With 71% of employers trusting AI to make benefit recommendations for employees, understanding where the tech fits – and how to assess it – is imperative for benefits advisors and consultants.
As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms how employee benefits are delivered, virtual chatbots and other technologies are also shifting employer and employee expectations – particularly around enrollment and claims.
The Hartford’s 2025 Future of Benefits Study finds that 71% of employers trust AI to make benefit recommendations for employees. The high degree of employer receptivity, paired with increasing employee familiarity with AI-powered digital tools, reflects the broad reach and rapid adoption of the technology.
“We're in the middle of a large-scale technology revolution,” says Dustin Kingsbury, vice president of Employee Benefit Claims at The Hartford. “Used effectively, AI does more than streamline tasks and processes. It enables benefits brokers and carriers to define a new balance that optimizes technology and human interaction at the moments that matter most.”
To navigate evolving AI-driven expectations and opportunities, broker advisors and consultants must understand not only where the technology is being applied but also how best to preserve the human connection. Asking the right questions when assessing a carrier’s enrollment and claims capabilities is also critical.
Enrollment Gets More Personalized
AI-powered decision-making tools shift benefits enrollment from a transactional checklist to a more guided and personalized experience.
Instead of enrolling in products one by one, embedded decision-making tools provide customized recommendations based on employee needs and scenario planning that show how different benefits work together.
“There’s an expectation around personalization that’s becoming foundational,” says Andrea Schade-Reimer, assistant vice president of strategic enrollment at The Hartford. “Employees expect digital experiences that recognize them and respond to their preferences, and benefits enrollment is no exception.”
Enhancing enrollment experiences, however, isn’t only about expanding digital decision-making capabilities. AI-powered chatbots can help answer routine questions, enabling benefit managers and HR teams to focus their time on high-value human guidance, support and education.
Claims Experiences Balance Efficiency and Empathy
AI is also reshaping the employee benefits claims experience, bringing efficiencies and predictive analytics to the process.
Over the last few years, insurance carriers have leveraged AI behind the scenes to automate routine validation steps and triage lower-complexity claims. Now, advances in generative AI provide opportunities to enhance the human connection within claims experiences.
“AI enables us to remove administrative burden from the equation to allow our claims team more time to connect with claimants along their journey,” Kingsbury says. “While AI can scan and evaluate hundreds of data points in seconds, it takes human wisdom to contextualize the intelligence and make decisions.”
Along with improving speed and accuracy, Kingsbury sees AI helping teams proactively identify when human engagement is most valuable – personalizing the experience beyond traditional milestones.
Broker Guidance: Asking the Right Questions
As advisors recommend carriers, assessing how they’re implementing AI is essential. Broadening the discussion beyond basic RFP questions about enrollment tools and claims adjudication is a good first step.
To compare AI integration capabilities, ask questions that explore the types of AI models used, how human oversight and decision-making are built in, how different AI models are trained and monitored, and the testing processes, guardrails and governance in place.
The rapid development and adoption of AI technology within enrollment and claims experiences gives advisors added opportunities to guide their clients’ benefits strategies and experiences, while still preserving that human connection. At the same time, it’s important to ask the right questions of carriers to ensure these technologies are deployed properly.
Ann Clifford is a freelance writer who translates her background in financial services marketing into specialized content focused on employee benefits and small business topics.
