Agentic AI and Retrieval-Augmented Models in Straight-Through Underwriting

[Submitted on 8 Jul 2026]

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Abstract:Artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to reshape actuarial practice, particularly in domains that require reasoning over unstructured documents, heterogeneous data sources, and regulated decision workflows. Actuaries now face a design space that ranges from traditional rule-based automation to large language models (LLMs), retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and multi-agent “agentic” systems that plan, retrieve, call tools, and reflect. This paper examines how these emerging architectures can support actuarial priorities such as transparency, auditability, and human-in-the-loop governance, with a focus on straight-through decision processes. To make these ideas concrete, we develop and analyze an agentic AI framework for straight-through underwriting of small commercial Business Owner Policies (BOPs). We construct a synthetic but realistic experimental environment and compare three underwriting pipelines: (i) a single-LLM baseline, (ii) a naive RAG system, and (iii) a multi-agent “Agentic RAG” pipeline that combines targeted retrieval, third-party data checks, and explicit multi-step rule evaluation. The agentic system performs best overall, with the largest gains in multi-step and missing-information scenarios, where structured retrieval and reflection help the model avoid unsupported straight-through decisions.

Submission history

From: Robert Richardson [view email]
[v1] Wed, 8 Jul 2026 18:43:34 UTC (3,586 KB)