The Digital Mirage: Why Mobile Apps Aren’t Enough

When insurers talk about digital transformation, many focus first on customer touchpoints: polished apps, intuitive web portals, and chatbot integrations. But these improvements often mask a deeper issue: outdated backend systems that struggle to keep up.

According to a study done by Arizent Research and Digital Insurance, only 18% of insurers report that their operational workflows are fully automated and highly efficient, and even fewer have addressed the operational complexity behind the scenes. This creates a gap that extends beyond just technical–it impacts speed, accuracy, and the ability to personalize services in real-time.

A mobile app may modernize appearances, but if it’s fed by fragmented data and disconnected processes, the result is often more frustration than convenience. Calls bounce between departments. Agents are stuck toggling between systems. And critical data is left scattered across legacy platforms that don’t talk to each other.

Rethinking Progress in Phases

Sweeping transformations may sound appealing, but the insurance industry’s sheer complexity often makes a “big-bang” approach too risky. From compliance to claims processing, every move affects systems and people across departments. BCG research shows that 70% of digital transformations fall short of their objectives, often with profound consequences—underscoring the high risks associated with widespread system replacements.

The better approach? Iterative modernization.

Breaking change into manageable stages allows for real-time course correction, it minimizes disruption, and builds confidence at every layer. An insurer might start by addressing a single pain point—say, policy servicing delays or inefficient agent workflows. When those changes generate measurable impact, they build the case for broader transformation.

Phased progress is easier to scale. It’s also better aligned with the real-world pace of regulatory shifts, talent gaps, and shifting customer expectations. Further, staged progress decreases the risks associated with entire system overhauls.

Wrap and Extend: A Smarter Alternative to Rip-and-Replace

There’s no shortage of enthusiasm for AI—automated underwriting, claims triage, fraud detection, and risk modeling. But here’s the catch: AI is only as good as the data feeding it.

Right now, many insurers are sitting on goldmines of customer, policy, and operational data that are underused because they’re unstructured, duplicated, or trapped in silos.

But this goes beyond simply accessing the data. It also depends on how much you have, its quality, and how ready your organization is to use it. In fact, only 13% of insurance leaders say they are “extremely confident” that they have the right data strategies and core digital capabilities in place to effectively leverage generative AI.This is where data engineering becomes increasingly more relevant as having too much of the wrong kind of information can impede system functionality and ultimately deteriorate client trust.

Building out structured data pipelines is a prerequisite for leveraging AI effectively. That means cleaning, organizing, and integrating information in ways that actually serve the business. When systems are aligned and data is normalized, insurers can:

Analyze risk profiles dynamically
Deliver personalized policy recommendations
Spot service issues before they escalate
And much more

Without that groundwork, AI becomes just a flash over function tool—full of potential, but ultimately underdelivered.

Scalable Innovation Starts at the Surface

Technology partners and platforms vary, but what matters most is designing for long-term adaptability. For insurers, that means taking a modular approach that extends core platforms rather than displacing them entirely. This is where Salesforce excels, not as a replacement, but as a strategic layer that enables scalable innovation.

In a wrap and extend model, Salesforce is configured to sit alongside platforms like Guidewire, not to overwrite them. Think of it as introducing a powerful experience layer—one that brings clarity and control to complex workflows without unraveling the systems that already function well.

This is also where tools like Agentforce come into play. As a Salesforce-native agent experience platform, Agentforce helps unify policyholder data, surface contextual insights, and simplify day-to-day tasks—all without disrupting the core policy or claims systems. It’s designed to reduce swivel-chair activity, enable faster onboarding, and drive more responsive service, all by tapping into the same integrated architecture.

Let’s take a closer look at how that translates into real operational advantages:

End-to-End Workflow Visibility: Salesforce can surface and centralize workflows that are otherwise siloed, creating a unified view that helps leaders monitor performance and take proactive action.
Tailored Process Automation: Tools like Flow and OmniStudio allow insurers to build domain-specific workflows—from dynamic First Notice of Loss (FNOL) intake to complex policy adjustments—that match real-world operations and compliance needs.
Unified Data Context: With bidirectional integration, customer and policy data no longer live in isolation. This enables faster decisions and fewer errors, especially in cross-functional scenarios like underwriting and claims review.
Omnichannel Delivery That Scales: Through Experience Cloud and APIs, insurers can rapidly deploy service portals and agent tools that reflect live back-end data, while maintaining granular control over what’s exposed.

Wrapping Salesforce around your existing architecture lets you pick your battles wisely—upgrading the front-end experience without sending shockwaves through the entire operation. Teams can redesign clunky workflows, expose once-hidden data for real-time insights, and automate what used to take days. And all of it happens without losing the muscle memory of systems that already work. That balance between innovation and continuity is where real momentum builds.

The Path Forward: Practical Questions to Ask

Digital transformation in insurance doesn’t have to mean disruption. But it does require intention. Acknowledging that change, especially in an industry responsible for safeguarding sensitive information, can feel overwhelming, it’s no surprise that knowing where to begin is often the hardest part. A helpful starting point is asking yourself and key decision makers the following questions:

Which parts of the customer journey are still slowed by manual processes?
What data do you trust to drive decisions?
Are your systems flexible enough to adapt to next year’s challenges?

Answering these questions honestly won’t just reveal your starting point—it will clarify your priorities, shape your roadmap, and set the tone for a transformation that actually sticks.

If you’re navigating complex systems and looking for a way forward that balances innovation with stability, we’re here to help make that path clearer, and a lot less overwhelming.

Let’s talk about what progress could look like for you!