For Independent Agents
Mitch Gibson talking technology with an agency owner across a conference table

Technology decisions for independent agents, from the buying side.

Eight years inside independent agencies and 49 tech stack audits. No platform affiliations. No vendor relationships. What's here is what I've seen work, and what I've seen fail six months after go-live, when the vendor has already moved on to the next sale.

I'm CTO at Virtual Intelligence, Agency Intelligence, and The Insurance Alliance, and co-founder of the IndieTech Conference. The read you get here comes from someone making these same technology calls inside real agencies every week.

Most InsurTech content online is written by vendors, funded by platforms, or produced by people who haven't been inside an agency in years. What you'll find here is different. Every comparison, every breakdown of a failed implementation, every update on what's actually moving in the market comes from the buying side.

If you've ever felt lost about how to make your agency grow with technology, you're in the right place.

The monthly InsurTech breakdown. No pitches.

One email a month. What I'm seeing inside agencies, filtered down to what actually matters for yours.

  • No vendor affiliations. No affiliate links.
  • Plain English. No jargon.
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    Featured
    Your AI and your new producer are failing the same way
    What changed

    Your AI and your new producer are failing the same way

    Most agencies hand an AI tool no context and hand a new producer even less. Same failure, twice, and the fix is the same five things.

    4 min read Read the breakdown →
    From the field
    Your AI and your new producer are failing the same way
    What changed

    Your AI and your new producer are failing the same way

    Most agencies hand an AI tool no context and hand a new producer even less. The same five things fix both.

    Sep 2026 · 4 minRead →
    We play Go Phish with our employees, on purpose
    What changed

    We play “Go Phish” with our employees, on purpose

    Three phishing attempts in 30 days, one of them on my calendar. Why we test our own team every month.

    Aug 2026 · 7 minRead →
    What AI tools are thriving in independent agencies right now
    What changed

    What AI tools are thriving in independent agencies right now

    What's actually in use inside agencies this week, and what's still a roadmap slide.

    Jun 2026 · 6 minRead →
    What agencies always skip after the AMS goes live
    After you sign

    What agencies always skip after the AMS goes live

    Most agencies put everything into implementation. The harder problem starts when the vendor leaves.

    May 2026 · 6 minRead →
    LightSpeed vs the field: how to pick a comparative rater that fits your agency
    Comparing systems

    LightSpeed vs the field: how to pick a comparative rater that fits your agency

    Choosing a comparative rater isn't just about speed. Here's where each one earns its keep.

    May 2026 · 6 minRead →
    What independent agencies get wrong about data migration
    After you sign

    What independent agencies get wrong about data migration

    The part of an AMS implementation most agencies don't plan for, until it's too late.

    Apr 2026 · 8 minRead →
    Before you buy an AMS: what independent agency owners actually need to know
    Before you sign

    Before you buy an AMS: what independent agency owners actually need to know

    Most agencies buy an AMS the wrong way. Here's what to evaluate before you sign.

    Apr 2026 · 8 minRead →
    How much should an independent agency actually spend on tech?
    Before you sign

    How much should an independent agency actually spend on tech?

    There's no magic number. How to think about tech spend from the buying side, and tell overpriced from worth it.

    Jul 2026 · 5 minRead →
    Do agency software reviews actually tell you anything?
    Before you sign

    Do agency software reviews actually tell you anything?

    Most AMS reviews are shaped by the vendors they cover. How to read them, and the questions that reveal whether a platform works.

    Jul 2026 · 5 minRead →
    AMS vs. CRM: what independent agencies actually need
    Comparing systems

    AMS vs. CRM: what independent agencies actually need

    Agencies mix these up constantly, and it costs them. The real difference from the buying side, and which one you need.

    Jul 2026 · 5 minRead →
    From 49 tech stack audits

    What 49 audits turned up

    The average agency runs its AMS at 65% of capacity. Across the 49, average CRM utilization came in at 1.5 out of 5. The group was carrying more than 20 different e-sign platforms between them, and half had no formal training tool at all.

    None of those agencies had a software problem. They had a training problem and a too many tools problem.

    Fix it or get rid of it. That is the whole audit in five words.

    New to the business?

    Learning the tech while you build your book

    A lot of what's on this hub assumes you've already got an agency running. If you're earlier than that, start here. The wrong tool costs a new producer more, because you haven't seen enough of them fail yet to know the tells. The monthly breakdown covers which tools are worth learning, what to skip, and how to hold your own in a tech conversation.

    Get the monthly breakdown