Vertafore Innovation & Technology Culture

How does innovation show up in your company culture?

Innovation isn’t just about big breakthrough ideas; it’s about continuously improving the way we work and the experience we deliver to our customers. We celebrate our teams with the Vertafore Way, key elements of which are a “Bias to Action,” “Show up Curious” and “Customer Success is our Success,” which each help drive innovation of our own processes (How can we be more efficient for our customers?) and in the software that we deliver to our customers (How can we help them drive their velocity?)

What’s one recent innovation that improved user or employee experience?

It’s hard to pick just one. We have so many exciting projects that we are working on for our team members and our clients. One standout has been our implementation of AI capabilities for our development teams. It significantly speeds up their development of new ideas, reduces the turn around time on concepts, and significantly increases our ability to experiment.

How do you balance experimentation with stability?

Everything at Vertafore is delivered with a quality-first mindset. Our customers rely on Vertafore solutions to run their businesses so we can’t be showing up with failing software. That being said, we have opened up avenues for experimentation by building an architecture that protects our core while allowing for experiments on top. We work through these experiments in partnership with our customers to ensure we are delivering real value that can be implemented back into our core operations.

What tools support your day-to-day work?

GitHub Copilot and Claude Code have become a critical part of how my team operates day to day. These AI-assisted tools support everything from brainstorming solutions and scaffolding code to reviewing logic and accelerating repetitive development tasks. Work that once required hours of research or multiple rounds of iteration can now get started in minutes, allowing engineers to spend more time solving complex problems and less time on administrative overhead. They’ve fundamentally changed the pace and rhythm of how we build software.

How does your team experiment?

We have a culture where experimentation isn’t just encouraged — it’s expected. One of the principles we operate by is leaving the code better than we found it. Whether that’s refactoring a function, adopting a new pattern or evaluating a tool that could improve efficiency, team members are empowered to test ideas and share what they learn. That mindset helps us continuously improve our systems and processes rather than simply maintain them.

“One of the principles we operate by is leaving the code better than we found it.”

How does Vertafore adapt to change? 

The rise of AI is probably the best example I can point to. When these tools started gaining traction, we didn’t wait for a formal directive to explore their potential. Instead, we began experimenting and finding practical ways to apply them to real engineering challenges.

One of the most impactful examples was a major database consolidation effort. We used AI-assisted development tools to help create scripts that merged three separate databases into a single environment while preserving schemas and maintaining backward compatibility. We also used AI to help build a framework that could dynamically update SQL references to the correct schema, minimizing changes to the existing codebase.

AI didn’t make the technical decisions for us, but it accelerated research, prototyping and implementation. We’ve seen similar benefits when adding Microsoft Graph Outlook API support, resolving memory leaks and investigating performance issues. In each case, AI helped our engineers move from uncertainty to actionable solutions faster while still relying on human expertise and judgment.

Vertafore's engineering culture centers on ownership, curiosity, and hands-on innovation, supported by dedicated innovation planning weeks, hackathons, and investment in cloud migration.

"'Show up curious' is one of our Vertafore Way principles, and we really value team members who are willing to come to the table and be curious about new technologies and methodologies."
 

Vertafore was named a Global 5-Star Technology and Software Provider by Insurance Business for the fifth consecutive year, earning a perfect 5.0 across every survey criterion. The recognition reflects Vertafore’s focus on combining core digital systems, specialized AI, and its data foundation to help agencies, MGAs, and carriers work more efficiently and achieve greater Distribution Velocity.

Recent innovations supporting that work include the Vertafore Velocity AI Platform and its AI agents, as well as ReferenceConnect AI, which helps insurance professionals access trusted industry knowledge up to 80% faster.

Vertafore's development teams use AI tools like GitHub Copilot and Claude Code to accelerate research, prototyping, and complex engineering work, including a major database consolidation project.

"One of the principles we operate by is leaving the code better than we found it."
 

