Grokker recently hosted a number of interactive forums to connect with benefit consultants around the current state of AI adoption and governance. With our head of engineering on board, we wanted to get our finger on the pulse of what you and your clients have been talking about when it comes to introducing AI-powered solutions to their benefits ecosystems so we can better support your efforts.
AFTER THE LIVELY AND HONEST DISCUSSIONS, I CAME AWAY WITH THREE MAIN CONCLUSIONS:
- AI interest is high, but organizational readiness is low. Nearly all of your clients want to talk about AI, but few are asking for guidance on evaluating individual solutions.
- Client stakeholders outside of HR are raising serious questions about AI. Among the biggest barriers you’re seeing to adopting AI are legal reviews, IT approvals, governance, and proving ROI.
- Strategy conversations are just getting started. Your clients have a wide range of questions about AI and its inherent risks, its potential for improving member experiences, and how it should be addressed in vendor contracts and use policies.
My “read” on this is that your clients are eager and open to learning what they can about the new, potentially game-changing world of AI—but they don’t necessarily have AI strategies or even a framework for adoption.
The good news: this reality has created an opportunity for you to lead the important discussions that your clients need to have, before they develop a strategy on their own and act on it.
The better news: there's still time to get ahead of it. You can be the one who brings the framework, not just a reaction to someone else's pitch. And the window is closing faster than it feels. According to SHRM'S State of AI in HR 2026 report, 39% of organizations have already adopted AI in HR functions, and another 7% plan to launch it this year.
Separating hype from the strategic long-game
AI is impossible to ignore and it’s quickly making its way into the employee benefits sphere. Nearly every point solution and legacy platform is now embedding AI into its existing offerings, so it's already showing up in tools your clients bought years ago, whether or not they know what to “do" with it. Your clients might also be taking demo meetings with new vendors touting the “latest-and-greatest,” giving them even more to think about.
But just because the technology is changing fast and making a splash doesn’t mean that organizations are ready, willing, or even able to dive-in head first with new AI-powered benefits tech solutions. In fact, as you told us, they’re probably not.
Why? The consultants at our forums said that clients can't yet connect what the AI is actually doing versus how it is shaping the employee benefits experience, outcomes, and costs to a broader benefits strategy. They don’t necessarily see where it “fits” into the bigger picture. And they’re also exceptionally risk-adverse right now, so any AI requests in the pipe are bottlenecked by legal and CISO concerns.
The risk is that they may be holding off on adopting solutions that would otherwise be driving tangible returns, at a time when employers can use all the help they can get to take control of runaway healthcare benefits costs.
This is exactly where you come in, turning that disconnected AI activity into a coherent plan your client can actually act on.
A real-world example of AI’s potential
You’re already fielding constant questions from clients about managing the GLP-1 cost trend. This is an area where an AI layer can provide actionable insights because it’s built to reveal what members are asking, where they're seeking care, and which programs are gaining or losing utilization.
Unlike a basic chatbot, the AI solution does more than simply answer employee questions about coverage. Over time, it can show why GLP-1 utilization is climbing, connect it to other stack solutions (e.g., nutrition, metabolic health programs), and give you a data-backed narrative for the client's next strategy session.
In this example, you’re bringing innovation to the table. Instead of chasing the next AI feature, you're the one connecting what the technology reveals to where your client should actually invest next.
But there’s the rub.
Helping clients move from curiosity to a real strategy
Once you're the one translating AI output into strategy, the natural next step is making sure that strategy has real governance behind it. Not because you're vetting a vendor's AI features, but because a strategy without governance and a good narrative around it doesn't survive first contact with Legal, Security, or the CFO. You can help keep things moving ahead.
WTW’s 2026 AI Use in Health and Benefits Survey reveals that only about 16 percent of employers are "early adopters" with a clear AI strategy, roadmap, and governance in place, even though most believe AI will fundamentally reshape benefits within 5 years.
This syncs with what consultants shared with us at the forums. Yet, momentum is distinctly building as organizations refine their AI governance practices and gain a clearer grasp of why structured oversight is essential. Gallagher’s 2026 Workforce Trends Report – Benefits Benchmarks indicates that amid cost pressure, employers are moving towards stronger governance, vendor accountability, and data-informed decisions.
Now is the right time for you to embrace your role as an industry thought leader and guide your clients’ strategic governance initiatives. That’s why we just launched a new consultants resource: The AI Buying Committee Field Guide & Interactive Worksheets.
Bringing your clients the framework they need
Your clients don't need you to have all the answers about AI. They need you to be the one who turns their interest into an actual plan and gets their cross-disciplinary team speaking the same language before a vendor conversation ever starts. It’s also where the vendor-contract and use-policy questions your clients keep raising actually get resolved, as part of one governance framework. That's the opportunity sitting in front of you right now, and it's exactly what the field guide is built to help you lead.
After several client security governance reviews, we have created this best practices AI Buying Committee Field Guide. It’s designed to help your clients align on goals, stakeholder buy in, and security protocols.
INSIDE, YOU'LL FIND:
- Steps for leading a client's cross-functional AI governance
- A charter to align stakeholders on scope, decision rights, and timeline before evaluating anything
- A shared-language FAQ that gets every seat at the table (HR, IT, Legal, Security, Finance) asking from the same baseline understanding
- A consistent, vendor-agnostic scorecard so any AI capability gets measured the same way, instead of starting from scratch every time
- A sign-off framework that turns a recommendation into a documented decision, not a stalled conversation
You don't have to wait for a vendor to define this conversation for your client. You can bring the framework yourself.