Example Insurance Group · Commercial Lines Service · 2026-10-19 to 2026-10-23
That is 0.9–1.7 full-time people of capacity, worth $77K–149K a year at $48/hour loaded labor cost. 7% of the low estimate comes from 1 task agents can run, with a person approving each change; 56% from 2 tasks an agent could take on once the team settles on one way of doing them; the rest from AI helping people work faster.
| Task | Recommendation | Team h/wk | Back h/wk | $ / year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue certificates of insurance 237× a week · 8 people · Applied Epic, Microsoft Outlook Takes 7–12 min on average depending on the person; worth checking whether the steps could be standardized. | Automate (after one way of working is agreed) A Power Automate flow, with Copilot reading the Outlook request, pulls out the holder, additional insured and waiver wording, checks the policy in Applied Epic for the matching endorsements, and generates the ACORD 25 from Epic's certificate function. It logs the activity in Epic, then queues the finished certificate and reply for the account manager to approve in one step before anything is issued or sent. Requests with wording the policy doesn't support, or that are unclear, go to the account manager as exceptions. With: Power Automate, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Applied Epic | 35.7 | 10.7–19.6 | $24K–43K |
| Process policy changes (endorsements) 163× a week · 8 people · Applied Epic, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Edge Takes 10–16 min on average depending on the person; worth checking whether the steps could be standardized. | Automate (after one way of working is agreed) A Power Automate flow with a Copilot step reads routine change requests in Outlook (such as adding a driver or truck), pulls the policy from Applied Epic, and prepares the change. An agent works the carrier portal through the browser to enter it once the account manager approves the prepared change in one step. After the carrier accepts, the agent logs the activity and endorsement in Applied Epic and drafts the client confirmation for approval before it is sent. With: Power Automate, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Applied Epic | 35.4 | 8.8–15.9 | $20K–35K |
| Answer client coverage questions 273× a week · 8 people · Microsoft Outlook, Applied Epic Takes 6–11 min on average depending on the person; worth checking whether the steps could be standardized. | AI assist Use Microsoft 365 Copilot in Outlook to draft a reply to each coverage question (such as employee personal car use) from the client's policy and endorsement details in Applied Epic and standard wording for recurring questions. The licensed account manager checks the draft, edits it and sends it, then logs the activity in Applied Epic. With: Microsoft 365 Copilot, Outlook, Applied Epic | 37.7 | 3.8–9.4 | $8K–21K |
| Check issued policies against the proposal 52× a week · 8 people · Adobe Acrobat, Applied Epic, Microsoft Excel Takes 20–43 min on average depending on the person; worth checking whether the steps could be standardized. | AI assist Use Microsoft 365 Copilot (with a Power Automate flow that pulls the proposal and the IVANS-downloaded policy from Applied Epic) to compare the two and draft a discrepancy list covering limits, deductibles, endorsements, additional insured and waiver wording, and named insureds. The account manager reviews the list against the policy PDF and decides what to send back to the carrier. With: Microsoft 365 Copilot, Power Automate, Applied Epic | 24.9 | 3.7–7.5 | $8K–16K |
| Renewal review and remarketing 44× a week · 8 people · Adobe Acrobat, Applied Epic, Microsoft Edge Takes 21–49 min on average depending on the person; worth checking whether the steps could be standardized. | AI assist Copilot pulls the expiring policy details and loss runs into a renewal summary, pre-fills the Excel marketing summary, and drafts the side-by-side quote comparison and recommendation for the account manager to review. The account manager still decides which carriers to approach, re-keys submissions into the carrier portals, and gives the final recommendation, because coverage advice stays with licensed staff. With: Microsoft 365 Copilot, Power Automate, Applied Epic | 21.2 | 3.2–6.4 | $7K–14K |
| Report new claims (first notice of loss) 44× a week · 8 people · Applied Epic, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Outlook Takes 8–15 min on average depending on the person; worth checking whether the steps could be standardized. | Automate An agent reads the client's claim email or call note in Outlook, matches the account and policy in Applied Epic, and drafts the claim record and activity. It then works the carrier's agent portal (Travelers, The Hartford, Liberty Mutual) through the browser to enter the first notice of loss. The CSR approves the prepared claim in one step before anything is saved or submitted, and handles missing details, unclear policy matches and coverage questions. With: Power Automate, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Applied Epic | 8.1 | 2.4–4.0 | $5K–9K |
| Resolve billing questions 147× a week · 8 people · Applied Epic, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Outlook Takes 5–8 min on average depending on the person; worth checking whether the steps could be standardized. | AI assist Copilot in Outlook reads the client's billing question and drafts a reply from the Applied Epic account and installment details. The account manager checks the carrier portal for the actual charge, edits the draft, sends it, and logs the activity in Epic. With: Microsoft 365 Copilot, Applied Epic, Power Automate | 15.8 | 2.4–4.7 | $5K–10K |
These are "swivel chair" steps: people carrying information from one system to another. Connecting the systems directly usually removes the step entirely. The biggest: Microsoft Outlook → Applied Epic, about 258 times a week.