InsurTech leader’s latest AI innovation brings on-demand help into everyday workflows, enabling insurance professionals to build skills and consistently follow agency standards

DENVER – October 20, 2026 – Vertafore®, the leader in insurance distribution technology in the AI era, today announced the availability of its Velocity™ Coach Agent. The InsurTech leader’s latest innovation brings AI-powered guidance directly into agency management workflows to help insurance professionals find faster answers to product and agency-specific process questions, build proficiency and work more independently.

Whether learning a new system, tackling an unfamiliar task or looking for a specific process, employees often have to stop what they're doing to search through documentation, ask colleagues for help or contact support. Those interruptions slow productivity and make it harder for agencies to consistently apply their established processes.

Available in Vertafore’s AgencyOne® with AMS360® and Sagitta®, Coach Agent answers product and how-to questions using Vertafore's product documentation and, when configured, an agency's own standard operating procedures (SOPs). The AI agent provides source-backed answers directly in the management system employees use every day, making it easier to find help.

“Think about what happens when someone in an agency has a question. They stop what they're doing, turn to a colleague for help, and now two people have stepped away from their work,” said James Thom, president and chief AI officer at Vertafore. “Multiply those interruptions across an agency, every day, and the impact adds up. Coach Agent gives people a way to get answers and keep moving, while building the knowledge and confidence to handle more on their own.”

Coach Agent is a key enabler in Vertafore’s vision for the Agentic Agency, which applies AI across workflows for sales, submissions, service, accounting and intelligence to empower agencies to adapt faster and grow smarter. Vertafore’s AI innovations are designed to help independent agencies achieve Distribution Velocity by reducing friction, accelerating operations and providing insights so they can make better decisions.

Helping agencies build proficiency and consistency

Users can ask Coach Agent questions in natural language, review supporting sources and ask follow-up questions when additional context is needed, all without leaving AMS360 or Sagitta. In internal testing, the AI agent reduced the time required to find answers by up to 88%.

Coach Agent supports several common agency needs:

• Get new employees productive sooner. Help less-experienced users learn new systems and processes, from recording client payments to processing policy endorsements, so they can work with greater confidence.
• Keep unfamiliar tasks from slowing work down. Enable employees to find answers when taking on new responsibilities, handling infrequent activities or adapting to product changes.
• Make agency standards easier to follow. Provide employees with guidance based on agency-specific documentation and SOPs to clarify how tasks should be handled and support more consistent execution.

"Coach Agent adds real value to training by bringing personalized, on-demand coaching directly into AMS360,” said Shyla Lankford, senior principal at Symphony Risk. “It helps managers reinforce learning, practice real-world scenarios, and turn training into actionable behaviors, making development more relevant, continuous and effective.”

New Velocity AI agent helps insurance professionals find and act on critical information faster across document-intensive workflows

DENVER – September 28, 2026 – Vertafore®, the leader in insurance distribution technology in the AI era, today announced general availability of its new Velocity™ Document Intelligence Agent, which automates time-consuming research across insurance documents so professionals can get to the information they need faster.

Agency, MGA, and carrier teams often spend significant time reviewing dozens of documents to answer a customer question, renew or endorse a policy, assess a risk or resolve a claim. The information they need is usually somewhere in the content they have access to, but the time it takes to find, compare and piece it together is the problem. 

Available in Vertafore’s ImageRight®, Document Intelligence Agent automates that research so insurance professionals can spend less time finding and more time acting on information.

Users ask a question in natural language and the AI agent finds and synthesizes relevant information across the content they are authorized to access—spanning Word documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, images, email, and more—bringing it together in a clear answer with document- and page-level source citations. Unlike traditional keyword search, the agent uses the meaning and context of the question to surface relevant information rather than simply returning matching results.  

For example, Document Intelligence Agent can identify and summarize changes in coverage between policy terms, bring together claims and loss history to support underwriting or reconstruct the documented sequence of communications around a claim—supporting everything from compiling an answer while on the phone with a client to reviewing a new submission, preparing for a renewal, taking over a new account, and preparing for an audit. 

In early testing, information that took approximately 20 minutes to find manually was surfaced in two minutes—up to a 90% reduction in document search and review time.

