Modernization is a priority for every insurer, yet the first step can be difficult to define. At Upstage, we’ve seen how that initial decision to build technology in-house or purchase a platform often determines whether transformation gains momentum or loses it. We believe in a smarter path: Buy to Build. By helping organizations invest in a modern, integration-ready platform and then building the transformation around it, we create a foundation for progress that lasts.
Transformation doesn’t start with technology
Every modernization story begins before the first integration meeting. Phase One is about creating both technical and human clarity. It’s where organizations decide not only what they want to change but how they want to get there.
At Upstage, we start by listening to underwriters, operations leaders, and IT teams who live the daily friction of outdated workflows. We hear about manual document sorting, re-keying submission data, and the constant hunt for missing attachments. These are the pain points that prevent underwriters from spending time where it matters most: analyzing risk and serving clients. Phase One of our 90-day modernization plan is designed to uncover exactly where those inefficiencies live and how Agentic Information Extract can begin resolving them on day one.
When legacy systems become liabilities
Before new technology can create progress, you have to see where the old processes are holding you back. We help teams map every step of their workflow, pinpointing the moments where human effort is spent verifying what a system could already know. This process isn’t about blame. It’s about visibility.
In underwriting, the patterns are familiar: hours spent verifying certificate details, reconciling COPE information, or retyping submission data between systems. With Agentic Information Extract, that manual load begins to disappear. The platform’s document-intelligence engine reads, classifies, and validates submission materials with more than 98 percent accuracy. What once took an underwriter hours now takes minutes, freeing them to focus on judgment and relationship-building instead of data wrangling.
By visualizing the entire workflow from intake to bind, teams begin to see how Agentic Information Extract can remove friction at every step while keeping underwriters firmly in control of the outcome.
Turning alignment Into ownership
“Buy to Build” isn’t just a collaboration philosophy. It’s a strategy that represents a shift in how insurers think about modernization. Rather than buying technology as an endpoint, leaders invest in it as a starting point. And that starting point is the foundation that unlocks the ability to build new workflows, design smarter underwriting processes, and create capabilities that grow with their teams.
At Upstage, that means using Agentic Information Extract not as a plug-and-play solution, but as the framework that allows IT and underwriting to co-create the systems that will define their future.
Modernization succeeds only when underwriters and IT teams design that future state together. In Phase One, we facilitate alignment sessions that bring both business and technical voices into the same conversation. We ask:
- What does a successful underwriting process look like?
- Where can Agentic Information Extract automate tasks without compromising control?
- How will success be measured in a way that’s meaningful to both leadership and the front line?
These conversations are grounded in experience. We know how protective underwriters are of their process because they’ve earned that right through years of expertise. That’s why we design automation that supports their instincts rather than replaces them. By the end of this phase, every stakeholder understands not only the vision but their role in bringing it to life.
The future belongs to what you can prove
The most overlooked part of modernization isn’t code. It’s confidence. Underwriters have built their careers on precision, and trust must be earned before any new system can succeed. Early in Phase One, our focus is on proving reliability. We show how Agentic Information Extract doesn’t just automate; it verifies. Every extracted data point is transparent, traceable, and easy to review.
We help teams see control differently. The goal isn’t to give it up but to elevate it. When automation takes on repetitive tasks, underwriters gain more control over what truly matters: assessing complex risks, negotiating deals, and making judgment calls that drive profitability.
This is where the Buy to Build mindset comes to life. You’re not adopting technology for technology’s sake. Instead, you’re investing in a foundation where people, process, and Agentic Information Extract work together to create clarity, speed, and trust.
Progress has a starting line
By the end of Phase One, the groundwork is in place. Inefficiencies are mapped, the future state is defined, and the underwriting team is aligned around a shared purpose. Everyone understands why change is happening and how Agentic Information Extract supports it.
That shared understanding is the inflection point. It turns planning into execution and insight into acceleration. When people, process, and technology finally move in sync, progress becomes sustainable instead of situational. From here, transformation doesn’t just continue. Rather, it compounds, creating lasting momentum that carries into every phase that follows.
We believe in the idea of buying to build because it represents the next evolution of modernization. It’s not about what you buy or what you build, but how you bring both together to create something smarter, faster, and ready for the future.
If you’re ready to start building, come chat with us.
