Sapiens Launches Industry-Wide Insurance AI Maturity Index as 67% Predict Full Autonomy Within 2 to 3 Years

• 77% of insurers say AI saves on average three months on product deployment
• 87% of insurers are prioritising agentic AI but only 16% have adopted it

LONDON, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sapiens International Corporation N.V. ("Sapiens") today launched the inaugural Sapiens Insurance AI Maturity Index, an international study of senior insurance professionals evaluating the current state and future ambitions of AI adoption and use across insurers of all sizes. Conducted by Research in Finance and launched at Sapiens Ignite 2026, the Index will help insurers plot their progression pathway from automation through to AI and agentic AI adoption. Over two thirds (67%) of respondents believe AI in insurance will be fully autonomous within the next two to three years, underlining that this is an urgent priority for the whole industry.

Only a quarter of insurers are advanced AI users 
The Sapiens Insurance AI Maturity Index uses a set of criteria to place insurers in one of four categories:  Reactive, Enabled, Operational, and Autonomous. Insurers were scored on their progression in four key areas: cloud adoption, master data strategy, AI governance policy, and HR strategy and policy, with the following findings:

Maturity Index Status

• Autonomous Leaders (25%) On the cloud with some SaaS, master data and HR strategies as well as governance policy in place
• Operational (28%) On the cloud with some SaaS, HR initiatives and governance policy in planning or implemented
• Enabled (23%) On the cloud but not SaaS, early stages of master data strategy and governance policy with HR initiatives in planning
• Reactive (24%) Early stages of cloud adoption, early stages of master data strategy, governance policy and some HR initiatives in place

"The Sapiens Insurance AI Maturity Index highlights a clear, industry-wide imperative for AI and agentic AI adoption, though insurers must accelerate their timelines or risk being left behind," said Paul Wheeler, CEO, Sapiens. "We see firsthand what is possible when these technologies are deployed at scale, particularly with agentic AI. By implementing the right strategies today, insurers can leverage AI not just as a tool, but as a catalyst to build deeper customer trust, launch products faster, and deliver superior digital user experiences."

Benelux and Nordics ahead of UK and North America, P&C is ahead of Life 
Among the countries surveyed, Benelux (33%) and Nordics (28%) have the highest proportion of Autonomous Leaders, while the US, UK and South Africa lag with 25%, 23%, and 18% respectively. 30% of P&C insurers are Autonomous Leaders, compared to only 25% of Life insurers. Understandably given their resources, leading global insurers (more than 20,000 employees) have the most Autonomous Leaders (39%). Below this are large insurers (up to 5,000 employees) of which 27% are Autonomous Leaders, and specialist or mid-sized firms (less than 1,000 employees) of which 21% are Autonomous Leaders.

Agentic AI not yet delivering benefits to the same extent as AI

Internationally, 61% of insurers say AI is a key business strategy for the future, and 51% believe it will give them a competitive advantage. The Nordics place the most importance on agentic AI and are more ready to adopt, while the UK is the lowest ranking geography for importance and adoption readiness. Autonomous Leaders are furthest ahead in their use of agentic AI in contrast to only 16% of Reactive insurers, but across all countries surveyed, more respondents say they are on average using automation (40%) and AI (42%) compared to agentic AI (24%).

Confidence in AI high but insurers still want human oversight
Among AI and agentic AI users, 86% are very or somewhat confident in the decisions AI and agentic AI tools make, but on average 53% of agentic AI work is being checked by a human. On average, 15% of decisions made by AI or agentic AI are overridden by a human. A comparison of the country data shows the Nordics and South Africa (89%) are the most confident in their checks on agentic AI in contrast to the UK (74%) and North America (78%), yet the former countries have the most instances where they need to override more than 20% of AI decisions – South Africa (48%), Nordics (35%). This contrasts with North America (32%) and UK (29%).             

People-focused strategies to overcome AI barriers
Non-users say the biggest areas for support are governance, skills development and improving their data strategies. Autonomous Leaders place significant emphasis on upskilling their workforces (71%) compared to the international average (53%) and Reactive firms (35%). They are also moving faster to hire AI savvy talent (57%) compared to the international average (38%) and Reactive firms (20%). The Nordics also appears to be further ahead in embracing agentic AI and are mandating the use of AI for all employees (49%) compared to the UK (25%) and North America (17%).

Research in Finance (RiF) Methodology 
The purpose of the research is to create an annual maturity index that benchmarks how advanced insurers are in adopting AI and autonomous decisioning. RiF surveyed 475 senior insurance professionals across the UK & Ireland, The Nordics, Benelux, South African, and North America, who work for insurance providers and operated within life and/or P&C. 95 senior insurance professionals are surveyed across each geographical region. These are split by 45 Transformation Leaders and 50 Business Users. The size of the organisations surveyed covered:

• Specialist & Mid-Sized Insurers (Under 1,000 employees)
• Large Insurers (1,000 – 4,999 employees)
• Major Insurance Groups (5,000 – 19,999 employees)
• Global Insurance Leaders (20,000+ employees)

Maturity Index Scoring 
Results to the maturity index scoring assumed a normal distribution of data (fewer low or high scoring cases with a larger population of results around the mean). Due to this, the maturity index has been defined by the four quartiles of results (0-24%, 25-49%, 50-74% and 75%+). The categories are defined as such:

• Reactive
• Enabled
• Operational
• Autonomous Leaders

Explanation of automation, AI and agentic AI
Automation: rules set by humans. Does exactly what it is told, every time. No thinking involved
AI: Learns from data and makes judgements. Responds to questions. Spots patterns, advises.
Agentic AI: acts independently across multiple steps. Plans, decides, and completes tasks alone.

About Sapiens
Sapiens is a global leader of AI-centric, SaaS-based insurance software, delivering hyper-relevant experiences that are efficient, compliant, and innovative. With agile intelligence, Sapiens' solutions turn real-time data and human insight into precise action at every moment, across every risk. The Sapiens platform includes agentic workflows accelerating every capability across policy, underwriting, claims, reinsurance, decisioning, finance and compliance. With more than 600 insurers in over 30 countries running on Sapiens, our deep industry expertise is the foundation of our long-term relationships, from initial implementation through to modernisation and market transformation. Sapiens is headquartered in London, serving customers in property and casualty, life, reinsurance, specialty, and workers' compensation from offices across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East including Israel where the company was founded. For more information, please visit Sapiens.com, or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Research in Finance
Research in Finance is a full-service global market research and intelligence provider, specialising in asset management, banking and insurance. Research in Finance delivers data and insights on a wide range of markets and bespoke projects.

Media Contact
Charlotte Otter
Chief Communications Officer, Sapiens
Mobile: +0049-175-7072411
Email: Charlotte.Otter@sapiens.com