Agentic AI for Actuarial Workflows
Background and Purpose
The SOA Research Institute seeks proposals to conduct a comprehensive study on the application of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) systems for actuarial workflows in the insurance industry. This research project will examine how autonomous, goal-driven AI agents can transform traditional actuarial processes including data extraction, financial modeling, reserve analysis, pricing, valuation, regulatory compliance, and risk assessment. The study should address best practices when selecting agentic AI and appropriately targeting applications that can apply to actuarial processes. Agentic AI must address actuarial standards such as reliability, governance, explainability, bias assessment, and regulatory alignment in keeping with the Actuarial Innovation & Technology (AIT) program focus.
Research Objective
- Define agentic AI for actuarial use and map opportunities across end‑to‑end workflows, Potential examples include:
- Experience studies,
- Data extraction from financial statements, regulatory filings, and claims reports,
- Actuarial assets and liabilities determination and validation such as Premium deficiency reserve, IBNR, etc.,
- ORSA (Own Risk and Solvency Assessment) data compilation and analysis,
- Health insurance financial examination support,
- Rate development,
- Actuarial assumption development and benchmarking,
- Model governance and documentation maintenance, and
- Regulatory reporting and compliance tracking.
- Research the most useful AI agent tools for actuarial applications taking into consideration the data repositories, LLMs, and other tools, used by actuaries.
- Develop a best practices operational governance and risk blueprint covering model risk management, monitoring, human‑in‑the‑loop controls, documentation standards, and bias/impact assessment.
- Deliver best practices for actuarial agent selection and adoption.
Scope of Work
- Discovery and Current State Assessment
- Review current actuarial workflows across health insurance, life insurance, and property-casualty domains,
- Interview actuaries, data scientists, and IT professionals to understand pain points and opportunities,
- Survey regulatory requirements and professional standards relevant to adoption,
- Analyze existing automation efforts and identify gaps where agentic AI provides incremental value, and
- Document baseline performance metrics for targeted workflows.
- Define technical requirements and integration approaches for actuarial environments:
- Evaluate available agentic AI platforms and technologies suitable for actuaries,
- Assess data integration requirements and technical architecture,
- Data source connectivity (policy admin systems, claims and financial systems,
- Data security and privacy considerations for sensitive actuarial data,
- Integration with existing actuarial software (Excel, modeling platforms, databases),
- API requirements and data exchange protocols,
- Develop technical specifications and integration patterns, and
- Scalability considerations for enterprise deployment.
- Best practices for:
- Develop step-by-step implementation roadmaps for each example,
- Create vendor selection criteria and RFP templates,
- Document lessons learned from proof-of-concept implementations,
- Establish performance monitoring and continuous improvement frameworks,
- Provide change management guidance and stakeholder communication templates,
- Planning & tool use (e.g., call Python/R, SQL, actuarial libraries, visualization),
- Self‑verification (unit checks, reasonableness tests, reconciliation to prior period),
- Explainability (method choice rationale, ASOP references, controls),
- Audit trail (prompts, code, parameters, data versions, decision logs), and
- Role‑based access & data safeguards (de‑identification, PHI/PII controls).
- Establish measurement frameworks to evaluate agentic AI effectiveness:
- Accuracy & reliability vs. baseline processes,
- Time savings and efficiency improvements,
- Cost-benefit analysis frameworks,
- Quality (defect rates, peer‑review findings, reproducibility),
- Governance (documentation completeness, monitoring KPIs),
- Risk mitigation and control effectiveness, and
- Equity/bias (tests relevant to the example).
- Develop governance frameworks that align with actuarial professional standards:
- Compliance with Actuarial Standards of Practice (ASOP),
- NAIC examination and regulatory reporting requirements,
- Human oversight and validation protocols,
- Audit trail and explainability requirements,
- Model risk management and validation processes, and
- Ethical considerations and bias detection.
Proposal Requirements
To facilitate the evaluation of proposals, the following information should be submitted:
- Resumes of the researcher(s), including any graduate student(s) expected to participate, indicating how their background, education and experience bear on their qualifications to undertake the research. If more than one researcher is involved, a single individual should be designated as the lead researcher and primary contact. The person submitting the proposal must be authorized to speak on behalf of all the researchers as well as for the firm or institution on whose behalf the proposal is submitted.
