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Case Study : Reducing Policy Outflows with AI
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consulting / Case Study: Reducing Policy Outflows with AI

Case Study : Reducing Policy Outflows with AI

Reducing Policy Outflows with AI: How a Leading U.S. Insurer Transformed Customer Retention

Executive Summary

A leading U.S. life insurer worked with Andersen Consulting’s AI practice to address significant annuity policy outflows and strengthen customer retention. Using Palantir Foundry, AIP, and frontier Large Language Models (LLMs), the team built an AI-driven Value Assistant that equips contact center associates with real-time, compliant, and personalized policyholder insights. During the initial 12-week proof of concept, the insurer saw a measurable reduction in surrender-intent follow-through and faster, more confident customer engagements demonstrating the immediate value of Andersen Consulting’s applied AI approach and creating a scalable foundation for industry-leading retention performance.

Introduction: Context and Challenge

Across the U.S. insurance sector, rising customer expectations and interest rate volatility have intensified pressure on life insurers to retain policyholders. Many carriers still rely on legacy customer service systems that make it difficult for associates to respond accurately and empathetically to complex financial inquiries, especially around annuity withdrawals and surrenders.

For this leading life insurer, the challenge was urgent. In Q1 2025 alone, policy value outflows exceeded $153 million, driven by over 4,500 policy surrenders. Associates struggled to navigate complex contract terms in real time, resulting in missed opportunities to retain customers. The company recognized the need for a smarter, data-driven support system that could surface the right information instantly reducing costly surrenders and improving client trust. Although initially skeptical of AI due to industry hype, the insurer gained confidence as Andersen Consulting brought practical experience and a grounded, outcomes-focused approach to applying AI to real business challenges.

Solution: AI-Powered Value Assistant Built on Palantir Foundry and AIP

Approach Overview

To address these challenges, Andersen Consulting mobilized its AI and advanced analytics team to design and deliver an innovative assistant powered by generative AI. Built on Palantir Foundry and AIP, the Value Assistant dynamically synthesizes customer and product data to generate context-specific talking points for associates during live customer conversations. The system guides associates in addressing concerns such as liquidity options and guaranteed lifetime benefits helping clients make informed decisions without surrendering their policies.

Data Integration and Foundation

Foundry’s secure data integration capabilities unified previously siloed systems—connecting policy administration data, transaction histories, and actuarial models into a single, governed data layer. This foundation enabled real-time access to the most accurate information, ensuring compliance and consistency across every customer interaction.

AI and Insight Generation

At the heart of the solution lies an LLMs aware of insurance-specific language and regulatory standards through context engineering within AIP. These models instantly generated compliant, personalized dialogue for associates. For example, if a policy holder wants to cash out a $500,000 annuity that has $150,000 in taxable gains, the tool shows what that would mean for taxes and penalties and compares it with other ways to get liquidity without surrendering the contract. It highlights options such as partial withdrawals or income features that keep some access to funds while avoiding large surrender charges or tax surprises.

User Experience and Workflow Integration

The Value Assistant integrates seamlessly into the contact center’s existing desktop environment, displaying intuitive responses alongside customer profiles. Associates receive actionable insights within seconds, allowing them to engage confidently, reduce errors, and build stronger relationships with policyholders.

Rapid Implementation

In just 12 weeks, Andersen’s cross-functional team, including data engineers, product managers, and business analysts, developed, tested and delivered the solution. A controlled pilot with 30 contact center staff demonstrated immediate performance improvements, paving the way for enterprise-wide deployment.

Results and Impact

The collaboration produced measurable business value across operational, financial, and strategic dimensions:

  • Reduced Surrender Rates: Early pilots indicate a double-digit reduction in surrender-intent conversions, stemming millions in potential policy value outflows.
  • Improved Retention and Customer Experience: Associates now resolve complex financial questions, enhancing trust and reducing customer churn.
  • Operational Efficiency: Automated talking points and compliance-checked messaging reduce average handling time and lessen the need for managerial escalation.
  • Regulatory Alignment: All AI-generated outputs operate within Foundry’s governed data environment, which enforces strict guardrails to prevent the system from issuing personalized financial advice.
  • Data-Driven Confidence: Associates report increased confidence and accuracy when discussing annuity features, ensuring customers understand their options and long-term benefits.

Together, these outcomes have transformed the insurer’s contact center into a strategic retention engine, directly impacting profitability and policyholder satisfaction.

A New Standard for Customer Retention

Through close collaboration with Andersen Consulting’s AI practice, this leading insurer has demonstrated how AI and human expertise can work together to safeguard policy value and strengthen customer trust.

“This initiative empowers our associates with the right insights at the right moment,” said the company’s Chief Technology and Operations Officer. “It has fundamentally changed how we engage with policyholders and protect long-term value.”

Looking ahead, the insurer plans to extend the Value Assistant’s capabilities to cover new product lines and predictive retention analytics laying the groundwork for a fully AI-enabled, customer-first organization.

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Andersen Consulting is a global consulting practice providing a comprehensive suite of services spanning corporate strategy, business, technology, AI transformation, and human capital solutions. Andersen Consulting integrates with the multidimensional service model of Andersen Global, delivering world-class consulting, tax, legal, valuation, global mobility, and advisory expertise on a global platform spanning more than 170 countries worldwide through its member firms and collaborating firms.