The underwriting departments that thrive in 2030 won't look like today's teams. They won't be bigger—they'll be different. Smarter. More strategic. Built around growth instead of gatekeeping.
If you're leading an underwriting organization, the decisions you make about your team in the next two years will determine whether you're a competitive advantage or a cost center by 2030.
The Team You Need to Build
The AI Conductor
This isn't your traditional senior underwriter. They understand both risk assessment and how AI systems work. They can read model outputs, spot biases, and train systems to handle new scenarios. Most importantly, they know when to trust the machine and when human judgment is essential.
Where to find them
Promote your best current underwriters who show curiosity about technology. Don’t just hire data scientists—they need insurance expertise too.
The Exception Specialist
Every AI system creates edge cases—unusual applications that don’t fit standard patterns. These underwriters become experts at the weird stuff: complex business structures, rare medical conditions, emerging risk factors. They’re not processing volume; they’re solving puzzles.
Where to find them
Look for underwriters who already gravitate toward complex cases and enjoy detective work.
The Growth Strategist
This person thinks about underwriting as a business driver, not just a risk filter. They understand how underwriting speed affects sales conversion, how risk selection impacts profitability, and how to balance growth with prudent risk management.
Where to find them
Often comes from underwriters with business development experience or strong relationships with distribution partners.
The Risk Innovator
As new data sources emerge and risks evolve, someone needs to figure out how to incorporate them into underwriting decisions. Climate risks, social media indicators, wearable device data—this person stays ahead of the curve.
Where to find them
Usually your most analytically minded underwriters who enjoy working with new information sources.
What This Means for Hiring
Stop hiring people who just want to process applications. Start looking for:
Curiosity about technology
without requiring them to be programmers
Strategic thinking
about how underwriting drives business results
Comfort with ambiguity
since the rules are changing constantly
Communication skills
to work across departments and explain complex decisions
The Skills to Develop Now
Data literacy training for your entire team—not deep technical skills, but understanding how to work with AI outputs and identify potential problems.
Business acumen development so underwriters understand their impact on sales, profitability, and customer experience.
Cross-functional collaboration skills since modern underwriting requires working closely with technology, actuarial, and distribution teams.
Exception handling expertise because the routine work is getting automated, but the complex cases still need human expertise.
How to Structure for Success
The winning underwriting organizations in 2030 will be organized around outcomes, not just processing volume:
Growth squads focused on reducing cycle times and improving approval rates for target segments
Innovation teams working on new risk factors and data sources
Exception units handling the complex cases that require human judgment
Training groups that continuously improve AI systems and onboard new underwriters
The Leadership Challenge
Building this team means changing how you think about underwriting talent. The best performers in 2030 won’t necessarily be the highest-volume processors today. They’ll be the people who can think strategically about risk while working effectively with technology. This also means rethinking compensation and career paths. If routine underwriting gets automated, you need ways to reward and retain people who handle complex cases and strategic initiatives.
The Competitive Reality
Companies that build these capabilities will process applications faster, make better risk decisions, and convert more sales. Their underwriting becomes a competitive advantage. Companies that don’t will find themselves competing mainly on price while their underwriting departments become cost centers focused on defending declining market share.
Start Building Now
The transformation is already underway. The underwriting teams that dominate in 2030 are being built today through strategic hiring, targeted training, and organizational changes that position underwriting as a growth driver rather than a necessary cost.
But building this team requires more than good intentions—it needs the right technology foundation and strategic support.
How Zinnia Can Help
We understand that transforming your underwriting organization is complex. It's not just about new technology—it's about reimagining how your team works, what skills they need, and how underwriting fits into your growth strategy.
The Policy Processor gives your team AI-powered tools that make sense—dashboards that prioritize the right cases, medical record summarization that saves hours, and confidence scoring that helps underwriters focus their expertise where it matters most.
Market Connect enables your team to work more strategically by automating routine decisions and providing real-time data integration, so your best people can focus on complex cases and business development.
Beyond the technology, our consulting team helps you build the business case for transformation, design new organizational structures, and create training programs that develop the skills your team needs for 2030.
Ready to Build the Future?
The question isn't whether this change will happen—it's whether your team will lead it or watch from the sidelines.
Our platforms and expertise can help you build the underwriting organization that thrives in 2030. Let's talk about how to get started.
Contact us to
learn more about transforming your underwriting team for sustainable growth.
Build the underwriting team that will lead tomorrow — let's start today.
Harsh Chowdhary
Head, Underwriting Solutions & Services