Agent Accessibility Turns Carriers Into Infrastructure
David Mlcoch, co-founder & CEO of Asteroid, on browser automation and the last mile problem of AI
Agent accessibility turns a carrier website into distribution infrastructure. In insurance, the company that is easiest for software agents to quote and bind can win business without owning the customer relationship, because newer brokers and insurtechs often sit in front of the customer, collect the data once, then push that submission across many carrier portals. If one carrier is faster for an agent workforce to use, it becomes the path of least resistance in the quote stack.
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In practice, this is about repetitive portal work. Asteroid describes brokers filling forms across 50 plus carrier portals, with branching questionnaires that still require insurance judgment. Making a portal easier for agents reduces manual rekeying and raises the odds that a broker includes that carrier in every shopping flow.
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The economic incentive is similar to any transaction platform that welcomes machine generated demand. DoorDash has built formal integration programs for merchants, and OpenAI said it worked with DoorDash and others so Operator could act on those sites while respecting terms. When agents bring orders, access becomes a revenue channel, not just a security problem.
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This also shifts power toward the interface layer. Asteroid positions browser agents as the bridge where APIs do not exist, while Stytch is building login and permission tools for apps that want agents to read and write safely. Together, that points to a future where companies expose controlled agent access instead of forcing every workflow through human clicks.
Over the next few years, carriers that package their portals for agents will look more like infrastructure providers inside a larger distribution network. The winners will combine clean agent access, permissions, and fast quote workflows, so every new MGA, broker, or insurtech can plug in and route premium their way by default.