Example · Claims Manager
Software is taking the simple claims first. Fewer adjusters means fewer units, and that puts pressure on your seat.
33 of your 40 hours still need you
- 28 stay yours
- 5 faster with AI
- 7 tools could take
A typical week at the middle pace. Your plan uses your own tasks.
Will AI cut my claims team?
By our task-by-task count, 33 of a typical 40-hour week as a claims manager still need a person. Tools could already take about 7 hours. Carriers are saying out loud that claims headcount will shrink. Chubb told investors in December 2025 it aims to automate 85% of major underwriting and claims processes and expects headcount to fall by up to 20% over three to four years (actuary.info, May 6, 2026).
Read more
Farmers confirmed job cuts that reached claims in mid-2026 (Repairer Driven News, July 7, 2026). Allianz Partners was reported in July 2026 to be cutting jobs in a division where many people handle enquiries and claims by phone (Insurance Business, July 8, 2026).
Your own work is mostly safe. Settlement authority, coverage sign-off, reserves and coaching are among the least exposed work we have studied, and about 70% of your week sits there. The risk is the count of units. When a unit of twelve adjusters becomes a unit of seven, two units become one, and one manager seat goes. So be the manager who can run a bigger unit, with the software in it, and prove the files are right.
The hard truth
A major carrier plans to cut up to a fifth of its staff.
BLS already expects fewer adjusters and examiners nationwide. Fewer adjusters means fewer units, and fewer units means fewer claims manager seats.
Sources (2)
- Chubb aims to automate 85% of major underwriting and claims processes and cut up to 20% of its workforce over three to four years. Chubb investor materials, via Insurance Business, 2025-12
- Claims adjuster, appraiser, examiner and investigator jobs are projected to fall 6%, about 21,800 jobs, from 2025 to 2035. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2026-08
What stays yours
Settlement authority on large or complex claims
The carrier delegates this accountability to you. A payment above an adjuster's limit needs a named person who signs and answers for it.
Coverage questions, denials and reservations of rights
You hold this accountability, since your license is in your name. Texas said in June 2026 that where a carrier uses AI for a consequential decision, it "expects a person to review and agree with all decisions before action is taken."
Reserve approval above adjuster authority
This accountability is delegated to you. Reserves feed the financial statements, and actuaries and auditors trace them back to you.
Coaching adjusters
This rests on relationships and context. Knowing which adjuster settles too fast and which one hides a file is learned over months.
Litigation strategy and roundtables
This takes context. Which defense firm will try a case and which judge runs a fast docket is not written down.
What's the next role after claims manager?
Plan A is your best move inside the work you do now. Most sessions in the 13-week plan build toward it.
- A
Manager of a larger unit who owns claims automation for it
Why it fits
Why you. You already hold authority over a unit where the tools are arriving, and you sit where cycle time, quality and compliance meet.
The gap. You don't yet have measured numbers on automated closures, written rules, or a team lead ready to sign files.
The trade-off. You are building the case that one manager can run more adjusters, which may be used to merge a peer's unit.
Other moves that fit
These are also good bets in this field. Read them if Plan A doesn't suit you.
Large loss or complex claims manager
Why it fits
Why you. You already approve the biggest files in your unit.
The gap. You may need field or large-loss experience you have not had recently.
The trade-off. Expect smaller teams, more travel in catastrophe years, and fewer seats than in line management.
Agent workforce manager
Why it fits
Why you. You already run a unit by assigning work, setting quality rules, sampling output and escalating exceptions. That is how AI agents get managed too.
The gap. You don't yet have hands-on agent work or metrics to show.
The trade-off. The title is new, postings are still thin, and many seats sit at vendors instead of carriers.
What's a plan B for insurance claims leaders?
Plan B is a job AI is creating that these skills already fit. One session a week in the plan trains you for it, so it is ready if your job shrinks or you want a change.
BPlan B, picked for this role
Agent workforce manager
You set authority limits, audit files and run a unit on pending and cycle time, which is how a team of claims agents gets managed.
Other options
AI evaluation specialist
Your quarterly file audits already grade work against a checklist, and turning that into test cases is how automated closures get judged.
AI governance analyst
Regulators now expect a person to review consequential AI decisions, and you already know the complaint, fair claims and audit side of that.
In your own plan you can switch to any of the 47 roles.
The first two weeks
The first 2 of 13 weeks. Three sessions a week of 30, 45 and 30 minutes, plus one 40-minute Plan B session. By week 13 you'll have a weekly unit flash your director gets before asking, a stop list for automated closures with a measured error rate, and a memo asking to own automated-claims quality.
- Week 1: Measure your week
What you do
- ATrack your time for one week against the task list. Write down the hours each task takes.
- AList every report you produce or receive. Note who reads each one and what they do with it.
- AList every file your director asked about last quarter that you hadn't flagged first.
- BTake the first half of AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations, Anthropic's free course.
- Week 2: Write the audit checklist
What you do
- AWrite your file audit checklist as ten yes-or-no questions.
- ARun the checklist by hand on five closed files.
- AMark which questions a tool could answer from the file and which need you.
- BFinish AI Fluency and its final assessment.
Three courses from the plan
Checked 2026-10-16.
- AI Fluency: Framework & FoundationsAnthropic Academy · Free
Yes. It is a fast, free baseline for weeks 1 and 2.
- AI Capabilities and LimitationsAnthropic Academy · Free
Yes. It names the failure types you will see in claim summaries.
- Introduction to agent skillsAnthropic Academy · Free
Yes, weeks 5 and 6.
Risks beyond AI: highDelayering risk
Straight-through processing and voice intake shrink the number of adjusters a carrier needs, and smaller units get merged under fewer managers. Retirements that are not backfilled do the same. Catastrophe years and the market cycle also move claims headcount. Together these outrank the AI exposure of your own tasks.
Where this could be wrong
- In commercial or specialty lines, files are larger, fewer close straight through, and the risk is lower than we estimated.
- At a TPA (third-party administrator), headcount follows client contracts, and losing one client can cut a unit faster than any tool.
- Chubb's up to 20% is a plan, and vendor results for claims agents are self-reported. If carriers automate slower, units shrink slower.
- If regulators require a person on every adverse decision, coverage and reserve work holds up even better, and so does the need for managers who sign.
Also matched: claims manager, claims supervisor, claims team manager. Research checked 2026-10-16. Page updated .