- An outline of the approach to be used (e.g., literature search, model, etc.), emphasizing issues that require special consideration. Details should be given regarding the techniques to be used, collateral material to be consulted, and possible limitations of the analysis.
- A description of the expected deliverables and any supporting data, tools or other resources to be used.
- Cost estimates for the research, including computer time, salaries, report preparation, material costs, etc. Such estimates can be in the form of hourly rates, but in such cases, time estimates should also be included. Any guarantees as to total cost should be given and will be considered in the evaluation of the proposal. While cost will be a factor in the evaluation of the proposal, it will not necessarily be the decisive factor.
As a guide for developing project budgets, please review the Historical Project Cost Guide (see Appendix).
Please note that as a policy, the SOA Research Institute generally does not provide funding to cover academic institution overhead expenses.
- A schedule for completion of the research, identifying key dates or time frames for research completion and report submissions. The SOA is interested in completing this project in a timely manner. Suggestions in the proposal for ensuring timely delivery, such as fee adjustments, are encouraged.
- Other related factors that give evidence of a proposer's capabilities to perform in a superior fashion should be detailed.
Selection Process
The SOA will appoint a Project Oversight Group (POG) to oversee the project. The POG is responsible for recommending to the Section Research Committee the proposal to be funded, if any. Input from other knowledgeable individuals also may be sought, but the Section Research Committee will make the final recommendation, subject to Society of Actuaries Research Institute (SOA) leadership approval. An SOA staff research actuary will provide staff actuarial support.
Questions
Any questions regarding this RFP should be directed to research-ait@soa.org with the subject line “Agentic AI for Actuarial Workflows.”
Notification of Intent to Submit Proposal
If you intend to submit a proposal, please e-mail written notification by April 20, 2026, to research-ait@soa.org with the subject line “Agentic AI for Actuarial Workflows.”
Submission of Proposal
Please email your proposal to research-ait@soa.org with the subject line “Agentic AI for Actuarial Workflows;” proposals must be received no later than May 20, 2026. It is anticipated that all proposers will be informed of the status of their proposal by the end of July 2026.
Conditions
The selection of a proposal is conditioned upon and not considered final until a Letter of Agreement is executed by both the Society of Actuaries Research Institute and the researcher.
The Society of Actuaries Research Institute reserves the right to not award a contract for this research. Reasons for not awarding a contract could include, but are not limited to, a lack of acceptable proposals or a finding that insufficient funds are available. The Society of Actuaries Research Institute also reserves the right to redirect the project as is deemed advisable.
The Society of Actuaries Research Institute plans to hold the copyright to the research and to publish the results with appropriate credit given to the researcher(s).
The Society of Actuaries Research Institute may choose to seek public exposure or media attention for the research. By submitting a proposal, you agree to cooperate with the [Society of Actuaries/sponsoring entity] in publicizing or promoting the research and responding to media requests.
The Society of Actuaries may also choose to market and promote the research to members, candidates and other interested parties. You agree to perform promotional communication requested by the Society of Actuaries, which may include, but is not limited to, leading a webcast on the research, presenting the research at an SOA meeting, and/or writing an article on the research for an SOA newsletter.
Conflict of Interest
You agree to disclose any of your material business, financial and organizational interests and affiliations which are or may be construed to be reasonably related to the interest, activities and programs of the Society of Actuaries or the Society of Actuaries Research Institute.
Appendix
The cost ranges below are intended as a guide for budgeting project costs for proposals in response to SOA Research Institute Request for Proposals (RFP). Please note these figures span the 33rd to 66th percentiles for all projects as well as projects that involve a specific approach (lit review, survey, etc.). They are based on historical costs over several recent years. Expected costs for some RFPs may fall outside these ranges depending on the nature of the work and resources required for completion.
All Contracted Projects
This category includes all contracted projects that the Institute has undertaken within the last several years. The 33rd – 66th percentile project costs range is $25,000 – $50,000.
Literature Reviews
This category includes projects that involved only a literature review or the cost for the portion of a larger project that included a literature review. The 33rd – 66th percentile project costs range is $15,000 – $20,000.
Surveys
This category includes all projects that had a survey as their primary component. The 33rd-66th percentile project costs range is $28,000 – $55,000.