"Our teams spend a lot of time searching through policy files for specific information, sometimes going back years,” said Amber Troyer, Software Administrator at Hummel Group Insurance. “With the Document Intelligence Agent, we can ask what we’re looking for in plain language and get directly to the right information. It’s even finding relevant results in mislabeled documents—something that would be easy for a person to overlook. This is going to help our team surface all the content they need to service accounts, faster.”

Bringing specialized AI into insurance workflows

Built on the Vertafore VelocityTM AI Platform, Document Intelligence Agent is the latest addition to Vertafore’s growing portfolio of AI agents embedded directly in the workflows insurance professionals use every day. 

The new AI agent is a key enabler to Vertafore’s vision for the Agentic Agency and Digital Underwriter, helping the insurance industry eliminate drag across the distribution lifecycle and achieve Distribution Velocity—speed with intentional outcomes across workflows. Leveraging AI to take the friction out of research and surface insights is a valuable step in empowering agencies, MGAs and carriers to adapt faster and grow smarter. 

Two new Velocity AI agents tackle friction across underwriting workflows so underwriters can focus on risk and decisions

DENVER – September 24, 2026 – Vertafore®, the leader in insurance distribution technology in the AI era, unveiled its vision for the Digital Underwriter for MGAs and new Velocity™ AI agents that are bringing that vision to life across underwriting workflows.

When Vertafore talks to MGA leaders, one priority comes through consistently: help underwriters become more efficient and more effective. Put simply, underwriters should spend more time underwriting and less time on the busy work.

MGAs must compete for business from the moment a submission arrives. Today, too much of an underwriter's capacity is consumed by preparing submissions, gathering information, and other manual work, taking time away from evaluating risk and launching new programs. As an MGA grows, that operational burden on underwriters grows, too.

The Digital Underwriter is Vertafore's vision for helping MGAs achieve Distribution Velocity in the AI era by eliminating friction across the underwriting lifecycle.

Velocity AI agents embedded directly into Vertafore's MGA solutions take on more of the manual work across underwriting workflows and surface key insights, from intake and risk evaluation through quoting, binding and servicing. By reducing friction across the underwriting lifecycle, Vertafore is helping MGAs increase their underwriting capacity, reduce cycle times, and improve their bind rate—the essentials of sustainable growth.

That combination of speed and purpose is central to Vertafore's vision for helping MGAs achieve Distribution Velocity. Reducing drag around underwriting means movement from submission to underwriting in a market where speed and better decisions can determine who wins the business.

Bringing the Digital Underwriter to life

Two new Velocity AI agents extend the Digital Underwriter into more of the workflows that shape MGA underwriting speed and capacity:

• The Velocity Change Request Agent automatically identifies and summarizes what changed across renewal and endorsement applications, so underwriters spend less time searching for changes and have a clearer view of what could impact the underwriting decision. The underwriter reviews and approves the summary before it is saved to the application record, creating a clear record for future reference. Preliminary testing shows the agent saves up to 70% of review time and reduces errors and missed changes by up to 98%. General availability expected this fall.
• The Velocity Configuration Agent helps Surefyre® admins handle more complex configuration themselves, reducing reliance on specialists to create and update programs. Admins can describe what they want to accomplish in natural language and the agent translates that intent into configuration admins can review, refine, preview and test before saving. Admins have more ownership while specialists are freed to focus on program design—helping MGAs launch new programs and respond to changing business and carrier requirements faster. Preliminary tests show the agent saves up to 65% of configuration time. General availability is expected this fall.

Vertafore also previewed the Velocity Policy Check Agent, which will use AI to compare issued policy information against the application and policy record, surfacing mismatches and missing information so underwriters can focus their review on exceptions rather than completing a manual field-by-field comparison.

These new agents join AI capabilities launched earlier this year to bring the Digital Underwriter to life with the Velocity Submission Processing Agent and the Velocity Portal Launcher Agent. Together, these agents are helping MGAs achieve Distribution Velocity by simplifying processes, reducing manual work and strengthening decision quality so MGAs can adapt faster and grow smarter.

