Two of Australia’s largest insurers could see their dominance in home and motor policies take a hit as customers start using AI-powered bots to automatically gather and analyse personalised quotes, analysts have warned.

Macquarie, in a research note issued last week, flagged the rise of “agentic AI shoppers” – artificially intelligent bot “agents” which act on behalf of a user to search for products, compare prices and execute transactions – as warranting the attention of both insurers and investors.

The Macquarie analysts highlighted the competitive threat the trend could pose to Insurance Australia Group, which is behind insurance brands including NRMA and CGU, and Suncorp, which has brands including AAMI, GIO and Bingle.

“As agentic AI shoppers become more widely used in Australia, t

See Full Page