Growth in the insurance industry does not always mean that more needs are being met. McKinsey’s Global Insurance Report 2025 notes that much of the recent growth in personal lines in developed markets was driven by rate increases. What’s more, gross written premiums as a share of nominal GDP remained below pre-pandemic levels.
This gap was one of the starting points for the session led by Carlos Cendra, Scouting & Investment Lead at Mapfre, at ITC Vegas 2026, where he discussed how new forms of digital interaction could transform insurance distribution. “The insurance industry has grown. But growth and relevance are not necessarily the same thing,” he noted. His perspective invites a closer look at where protection needs arise and how insurers can become part of those moments.
The first point of contact with insurance is shifting
For years, insurers have built their distribution around agents, brokers, branch offices, and their own digital channels. Now, other environments that already have an established relationship with the customer, such as marketplaces and financial platforms, are taking on a more prominent role. Insurance can therefore become part of an experience the user began for reasons that have nothing to do with insurance per se.
Embedded insurance is one of the clearest examples. Coverage is offered as part of the purchase of a product or service, without the customer having to start a separate buying process.
AI assistants open up another possibility. A question about a trip or a car purchase can lead to a conversation about protection. These interfaces are complemented by AI-assisted professional advice, which brings digital capabilities into the customer relationship without removing the human element.
Insurtechs are exploring new distribution models
The shift in customer touchpoints also explains the growing interest in collaboration between insurers and startups. Startups can experiment with distribution models that have yet to mature, while insurance companies contribute technical expertise and the ability to operate at greater scale.
Carlos Cendra sums up this relationship in a single idea: “A startup can discover or develop a new interface. An insurer can turn that discovery into a sustainable, scalable capability.”
Interfaces that detect intent
One example is Tuio, whose evolution is allowing the industry to explore new ways of engaging with customers. Its artificial intelligence capabilities and its integration with ChatGPT offer an opportunity to study how an insurance need can emerge from a digital conversation.
Latin America also offers examples of this evolution. The Latam Insurtech Journey report identifies as many as 536 insurtechs in the region and highlights the weight of distribution-focused models. B2B2C platforms and embedded insurance are gaining ground in a market where improving access to protection remains a real need.
Toward less channel-dependent distribution
Omnichannel strategies have enabled insurers to deliver more consistent experiences across touchpoints. However, the evolution Carlos Cendra describes points to a model in which the priority is no longer the channel, but the moment when the customer needs protection.
This approach requires rethinking relationships with external platforms and building integration capabilities that make it possible to offer coverage within other services. It also means deciding what role human advice should play in each experience.
For the insurance industry, the key implication will be gauging how well these new interfaces can reach needs that traditional channels are not yet meeting. Collaboration with insurtechs and digital platforms can open up that access, but it will require adapting distribution models to environments where the initial relationship with the customer belongs to another player.
