ITC Vegas 2026: Moving Beyond AI Hype to Meaningful Adoption

Artificial intelligence dominated the conversation at ITC Vegas this year. Across the conference floor, emerging startups and established technology providers presented solutions promising to transform how insurance is distributed, underwritten, and serviced.

But amid the excitement surrounding AI, a more nuanced conversation was taking shape.

Insurers and brokers recognize the opportunities these technologies present. Yet enthusiasm is increasingly accompanied by thoughtful questions about implementation, operational impact, and where AI can deliver meaningful value.

For the ManchesterStoryteam, this was one of the most interesting observations from a week spent connecting with founders, carriers, brokers, investors, and other participants across the insurance ecosystem.

From What's Possible to What's Practical

The insurance industry has never lacked opportunities for technological improvement. Complex workflows, fragmented systems, and labor-intensive processes have long created opportunities for innovation.

AI introduces new ways to address many of these challenges, but the ability to automate a process or generate an insight does not necessarily translate into a compelling business solution.

The more important question is whether that technology can solve a meaningful problem within the realities of an insurance organization's operations.

Throughout ITC Vegas, our conversations reflected growing attention to this distinction.

While founders are continuing to introduce increasingly sophisticated AI capabilities, carriers and brokers are evaluating how those capabilities fit into existing workflows, what implementation requires, and how success can be measured.

This is an important evolution in the conversation.

As AI solutions become more widely available, technical capabilities alone may become less meaningful as a point of differentiation. The ability to demonstrate clear business value, integrate effectively, and address the needs of the end user could become increasingly important.

For emerging InsurTech companies, understanding those needs early may be just as critical as the technology they are building.

Why Industry Perspective Matters

At ManchesterStory, our investment approach is grounded in identifying emerging technologies that address real challenges across insurance and adjacent industries.

That requires looking beyond what a product promises to deliver.

Technology may be impressive in isolation, but its long-term potential depends on several factors:

• Whether the problem is significant
• Whether customers are motivated to solve it
• Whether the solution can be adopted and scaled effectively

This is where direct engagement with the industry becomes particularly valuable.

Our conversations at ITC Vegas offered perspectives from both sides of the innovation process. Founders shared the problems they are trying to solve and the technologies they are developing. Carriers and brokers provided insight into the operational challenges, strategic priorities, and practical considerations influencing their decisions.

Bringing those perspectives together helps us better understand where emerging solutions align with genuine market demand.

It also reinforces an important principle in our investment philosophy: successful innovation is not defined solely by what technology makes possible, but by the value it ultimately creates.

Turning Industry Connections Into Opportunity

While conferences like ITC Vegas provide opportunities to explore emerging trends, they also serve another important purpose: bringing together the people who can help turn promising ideas into practical solutions.

During the conference, ManchesterStory hosted Strategic Partners, portfolio company founders, and members of our extended network for dinner at Libertine Social in Mandalay Bay.

Away from the pace of the conference floor, the evening created an opportunity to continue discussions, exchange perspectives, and make introductions between individuals working on different sides of the insurance industry.

For founders, direct engagement with carriers and brokers can provide valuable insight into customer needs, purchasing considerations, and opportunities for collaboration.

For established insurance organizations, those same conversations offer exposure to new approaches and technologies that may help address existing challenges.

These connections are an important part of how ManchesterStory creates strategic value beyond capital. By bringing emerging companies and established industry participants together, we aim to create opportunities for both sides to learn from one another and explore where their interests align.

What Comes Next for Insurance Innovation?

If there was one theme that emerged from our time at ITC Vegas, it was that the conversation around AI is becoming increasingly focused on execution.

The excitement surrounding emerging capabilities remains strong, but so does the need to understand how those capabilities translate into measurable business outcomes.

For founders, that means building solutions with a clear understanding of the problems insurers and brokers are actively seeking to solve.

For carriers and brokers, it means evaluating emerging technologies not simply on their potential, but on their ability to deliver practical improvements within complex operating environments.

And for investors, it means looking beyond the momentum surrounding a technology to identify companies with the potential to build sustainable, differentiated businesses.

At ManchesterStory, we see considerable opportunity in the continued evolution of AI across insurance. We also recognize that realizing its potential will require thoughtful implementation, collaboration, and a clear understanding of the industry's needs.

Our time at ITC Vegas reinforced why maintaining close relationships across the insurance ecosystem is so important to our approach.

Thank you to everyone who connected with our team throughout the conference and joined us at Libertine Social. We look forward to continuing these conversations and working alongside the founders and industry partners helping shape what comes next.

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