Innovation & Efficiency: The Future of the Agent Channel with Jack Ramsey

In a provocative episode of Risk Management: Brick by Brick, recorded live at ITC 2025, host Jason Reichl challenges the status quo with Jack Ramsey, VP of the Agent Channel at NEXT Insurance. Ramsey doesn't just discuss technology; he dissects the fundamental "financial death spiral" of traditional small commercial insurance and offers a radical blueprint for survival.

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The "Profitability Trap" of Small Commercial

For decades, the insurance industry has ignored a glaring mathematical failure: the $1,500 premium. Ramsey identifies this as a point of "massive heat" where traditional models break for the independent agent.

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"I can't make money on this if I have to touch it more than once," Ramsey states, echoing a frustration felt across the industry. He argues that big-name traditional carriers are essentially sabotaging their agents by forcing human underwriters into micro-commercial transactions, blowing the agent's financial model. The NEXT solution is a 100% fully digital sales and service carrier that allows an agent to bind an account in five minutes, turning a money-losing ritual into a high-speed revenue engine.

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The "Secret Sauce": Underwriting via Social Media

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the NEXT model is its departure from the standard "questionnaire" approach. Ramsey reveals that NEXT's "secret sauce" involves scraping social media and digital footprints to identify real-time risk signals that a human agent—or a standard form—would never catch.

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"We have none of that stuff," Ramsey says, referring to traditional questions about dance floors or happy hours. Instead, the AI "sees" the reality of a business through its digital presence—identifying late-night dancing or tequila specials through social media scrapes—providing a richer, more honest profile than a business owner might provide on a standard application.

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The "Digital First" Ultimatum

At NEXT, "Digital First" isn't a marketing slogan; it's an operational filter. Ramsey explains that if a problem cannot be solved digitally, the company often passes on the opportunity entirely. This uncompromising stance allows them to deploy market changes—like adjusting coverage limits based on agent feedback—in as little as 30 days, a process that takes traditional carriers two quarters or more.

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He challenges other carriers to stop hiding behind innovation labs and actually implement technology. "Don't make dumb decisions... but actually pick two or three things and implement it," he advises.

Reclaiming the "People-Time"

Ramsey’s vision for the future of the agent isn't one of replacement, but of liberation. By handing off menial, administrative tasks like certificates of insurance to the customer through digital portals, the agent is freed to focus on "true people activities".

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"If I can help an agent take that administrative time off the list... the revenue goes to the roof," he concludes. The message is clear: the agents who survive 2026 won't be the best paper-pushers; they will be the advisors who embrace the machine to become better consultants for their clients.

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To hear the full discussion on the data-rich future of insurance, tune in to this episode of Risk Management: Brick by Brick.

👉 Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/4a7vvdhz

👉 Apple Podcasts:  https://tinyurl.com/7y4vn369 

👉 YouTube: https://youtu.be/lI0Nw96opBc

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Podcast Host: Jason Reichl 

Executive Producer: Don Halliwell

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