Let me break this down the way I’d explain it to you if we were sitting across from each other at a carrier lunch: this industry is changing—fast—and if you don’t start rethinking how you work, you’re going to get left behind by the agencies that do. I have been preaching this for the past 8 years but this isn’t your regular automation, it’s different this time around.
I’m not talking theory here. These are things we’re actively implementing in our agency right now. What I’m about to walk you through is a vision built from real projects, real client interactions, real employee frustrations, and a front-row seat to how technology can and is reshaping our space. And if I’ve learned one thing comparing the last 12–18 months to the past 8 years, it’s this: the future of our business is no longer five years out. It’s already knocking on the front door.
What Is the Smart Agency®?
It’s not just a shiny tool. It’s a new way to operate.
The Smart Agency® is about reimagining the way your team works—removing the mental clutter and repetitive noise, and replacing it with digital systems that work with your people, not against them.
We’re deploying AI-powered Smart Agents across our agency—digital teammates that take on the repetitive, low-impact tasks so our team can focus on higher-value work. And I’ll be honest: the speed at which these tools have matured in just the past year is wild.
Here are some of the concepts we’re building—some of them are already implemented and fully operational in our agency today:
- A Smart Risk Advisor that reviews account-level data and recommends coverage options based on actual exposure—not just what the client had last year.
- A Smart Quote Agent that pre-fills carrier portals and compiles quote comparisons so our producers don’t have to babysit forms.
- A Smart Renewal Agent that flags accounts with upcoming expirations, rate jumps, or missing documentation.
- A Smart Service Agent that handles the flood of ID card, change requests, endorsement, and billing requests without bottlenecking our team.
- A Smart Follow-Up Agent that chases down applications, signatures, and SmartFlow completions.
- A Smart Email Agent that filters through the noise and helps prioritize real tasks.
- A Smart Calendar Agent that blocks focus time and keeps our schedule aligned with what actually grows the book.
SmartFlows, the Pure Agency Phone system, Smart Email Agent, and Smart Calendar Agent are already live and fully integrated into our daily operations. The rest are actively being developed and tested as we speak—this isn’t conceptual, it’s already transforming the way we work.
Organize by Outcome, Not Job Title
The old org chart? It’s outdated. It’s built around tasks and titles—not outcomes.
We’re shifting to what we call the Smart Account Team Map template. That means organizing our team into smart pods—based on client type or book of business—and surrounding each pod with the right mix of human guidance and Smart Agent horsepower.
Here’s what that might look like:
Personal Lines Pod
- Human Advisor: Manages relationships and strategy.
- Smart Quote Agent: Pulls quotes and preps comps.
- Smart Risk Agent: Surfaces exposure gaps.
- Smart Follow-Up Agent: Keeps paperwork moving.
- Smart Service Agent: Handles day-to-day requests.
Commercial Construction Pod
- Risk Advisor: Oversees complex schedules and risk profiles.
- Smart Renewal Agent: Flags changes and recommends strategy.
- Smart Reporting Agent: Generates loss ratio reports and mod analysis.
- Smart Quote Agent: Compiles carrier-ready submissions.
Multi-Location Restaurant Pod
- Client Success Manager: Maintains ownership relationships.
- Smart Service Agent: Issues COIs and manages vendor compliance.
- Smart Follow-Up Agent: Onboards location managers.
- Smart Renewal Agent: Bundles renewal timing and strategy across sites.
These smart pods have tailored communication and risk information to help manage these accounts in a way the general agent can’t.
Stop Hiring More Bodies—Deploy Smarter Ones
“If you’ve got a people problem, adding AI won’t fix it.”
It doesn’t matter how fancy your tech is—if your team can’t work well together now or work at all, AI will just make the problem bigger. Smart tools are changing how we do business. But the hardest part isn’t learning the tools. It’s getting your people to use them the right way. The agencies that already have clear roles, good teamwork, and solid workflow systems? They’ll do great. Everyone else is about to learn that AI doesn’t fix broken teams—it shows you where they’re falling apart.
For far too long there has been an issue in the insurance industry making excuses for poor workers. On top of that, most agency owners try to solve growth problems by adding more staff and/or virtual assistants. But the bottleneck isn’t always people in most cases—it’s process. Or worse: busywork masquerading as “important” work.
For years, knee-jerk reaction to growth was to hire more people or outsource with virtual assistants. And sometimes, sure—that’s necessary.
But more often than not, the problem wasn’t bandwidth. It was bottlenecks.
The past year has proven that 60–80% of what bogs our team down can be handled by Smart Agents. That doesn’t mean we’re replacing all the people —it means we’re giving them room to breathe. More time for cross-sells. More time for client conversations. More time to be strategic.
If your licensed team’s stuck doing work that a digital assistant could handle, you’re not just wasting time—you’re wasting talent. Let’s be honest: yes, our overall people count is lower—but we’ve also reduced our reliance on virtual assistants and gained clarity on which team members are truly adding value.
The truth is, AI will replace some jobs. And that’s not a bad thing. It allows us to identify who’s willing to evolve and who’s stuck in the past. Those who lean into Smart Agents become exponentially more productive—and profitable. Those who don’t? You’ll spot them quickly.
The goal isn’t fewer people. It’s the right people in the right seats, amplified by intelligent systems that help them do their best work. Let’s be honest: the goal isn’t just trimming headcount—it’s having clarity on who’s pulling their weight, who’s growing with you, and who it’s time to let go.
Everyone Becomes a Smart Agent Manager
This part’s been one of the most fun (and surprising) shifts:
Our new virtual assistant? They’re now managing their own squad of Smart Agents.
We’ve trained our team to prompt, review, refine, and redirect their smart assistants like they’re managing a project team. It’s a skillset we never used to talk about—but now it’s the secret sauce.
Where Do You Start?
Here’s what we did:
- We cleaned up our intake process with SmartFlows. It’s the easiest win in the agency. Better data, less back-and-forth, happier team.
- We connected it to the Pure Phone system. Because every call needs to sync with our workflows—not live in someone’s memory.
- We assigned repetitive tasks to Smart Agents. Starting with managing our support email box, summarizing it, pulling out action items, documenting the message, assigning tasks to a human, and replying when missing information could be handled by a smart flow.
- We are building our first pod. Just one Smart Account Team Map to test the waters with the personal lines policies. Then we will expand as needed
You don’t have to overhaul your whole operation overnight. Just start with one piece. But start. Start with cleaning up your data and data collection process.
Final Thought: This Isn’t a Tech Trend. It’s a Business Model Shift.
This perspective isn’t coming from a consultant or a vendor, or some loud mouth who pretends to know everything. It’s coming from someone who’s building this right now inside a real agency.
The Smart Agency® isn’t about chasing fads. It’s about making better decisions with better tools so your team can finally do the work they were hired to do.
It’s already starting to work for us. And I think it could work for you, too if you are ready.
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Travis Gensler
