What does this page compare?
It compares six ways insurance agencies adopt AI: Agency AI Labs from the Big I's ACT, the Certified AI Insurance Credential (CAIC), Stepthrough's AI for Insurance Agencies course, the Catalyit AI Masterclass, a generic AI consultant hired by proposal, and Integrated AI. Prices are what those organizations published on their own sites as of October 21, 2026.
This page does not rank those options. A free class, a credential, a short practice course, an eight-week masterclass, a custom proposal, and workflows built inside the agency are different purchases. The right one is the one that matches the job.
How should you read the prices?
Read each price as a per-seat or per-program figure from that organization's page, not as a full agency budget. Catalyit adds fees and does not state the fee amount. CAIC's $997 is one person. Integrated AI's $12,000 is the first 10 seats, plus $500 per additional seat.
| Option | Published price | Format | What the public page says you leave with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agency AI Labs | The published price is free. | It is live and on demand, from ACT, a division of the Big I. You register once for the on-demand library, including content added through 2026. | The sessions cover prompting, governance, and agency workflows such as renewals, plus a service session that discusses certificates of insurance. The page says no tech background is required. |
| CAIC | Individual enrollment is $997. Recertification is $249 a year. PIA members pay $897.30. | It is self-paced, with nine modules, a master exam, and a capstone. Enrollment includes 12 months of access and the first year of certification. | You leave with a credential and a capstone Agency AI Transformation Plan. PIA's page says the curriculum is built around P&C workflows. |
| Stepthrough | The published price is free. | The course is 13 modules and about 2 hours, in practice copies of the tools. The course page was updated October 20, 2026. | You practice claim-status replies, policy-review recaps, renewal follow-ups, and certificate requests. The exercises do not touch real accounts. |
| Catalyit AI Masterclass | One AI Masterclass seat is $499 plus fees. One seat in all six Masterclass courses is $2499 plus fees. | It runs eight weeks at about two hours a week, with prerecorded lessons, exercises, and live sessions. The page lists a start date of October 6, 2026. | You build prompts, a workflow, an assistant, agency AI-use guidelines, and a 90-day plan. One purchase is one seat. |
| Generic AI consultant | This page does not quote a fee. | The format is a custom proposal. This page does not name firms. | The deliverable is whatever the proposal says. There is no single public rate card to cite for the category. |
| Integrated AI | The Foundation is $12,000 for the first 10 seats, plus $500 per additional seat. The Partner retainer is $1,500, $2,000 or $2,500 a month. | The Foundation is four weeks, including two days on site, and then the retainer is month to month. The first 60 days of the retainer are included. | You leave with 5 to 10 workflows in the agency's own AI environment, approved tools, written data rules, and a shared library the agency owns. |
What is the free association program?
Agency AI Labs is the free association program on this page. It is a live and on-demand learning program from ACT, the Agents Council for Technology, a division of the Big I.
Agency AI Labs describes itself as free AI training for independent insurance agencies, taught as practical skills and real workflows, with no tech background required. Sessions are recorded into an on-demand library. Register once and the page says you can access content added through 2026. Published sessions include prompting, AI governance, workflows such as coverage summaries, client emails, and renewals, and a customer-service session about certificate-of-insurance work. A recorded August 25, 2026 session is a live Claude demo by an agency owner covering new-business quoting and renewal management. The page lists the audience as owners, producers, CSRs, account managers, and marketing and operations staff.
CAIC is often mentioned next to association programs because PIA publishes a member page for it. That page is a partnership and a discount, not a statement that the credential is free. The enroll page lists $997 one-time for an individual, self-paced study, nine modules, a master exam, a capstone, 12 months of course access, and the first year of certification. Recertification is $249 a year and includes that year's update. PIA member pricing on the PIA page is $897.30. The same page says the curriculum is built around P&C insurance workflows, and that the capstone is an Agency AI Transformation Plan covering the current environment, prioritized workflows, potential vendors, a pilot approach, and governance recommendations. The page names Jay Greene, a licensed New York P&C broker, as the person who created CAIC.
What do the courses publish?
Stepthrough's AI for Insurance Agencies course is free. The course page, updated October 20, 2026, lists 13 modules and about 2 hours of practice in copies of the tools, so the exercises do not touch the agency's real accounts. Modules include claim-status replies, policy-review recaps, renewal follow-ups, and certificate of insurance requests.
The Stepthrough course page says all 13 modules are free and that module 1 can be started without signing up. The audience is agency owners, producers, and account managers. Practice runs in copies of ChatGPT, Gmail, Gemini, Claude, Capsule CRM, Jotform, ElevenLabs Agents, and n8n. One module is specifically about certificate of insurance requests, and the page tells the learner not to promise coverage. Another module is a claim-status reply in which the carrier, not the agency, decides payment, rental, and rate.
Catalyit publishes $499 plus fees for one seat in the AI Masterclass course only, and $2499 plus fees for one seat in all six Masterclass courses. The page does not state the dollar amount of the fees. The AI program is eight weeks at about two hours a week, with prerecorded lessons, exercises, and live sessions. The page lists a start date of October 6, 2026.
The Catalyit AI Masterclass page is written for independent insurance agencies. It lists renewal preparation, prospect research, account reviews, coverage comparisons, and other daily agency work as the subject matter, and it names tools including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini Notebook, and Microsoft Copilot. Participants build prompts, a workflow, a marketing piece, an assistant, AI-use guidelines, and a 90-day plan. The page says there are two live sessions and optional weekly office hours, and that one purchase is one seat. It does not say the fee amount added to $499 or to $2499.
