Future-Proof Your Agency with a Tech Audit

Mitch Gibson didn’t sugarcoat it.

“Most agencies are duct taped together behind the scenes.”

That’s how this webinar began, with a brutally honest (and all-too-familiar) description of what many agencies look like under the hood: overlapping tech, bloated costs, no clear ownership, and teams trying to work efficiently while drowning in manual processes.

But this wasn’t just a rant. It was a roadmap.

Mitch, Chief Technology Officer of The Insurance Alliance and Virtual Intelligence, walked attendees through the exact journey he took to transform his agency from a scattered tech mess to a centralized, scalable system. One built to withstand the future.

The Big Shift: From Tools to Strategy

For years, technology in insurance felt like a necessary evil. Most agency owners weren’t excited to evaluate CRMs or assess AI capabilities. They just wanted to write business.

But Mitch makes one thing crystal clear:

“If you’re not auditing your tech stack, you’re not future-proofing your agency. You’re risking being swallowed by someone who is.”

His message was bold and urgent.
You need to stop thinking like an agent and start acting like a business owner.

Mitch’s Transformation Framework

Mitch didn’t just share philosophy. He shared process. Here’s how he rebuilt his agency’s tech foundation:

1. Separate Your Brain into Two Tracks

Agency Tech = tools that serve clients (AMS, CRM, quoting, phone)
Business Tech = tools that run the business (project management, HR, events, training)

This mental separation helped Mitch clarify what tools were critical for growth versus day-to-day servicing.

2. Build a Tech Stack Scorecard

Every tool was evaluated in a spreadsheet with:

Tool name
Cost
Use case
Utilization rating (1 to 5)

Anything rated 3 or below required a decision. Train harder, eliminate, or replace.

3. Assign Ownership

Every system now has an internal “product owner.”
Not the person who bought it, but the one who uses it most and knows it best.

“Just because I’m the tech guy doesn’t mean I run every platform. Sofia runs GAIL. It’s hers. She trains on it. She owns it.”

4. Consolidate and Centralize

Redundancy was cut. Loom videos were moved to SharePoint. AI was built into the agency chatbot. All SOPs were housed in one accessible location. Now, producers and VEs alike can find exactly what they need, when they need it.

5. Rethink Training

Fifty percent of agencies audited had no formal training system.
Mitch built one using SharePoint, LMS, bots, and quizzes, removing guesswork from onboarding entirely.

Results from the Audit Initiative

Mitch didn’t stop at his own agency. He launched a beta Tech Audit tool. Here’s what he found from the first 49 agencies audited:

Average AMS Utilization Score: 3.5 out of 5
20+ different e-sign tools detected
Only 12 had an agency intranet
50% had no formal training systems
Average of 11.6 staff per agency (3.3 of them VEs)

Agencies were wasting money, time, and efficiency due to a lack of visibility.

Key Takeaways

Don’t Be a Duct-Tape Agency – If you’re piecing together tools with no plan, you’re scaling chaos.
Know Your Tech Cost per Client – That’s the future benchmark. You can’t improve what you don’t measure.
AI is Not a Tool, It’s an Enabler – Stop buying AI to check a box. Build systems that are AI-ready when you need them.
SOPs Power Everything- No SOPs means no automation, no training, and no scale.
Assign Ownership by Function, Not Title – Let the people closest to the tool manage it. Empower your team to be more than users.

From Flintstones to Jetsons

“You’re either a Flintstones agency or a Jetsons agency. One will survive the next five years. One won’t.”

Mitch’s transformation wasn’t about spending more. It was about auditing smarter, centralizing knowledge, and preparing for a world where data drives every decision.

He’s now building a free tech audit platform for the industry. It won’t just highlight inefficiencies. It will give you workbook-style action items to clean up your agency and scale with confidence.