Opinion
Between speed and accountability: The new managerial dilemma in the age of AI
"The managerial challenge of the coming years will not be whether to adopt AI, but how to manage it effectively," writes Osnat Yanushevsky-Yacoby, Chief Customer Officer at Earnix.
A decade ago, innovation was measured by how quickly companies adopted new technologies. Today, it is measured by how wisely they manage the risks that come with that adoption. In today’s business world, innovation is no longer a buzzword, it is a core engine of growth, a driver of operational efficiency, and a key to stronger customer relationships. Companies that fail to innovate at the required pace risk losing relevance and eroding their competitive advantage. History is full of examples of organizations that ignored technological revolutions from the shift to online commerce to the transition to the cloud and paid the price in lost market share, or disappeared altogether.
Yet innovation is far from simple. It comes with business, technological, and regulatory challenges that make it difficult for organizations to move fast, forcing them to find the optimal balance between innovation, customer value, and regulatory compliance. Artificial intelligence technologies especially Generative AI and Agentic AI have accelerated innovation cycles and sharpened a critical question: How can organizations move quickly without losing focus on the real value delivered to customers, while remaining compliant with constantly evolving regulations?
In financial services and especially in the insurance industry this dilemma is particularly visible. Customers expect personalized, transparent, and rapid digital services powered by AI. Organizations that fail to meet these expectations in real time risk losing their competitive edge, while those that successfully balance speed with responsibility benefit from customer loyalty and accelerated growth.
According to a McKinsey study published in July 2025, insurers that adopted AI technologies generated 6.1 times higher returns compared to late adopters. These companies also saw 10%-20% growth in new business, a 3%-5% improvement in claims accuracy, and a 20%-40% reduction in customer onboarding costs. However, as in many other industries, only a very small percentage of insurers have fully deployed AI at scale. Boston Consulting Group reports that just 7% have done so, while 67% are still in pilot phases and 27% have not begun at all.
This gap does not stem from a lack of willingness to innovate, but from the difficulty of balancing advanced technology adoption with the need to avoid costly mistakes or regulatory violations. To bridge this gap, managers must rethink the very way they approach innovation. If in the past innovation was viewed as an end goal, today it is a managerial process that requires a blend of business agility, regulatory readiness, and continuous measurement of customer value.
Successful leaders understand that responsible innovation is not about slowing down, it is about smarter planning. When processes, data, and controls are integrated from the earliest stages, ideation, design, and development organizations can move faster with greater confidence. Regulation, often seen as an obstacle, can become a framework for safe innovation. Companies that internalize this gain a meaningful competitive advantage by applying Compliance by Design building products collaboratively from the outset with regulatory, security, privacy, product, and engineering experts. When everyone is at the table from day one, innovation does not stall, it accelerates on a safer, more stable path.
In parallel, leaders must examine the customer value behind every AI-driven development and determine when it is appropriate to take a calculated risk and when it is necessary to pause. They must develop a new managerial muscle: the ability to consciously navigate between speed and risk. Sometimes a pilot needs to be approved within a week to maintain momentum; at other times, it is critical to pause and ensure the system meets privacy and regulatory requirements. This is not a sign of weakness, it is managerial responsibility and responsibility toward the customer.
The managerial challenge of the coming years will not be whether to adopt AI, but how to manage it effectively. Those who learn to manage the tension triangle of innovation, regulation, and customer value as a unified system and are not afraid of it will lead organizations that not only adopt innovation, but also turn it into a true engine of growth: stable, responsible, and meaningful for their customers. Those who continue to believe they can wait out the storm, or assume that AI is just another passing trend, will soon discover that the market, the customers, and the competitors have already moved on.
Osnat Yanushevsky-Yacoby is the Chief Customer Officer at Earnix.