| From → to | Mostly during | Times / week | Copy-paste |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Outlook → Applied Epic | Issue certificates of insurance | 258 | 67% |
| Applied Epic → Liberty Mutual Agent Portal | Resolve billing questions, Report new claims (first notice of loss) | 72 | 51% |
| Applied Epic → The Hartford Agent Portal | Resolve billing questions, Report new claims (first notice of loss) | 58 | 55% |
| Applied Epic → Travelers Agent Portal | Resolve billing questions, Report new claims (first notice of loss) | 56 | 50% |
| Applied Epic → Microsoft Excel | Check issued policies against the proposal | 54 | 7% |
| Microsoft Outlook → Travelers Agent Portal | Process policy changes (endorsements) | 52 | 42% |
| Travelers Agent Portal → Applied Epic | Process policy changes (endorsements) | 41 | 12% |
| Microsoft Outlook → Liberty Mutual Agent Portal | Process policy changes (endorsements) | 36 | 58% |
| Microsoft Outlook → The Hartford Agent Portal | Process policy changes (endorsements) | 33 | 48% |
| Liberty Mutual Agent Portal → Applied Epic | Process policy changes (endorsements) | 32 | 19% |
| Adobe Acrobat → The Hartford Agent Portal | Renewal review and remarketing | 31 | 13% |
| The Hartford Agent Portal → Applied Epic | Process policy changes (endorsements) | 27 | 15% |
| Adobe Acrobat → Liberty Mutual Agent Portal | Renewal review and remarketing | 22 | 9% |
| Liberty Mutual Agent Portal → Microsoft Excel | Renewal review and remarketing | 13 | 0% |
The rest were retyped by hand. Detected from a value seen in one app reappearing in a field being edited in another; the values themselves are never stored.
Possible entry errors: 8% of values retyped from Travelers Agent Portal into Applied Epic were one character off from the source.
What the team's leads estimated at the start, next to what was measured. Differences of 8 points or more are worth a conversation: they usually mean hidden work, or work that has quietly moved elsewhere. This time: Renewal review and remarketing.
| Task | Estimated share | Measured share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renewal review and remarketing | 25% | 12% | less than expected |
| Issue certificates of insurance | 20% | 20% | |
| Process policy changes (endorsements) | 20% | 20% | |
| Answer client coverage questions | 15% | 21% | |
| Report new claims (first notice of loss) | 5% | 5% |
Measured shares are of tracked work; meetings and chat are not tracked.
How the work actually flows → · Where AI agents fit →
HourBack observed 8 people for about 1 week(s). Results are team totals only; groups smaller than 5 are never reported, and no individual data is available to anyone at the company. Chat, meetings and personal apps were not captured, so total hours are lower than paid hours. Ranges are first-year estimates after review time, exceptions and adoption; the low end is the planning number. Dollar values use $48/hour for Commercial Lines Account Manager / CSR (loaded hourly cost, provided by sample figures). Yearly values assume 46 working weeks.