the “future of insurance”. Every deck has the same buzzwords: AI, transform, disrupt, customer-first, frictionless.

Here is a loaded question? In the age of AI and all the buzzwords, why are we still faxing forms and running the same pilot three times with three different vendors?

Let’s cut through the crap: The biggest blocker to transformation in insurance isn’t technology. It’s people. And more specifically — it’s how we manage change.

The Symptoms of Change Paralysis

Here’s what I’ve seen on repeat across the industry:

• Endless proofs-of-concept that never make it to production
• Fear of commitment once a solution starts showing results
• Decision-makers locked in analysis mode, terrified to “get it wrong”
• Pilots with no purpose — launched to check a box, not to drive outcomes

We call it pilot paralysis in a conversation with Mercedes — and it’s the enemy of progress.

Change Doesn’t Fail Because of Tech. It Fails Because of Behavior.

The truth is: most carriers already have majority of the tech they need. What they don’t have is alignment.

Transformation stalls when:

• Leadership has a vision but operations is in survival mode
• IT is overwhelmed and disconnected from business needs
• Frontline teams are left out of the “why”
• There’s no accountability for outcomes — just activity

At Solvrays, we’ve learned the hard way: you can’t automate your way out of dysfunction.

You need a culture shift.

3 Steps to Build a Real Change Machine

Here’s how to start — practically, today:

1. Assess Before You Obsess

Before jumping into another shiny tool, pause. Take a targeted inventory of where your biggest operational frictions are. You don’t need a six-month consulting project — you need clarity.

P.S: Solvrays is offering a two-week assessment initiative because you don’t need to pay hundreds of thoughts to the big 4 to get the clarity you need!

2. Test With Purpose

If you’re going to pilot something, define what success looks like. Don’t test to test. Test to learn and launch. If it works, move it. If it doesn’t, kill it. But don’t linger.

3. Bring Your People With You

Change fails when it’s top-down and secretive. Communicate the “why.” Engage the people doing the work — mailroom processors, CSRs, policy servicing operators, underwriters, etc. That’s where the best innovation lives.

Bold Prediction: The Line Is Being Drawn

In the next 12 months, we’ll see a clear divide:

🟢 Carriers who commit to action. They’ll have case studies, metrics, and momentum.

🔴 Carriers who keep talking. They’ll be stuck in pilot mode, waiting for perfection.

The difference? Vision + alignment + courage = Progress towards future of insurance

And a new kind of change management — one that’s less about controlling the process and more about unlocking the people. Less about egos and looking good and more about creating ripples in their organization

Let’s move from art of the possible to art of the actual.

If this hits home — reply with comments or share it with a leader who needs to hear it.