Market Pulse
Two years ago the conversation was everywhere. AI is going to eliminate claims adjusters. Automation is coming. Your job is at risk.
Then a funny thing happened. The adjusters are still here.
Even the loudest voices in AI are walking it back now. The prediction that white collar jobs would be gutted by automation has not played out the way people said it would. And in claims specifically, the reason is pretty simple. You can build a tool that summarizes a file a lot easier than you can build one that works it.
Coverage decisions, judgment calls, difficult conversations with policyholders, complex litigation. That is still a human job and hiring managers are still asking me about the same skills they always have. Coverage knowledge. File management. Communication. Negotiation. Judgment.
Now the property market is slow, that is real. But that is a weather story and a volume story, not an AI story. Cat activity has been suppressed, claim volumes dropped in 2025, and the IA market felt it. That could flip with one active storm season.
Where the work is right now is casualty. Commercial auto, GL, transportation, specialty. These lines are moving and experienced handlers are in demand.
The core of this job has not changed as much as the headlines would have you believe. Learn the tools, stay current, but do not lose sight of what actually gets you hired. It is still the fundamentals.
Career Intel
Let’s talk about the ATS myth because it comes up constantly and it needs to be put to rest.
The ATS, or applicant tracking system, is not filtering out your resume. I have never once spoken to a hiring manager who told me they let software make that call. The legal exposure alone would stop most companies dead in their tracks. Automated adverse action in hiring is a discrimination lawsuit waiting to happen.
What ATS actually does is organize applications, track candidates through the process, and store information. It is a database. Not a bouncer.
So when you apply and hear nothing back, a human being looked at your resume. The timing was off, the fit was not there, or the volume was too high and yours got buried. None of those are algorithm problems. All of them are solvable.
Stop optimizing your resume for a robot that is not making decisions. Start optimizing it for the human who actually is. Better targeting, cleaner storytelling, and getting in front of a recruiter who can put your name in front of the right person before you ever hit apply.
That is where your energy belongs.
From the Desk
It has been a good couple of weeks on the KRU side.
A few people I have been working with have recently started new roles or are starting soon, and I have got others actively in the interview phase right now. Good luck to everyone who is in it. You know who you are.
I have also had the chance to connect with a lot of really great people over the last few weeks. Jobseekers, adjusters, hiring managers, recruiters, and people in the industry just looking to talk shop. That is my of my favorite parts of this work.
If you have been thinking about reaching out, just do it. Whether you are exploring something new, looking for talent, or just want to have a conversation about where the market is headed, my DMs are open. Or come hang on the livestream every Tuesday at 11AM CST. Office hours are always open.
Beyond the Desk
I have been obsessing over my running cadence lately. How many steps per minute you take sounds like a small thing but increasing it even slightly makes you dramatically more efficient. Lower heart rate, less impact, more speed. The data does not lie.
The hard part is that changing a habit you have been running on for years is genuinely difficult. Your body defaults to what it knows. But small adjustments compound fast when you stay consistent.
What habit are you running on autopilot right now that a small tweak could change everything? Not ten things. One. Pick it and track what happens this week.
Until next week,
🤘 Josh 🤘