Addressing barriers to adoption at leadership, operational, individual levels
Executive summary
Insurance CEOs invest heavily in technology but struggle with leadership alignment, poor processes and employee resistance, which prevents ROI. Success requires addressing barriers systematically across three organizational levels: executive governance, operational readiness and individual adoption.
The insurance industry is at a turning point in its digital transformation journey. Leaders understand that technology investments can reduce operational costs, improve customer satisfaction and accelerate timelines — the top ROI metrics they plan to track from their tech investments this year, according to Grant Thornton's Digital Transformation Survey. Their ultimate goal: drive long-term top-line growth.
They’re moving beyond basic general ledgers to comprehensive cloud ERP systems that enable project-based accounting, advanced data reporting and AI-powered automation. These platforms solve a fundamental connectivity problem that has plagued the industry for decades.
“Legacy systems require constant reconciliation between general ledger and reporting functions, creating opportunities for error and inefficiency,” said Mike Pilch, Grant Thornton Technology Modernization Principal. Cloud solutions eliminate this friction because data moves seamlessly between business processes. They also enable companies to connect previously isolated parts of their business — from sales to operations to finance — creating opportunities for comprehensive ROI measurement and optimization.
Despite the adoption of these solutions, insurance companies still struggle to realize meaningful ROI from their technology spending. Poor governance structures, legacy system complications and employee resistance lead to stalled pilots and wasted resources.
To capture full value from technology investments, insurance leaders must address these organizational barriers systematically — starting with executive alignment, then operational readiness and finally individual adoption.
Executive level: Build governance and leadership alignment
Digital transformation fails when it's treated as an IT project rather than a business initiative. The primary obstacle? Finance and IT teams are often not aligned, creating fragmented ownership that kills ROI before projects launch.
Despite their differences, CFOs and CTOs share common ground. “CFOs and CTOs both want to reduce time-consuming manual tasks such as reconciliations and manual journal entries,” said Steven Truant, Grant Thornton Business Consulting Senior Manager. "Both groups want faster data processing and real-time reporting to improve analytics and decision-making.” They also want clean data to reduce manual adjustments and audit findings, plus standardized reporting across business units.
The friction emerges around risk tolerance and implementation timelines. CFOs tend to be more risk-averse about disrupting legacy systems and expect shorter-term ROI, while IT teams focus on technical stability and longer implementation horizons.
Compounding this challenge, finance teams increasingly want technology they can operate independently rather than depend on IT for ongoing support. Meanwhile, IT teams must manage backend infrastructure complexities. “IT has to deal with the technical complications,” Pilch said. “That creates friction because when systems go down or don't work effectively, IT gets blamed.”
Success requires shared accountability from day one. Leadership must establish common KPIs across the CEO, CFO, CIO and business unit heads — metrics like reduction of manual processes that both finance and technology can pursue together.
“There must be joint accountability for business outcomes,” Truant said. “These are long, complex projects where conflicts will arise. Shared ownership of results prevents finger-pointing and drives collaboration.”
Operational level: Remove process barriers and improve tech readiness
Technology investments only deliver ROI when a company's operational foundation is ready. The ROI lag plaguing many digital programs isn't always due to inadequate technology — it’s the legacy complications underneath that create friction and limit results.
Operational readiness begins with clarity about reporting goals. Leaders must first understand what story their data needs to tell. “What can you not report on today that you want to report on in the future?” Pilch asked. “It’s not just about what results occurred, but how you got there — being able to tell that narrative from the operational level up to the financial statements.” This requires clean, structured data that serves as a single source of truth, with cloud technology connecting operational and financial reporting without manual reconciliation.
Beyond data quality, integration strategy is also critical. Even well-designed platforms fail when they can’t connect effectively with existing systems.
“Leaders should prioritize API-first architecture and interoperable platforms that allow new capabilities to plug directly into existing ecosystems,” said Mathew Tierney, Grant Thornton Head of the Insurance Industry. This approach reduces costly custom development, shortens implementation timelines and reduces reliance on multiple data sources.
However, most insurance companies aren’t starting from a strong foundation. Our survey shows most insurance leaders rate their data quality as adequate or worse. “Poor data quality creates complexity in defining system requirements because there's no clear understanding of standard versus exception-based processes,” Truant noted.
Data quality alone isn’t sufficient — process design is just as important. “Some of the most common operational readiness gaps include trying to automate inefficient or broken processes,” Truant said. “Digitizing broken processes without redesigning workflows leads to poor adoption because it doesn't save people time or improve quality.”
The solution requires fixing processes before introducing automation. Companies must streamline workflows and establish proper data governance before deploying new technology. The more legacy complexity exists, the more tech ROI depends on these foundational fixes.
Individual level: Drive effective adoption
Employee resistance due to poor change management prevents insurance companies from achieving their technology investment objectives. Getting underwriters, agents, claims adjusters and managers to trust and use new digital tools requires systematic change management.
In the insurance industry, employees often have decades of experience with established processes. Successful tech transformation and adoption requires effective communication and training over time.
Insurance companies need comprehensive training programs, including:
- Role-based trainings tailored to how underwriters, claims processors and agents interface with systems through scenario-based learning
- Phased rollouts over 90 days to build capabilities with periodic checkpoints and feedback
- Peer champions or “super users” to increase adoption and support coaching among colleagues
“A recent P&C client example illustrates how technology success depends equally on human and system capabilities,” Tierney said. “Their AI deployment succeeded because leadership prioritized cultural change, executive sponsorship and comprehensive workforce training — transforming what started as pilots into essential business tools.” When employees view technology as enhancing their decision-making rather than threatening their roles, adoption accelerates and ROI multiplies.
Successful adoption also requires understanding how technology addresses specific pain points. Colin Crawford, Grant Thornton Technology Modernization Managing Director, noted the importance of translating employee frustrations into solutions: “Use those pain points to turn them into tools that will actually enhance their day-to-day work.”
Clear communication about measurement is equally critical. Employees understand these implementations carry expectations around ROI and performance metrics. Companies need transparent communication about how success is defined and how individual performance connects to broader business outcomes.
Managers must also understand what’s being measured and why. “Employees know that these implementations have expectations around ROI, KPIs and metrics of how people are being measured throughout,” Crawford said. Companies need clear communication about how success is defined and how individual performance connects to broader business outcomes.
Instead of simply deploying technology and assuming employees are successfully adopting it, companies must also actively track whether people are using tools effectively. This means evaluating:
- Usage analytics through dashboards to track logins, feature use and task completion rates
- Business outcome metrics to tie adoption to cycle time reduction and straight-through processing
- Qualitative feedback to identify ongoing friction points
Summary
Insurance companies that address all three levels — executive governance, operational readiness and individual adoption — transform technology investments from expenses into growth drivers.
The key is taking a thoughtful, sequenced approach rather than overwhelming teams with simultaneous changes. “In large-scale transformations, especially in insurance, trying to tackle everything at once can overwhelm teams and dilute impact,” Truant said. “Sequencing allows organizations to build momentum by solving the right problems in the right order — starting with foundational issues before layering on automation.”
This doesn't require massive upfront commitments. Companies can pilot technologies, test what works and scale successful initiatives rather than making large bets on unproven solutions.
Digital transformation is often about slowing things down to speed things up,” Pilch said. “Take time upfront to understand where you are today before defining where you want to go tomorrow. Understand your pain points, your processes, your critical areas before implementation — think through what you're trying to achieve.
Contacts:
Global Insurance Practice Leader
Grant Thornton International
Head of Insurance Industry, Grant Thornton Advisors LLC
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