What about a generic AI consultant?
This page does not quote a fee for a generic AI consultant, and it does not name firms in that category. A custom proposal is not a public rate card. Ask where the workflows will live, who owns them, who reviews outputs before a client sees them, and what happens when the models change.
Those four questions are the same ones we answer about our own work on the Foundation page and the Integrated AI Partner page. A proposal can be the right purchase when the agency wants a scope that none of the published programs describes. This page will not invent a price, a timeline, or a deliverable for a firm it does not name.
What does Integrated AI charge, and what is included?
The Foundation is $12,000 for the first 10 seats, plus $500 per additional seat. It includes an audit, approved tools and written data rules, 5 to 10 workflows in the agency's own AI environment, two days on site, and the first 60 days of the Integrated AI Partner retainer. After that the retainer is $1,500, $2,000 or $2,500 a month by team size, month to month with 30 days' notice. Pricing is valid for engagements signed through December 31, 2026. We issue a credential through the Learning Hub. It is not accredited for insurance CE at this time.
The retainer bands are $1,500 a month for up to 10 people, $2,000 for 11 to 25, and $2,500 for 26 and up. An 18-person agency is $16,000 for the Foundation, then $2,000 a month from month three. Tool subscriptions are not included. The agency buys those and owns them. State incumbent-worker grants can often reimburse 50 to 90 percent of eligible training cost when the application is filed before training starts. The detail is in what AI enablement costs and where CE credit stands.
The published case studies are benefits engagements, not a universal hours figure. A five-person group benefits team left a two-day onsite with 11 production Claude Projects and recovered 7 to 13 hours per week, with Phase 1 payback in under 9 weeks. A benefits brokerage put 10 renewal-season workflows on Claude in about six weeks. Property and casualty workflows in the library are marked new and do not have published times. They are listed on AI enablement for P&C insurance agencies. The benefits offer is on AI enablement for benefits agencies.
A free association lab, a credential, a two-hour practice course, an eight-week masterclass, and a consultant proposal are each a real purchase. The Foundation is the option where the 5 to 10 workflows are built in the agency's own environment and a partner stays on afterward.
Does this page rank the options?
No. It states the published price, the format, and what each program says you leave with. It does not rank the options. The useful question is whether the agency wants a free class, a credential, a short practice course, an eight-week masterclass, a custom proposal, or workflows built in its own environment with an ongoing partner.
Questions agencies ask
What does this page compare?
It compares six ways insurance agencies adopt AI: Agency AI Labs from the Big I's ACT, the Certified AI Insurance Credential (CAIC), Stepthrough's AI for Insurance Agencies course, the Catalyit AI Masterclass, a generic AI consultant hired by proposal, and Integrated AI. Prices are what those organizations published on their own sites as of October 21, 2026.
Is CAIC a free association program?
No. Agency AI Labs is the free association program on this page. ACT, the Agents Council for Technology, is a division of the Big I, and the program is free, live, and on demand. CAIC is a paid self-paced credential. Individual enrollment is $997, with 12 months of course access and the first year of certification included. Recertification is $249 a year. PIA members pay $897.30.
What does the Stepthrough insurance course include?
Stepthrough's AI for Insurance Agencies course is free. The course page, updated October 20, 2026, lists 13 modules and about 2 hours of practice in copies of the tools, so the exercises do not touch the agency's real accounts. Modules include claim-status replies, policy-review recaps, renewal follow-ups, and certificate of insurance requests.
What does the Catalyit AI Masterclass cost?
Catalyit publishes $499 plus fees for one seat in the AI Masterclass course only, and $2499 plus fees for one seat in all six Masterclass courses. The page does not state the dollar amount of the fees. The AI program is eight weeks at about two hours a week, with prerecorded lessons, exercises, and live sessions. The page lists a start date of October 6, 2026.
What do generic AI consultants charge?
This page does not quote a fee for a generic AI consultant, and it does not name firms in that category. A custom proposal is not a public rate card. Ask where the workflows will live, who owns them, who reviews outputs before a client sees them, and what happens when the models change.
What does Integrated AI charge, and what is included?
The Foundation is $12,000 for the first 10 seats, plus $500 per additional seat. It includes an audit, approved tools and written data rules, 5 to 10 workflows in the agency's own AI environment, two days on site, and the first 60 days of the Integrated AI Partner retainer. After that the retainer is $1,500, $2,000 or $2,500 a month by team size, month to month with 30 days' notice. Pricing is valid for engagements signed through December 31, 2026. We issue a credential through the Learning Hub. It is not accredited for insurance CE at this time.
Does this page rank the options?
No. It states the published price, the format, and what each program says you leave with. It does not rank the options. The useful question is whether the agency wants a free class, a credential, a short practice course, an eight-week masterclass, a custom proposal, or workflows built in its own environment with an ongoing partner.
Sources
- Agency AI Labs, IndependentAgent.com, read October 21, 2026.
- CAIC enrollment and CAIC for PIA members, read October 21, 2026.
- Stepthrough, AI for Insurance Agencies, page dated October 20, 2026.
- Catalyit AI Masterclass, read October 21, 2026.
- Integrated AI pricing is the Fall 2026 offer on the Foundation page and the Partner page.