Key points
What the report says
Five chapters, one argument: an insurer that wants to improve, outsource or automate a process has to see it first, and the people who run it are the best source. Fictional examples, no client data.
The core processes are few and dense
Claims handling, policy onboarding, renewals and complaints carry most of the work and most of the hand-overs. Each has a clear start, a decision in the middle and an end the customer sees.
Knowledge lives in three places
The handbook describes the intended process, the systems record parts of it, and the actual sequence, including the exceptions, lives with experienced handlers and underwriters. The three rarely agree.
The frameworks expect visibility
VAG, Solvency II, IDD and DORA, described in general terms, all expect documented processes, defined responsibilities, controls that can be traced and a view of outsourced and ICT-dependent functions.
AI agents need lanes and limits
An agent can prepare, sort and draft inside a process that is visible; it cannot replace the coverage check or the four-eyes approval. The guardrails are a lane, a control step and a person who decides.
Contents
What the report covers
The full report has five chapters. It opens with the processes as they typically run, with lane sketches, moves to where the knowledge about them gets lost, then describes the regulatory context as general orientation on public frameworks, not as legal advice. The fourth chapter is about AI agents and their guardrails, and the last one about the first step.
Contents of the full report
Typical core processes
claims handling, policy onboarding, renewals, complaints
Where process knowledge gets lost
handbook, heads, systems; hand-overs; exceptions
Regulatory and audit context
VAG, Solvency II, IDD, DORA, in general terms
Where AI agents can help, and the guardrails they need
How to start
one process, captured from the people who run it; the patchley Pilot
The picture
Three places where a process lives
The report's second chapter compares the handbook, people's heads and a BPMN model as places where process knowledge lives. The table below is the short version; the diagram is one of the fictional example models used in the report.
| In the handbook | In people's heads | In a BPMN model | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it describes | The intended process at the time it was written. | The actual process, including the exceptions, as each person sees their part. | The agreed actual process with roles, systems, documents and controls. |
| Who can read it | Anyone, but few do. | Only the person, and only when asked. | People and software: a diagram for the team, a structure for the AI. |
| What happens at a change | Nothing, until the next revision. | The routine changes quietly. | The change is shown, decided and versioned. |
| What an auditor sees | A document that may not match reality. | An interview. | Control steps with owner and evidence, per step. |
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