How agentic AI is trimming white space in claims

Around the world, insurers are racing to lead the way with agentic AI. However, simply implementing this technology isn’t enough to outpace others. What truly sets today’s insurers apart is how they use agentic AI’s autonomous decision-making and execution capabilities to drive our industry forward. 

At Sedgwick, we’re not just watching the rise of agentic AI – we’re leading it. With our proprietary technology, rich datasets and advanced human expertise, we’re using agentic AI to reshape the claim life cycle by finding smarter ways to trim white space. 

What is white space?

In claims, “white space” refers to the time it takes for a claim to be reviewed and processed. The typical white space for a claim is about four days. But with agentic AI, white space can be trimmed down to less than 20 minutes.

This is a game-changer for the insurance industry, creating new opportunities for us to reduce routine work, take better care of claimants and reimagine the claims handling process as a whole. From first interaction to final resolution, agentic AI is trimming white space at every step – helping us deliver faster, smarter support to those who need it most. 

White space in customer service

Customer service is often the first touchpoint in the claims journey, and it’s where we first began using AI to trim white space here at Sedgwick. As part of this initiative, we built virtual agents that interact with our claimants as voicebots and chatbots. These agents use retrieval augmented generation (RAG) models to understand questions, gather claim data and respond in real time.

By automating these interactions, we’ve eliminated the white space where our colleagues would have spent time retrieving claim information and answering basic questions. Now, our claimants get quick responses to routine questions through our virtual agents. And if they have more complex questions that require human expertise or judgment, our team steps in to provide personalized support.  

In the future, we’ll be able to trim even more white space in customer service. One way we’re planning to do this is by expanding virtual agents into our global call centers to offer 24/7 support. With virtual agents always ready to assist our claimants, we’ll reduce handling times and operational costs while boosting customer satisfaction in the process. Plus, with deeper insights into communication trends, we’ll be able to keep learning and improving our customer service. 

White space in claim triage

Claim triage is another key area where we’re trimming white space at Sedgwick. Generative AI is already helping us speed up the triage process by reading and analyzing intake documents, submitting first notice of loss, asking follow-up questions and even providing feedback to claimants.

As agentic AI continues to evolve, we’ll be able to build an even smarter triage process in the future. For example, agentic AI could further accelerate triage by quickly distinguishing between simple claims that require minimal human touch and complex claims that require specialized human support. Automatically routing claims based on that level of human involvement will drastically trim white space from the moment they’re submitted – helping our claimants get the resources they need to recover sooner.

White space in claim review

The claim review process can be time-consuming and is often a major contributor to white space. That’s why we use our proprietary agentic AI tool, Sidekick Agent, to accelerate the claim review process by streamlining tasks like document review and decision-making. With Sidekick Agent, our examiners and adjusters can have claim documents summarized and processed in just seconds. As a result, they’re able to work faster and keep claims moving forward.

Sidekick Agent also provides our colleagues with individual utility agents that can instantly analyze claim data to help them make better decisions. With real-time insights and guidance right at their fingertips, they have more confidence and can quickly handle any claim that comes their way. By trimming the white space from document review and decision-making, our colleagues resolve claims and help claimants get back on their feet faster.  

These are just a few examples of how agentic AI is trimming white space from the claim life cycle and helping us take better care of our claimants. 

At Sedgwick, we’re proud to be leading the way with agentic AI. From improving customer service to accelerating claim triage and streamlining claim review, we’re using agentic AI to make the claims process faster and smarter at every step. To learn more about our innovative technology and how we’re reimagining claims handling, click here.