InsurTech leader introduces four new Velocity AI agents to reduce friction in agency workflows and create more capacity for relationships and growth

DENVER – September 23, 2026 – Vertafore®, the leader in insurance distribution technology in the AI era, today introduced the Agentic Agency and four new Velocity™ AI agents within agency workflows. The Agentic Agency is Vertafore’s vision to help independent agencies achieve Distribution Velocity in the AI era by eliminating friction that slows work across the business.
    
The value of the independent agency hasn’t changed. But today, too much of an agency’s capacity is consumed by drag around work: moving information between systems, searching documents, checking and re-keying data, and completing repetitive service and accounting tasks.

With the Agentic Agency, Vertafore is addressing that distribution drag by embedding AI in the solutions and workflows agencies already use—from sales and submissions to servicing, accounting, intelligence and everyday guidance. Velocity AI agents can take on more of the work within those workflows, bringing people in when their expertise, judgment and relationships matter most.

Vertafore’s Agentic Agency spans workstreams across the full agency lifecycle:

• Digital Producer agents accelerate prospecting, placement, renewals and producer follow-ups.
   
• Smart Submissions agents prepare carrier-ready submissions, compare quotes, build proposals and verify issued policies.
   
• Agentic Servicer agents automate requests, certificates, endorsements, cancellations and renewal preparation.
   
• Accounting Automation agents take on direct bill, agency bill, bank reconciliation and contingency management.

Underlying those workflows, AI Enablers improve ease-of-use and data quality inside an agency’s core solutions, while Business Intelligence agents surface growth insights from book, pipeline and performance data.

Bringing the Agentic Agency to life

Vertafore unveiled four new Velocity AI agents designed to take on policy servicing, document research and everyday agency operations. Built on the Velocity AI Platform, the four agents are in the hands of early adopters and will be generally available this year.

• Velocity Document Intelligence Agent automates time-consuming research with AI by finding relevant information within documents and other available content and bringing it together in a clear answer. Built into Vertafore’s ImageRight® document and workflow management solution for agencies, MGAs and carriers, the agent helps users get to the information they need faster without searching and reviewing documents one by one. Based on early adopter testing, the agent reduces document review time by up to 90%. General availability scheduled for September 2026.
   
• Velocity Coach Agent answers product and how-to questions directly in Vertafore’s leading agency management systems, AMS360® and Sagitta®. The Coach Agent uses product and agency documentation and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to provide users with answers in the moment. Users spend up to 88% less time finding answers while staying in the flow of their work and building proficiency. General availability scheduled for early fall.
   
• Velocity Policy Intake Agent automates time-consuming commercial policy processing by turning information from source documents into policy data. It interprets and extracts policy information from the documents and maps it to the agency management system (AMS). The agent updates the AMS, files supporting documents, and creates an audit-ready activity record. Instead of spending time on repetitive, error-prone data entry, agencies can move through policy intake up to 87% faster and spend more time serving clients. General availability scheduled for early fall.
   
• Velocity Policy Check Agent helps users catch and address policy discrepancies. It compares policy documents against AMS data and other supporting documentation to identify discrepancies and recommend corrective action. Users stay in control by deciding which corrections to approve, and the AI agent handles the follow-through. General availability scheduled for early fall.

Together, the four agents demonstrate how Vertafore’s vision for the Agentic Agency helps move agency workflows from friction to flow as part of the company’s broader goal of accelerating Distribution Velocity throughout the insurance value chain. By reducing distribution drag and creating more capacity for higher-value work, Vertafore is empowering agencies to adapt faster and grow smarter.

Vertafore also previewed what is next for Smart Submissions. Upcoming capabilities include the Velocity Data Collection Agent, which will identify and structure information from incoming documents and surface gaps in submission data, and the Velocity Carrier Routing Agent, which will provide AI-driven guidance on potential markets based on carrier appetite, agency behavior and agency strategy. Both are expected to enter early adopter programs this winter.