Independent insurance agencies sit at the center of one of the most operationally demanding and human-dependent industries in financial services. Every phone call can potentially retain a client, unlock revenue, or—if mishandled—lose business. However, the flood of daily inquiries, quote requests, and service follow-ups often forces agencies to choose between client experience and operational bandwidth.
AI, meanwhile, has become the dominant theme in nearly every industry. Its promise is real, but in insurance, most implementations fall flat. The tools are often built generically, overlooking the regulatory complexity, workflow fragmentation, and human nuance that define independent P&C agencies.
Sonant AI was built by Founder and CEO Francisco Lopes, along with Co-Founders Diogo Bragança and Alejandrina González, to solve this problem. Not by disrupting workflows—but by embedding directly within them. Purpose-built for independent property and casualty agencies and brokers, Sonant is a voice automation platform that doesn’t replace the agent—it empowers them. By working with existing systems and respecting compliance boundaries, Sonant helps agencies free capacity, increase revenue, and enhance enterprise value without compromising client trust.
Built for the Work, Not Against It
Where other tools aim to disrupt, Sonant is designed to integrate. Unlike off-the-shelf solutions or generalized AI call tools, Sonant was designed from day one to serve the very specific operational and service needs of independent P&C insurance agencies. The platform integrates directly with existing Agency Management Systems (AMS), rating engines, CRMs, and calendar systems—embedding itself in the day-to-day rhythm of agency operations.
This is automation in insurance’s terms: compliant, scalable, and highly contextual. Agencies don’t have to reengineer their processes to use Sonant; Sonant meets them exactly where they are, fitting into familiar workflows while extending capacity in immediate, tangible ways. Agencies can be live with Sonant in under two weeks, with minimal IT setup and zero disruption to their current tech stack. The result? Freed-up staff capacity, better client experiences, and higher agency value.
As Lopes states, “We care about agents and are building for their existing workflows, systems, and compliance requirements.”
From answering calls in natural-sounding voices to collecting quote details, scheduling appointments, and even transferring calls or following up in multiple languages, Sonant isn’t an overlay—it’s an extension of the agency itself. Unlike voice assistants that struggle with nuance, Sonant handles hundreds of thousands of calls with clarity, speed, and a distinctly human touch.
Increasing Capacity Without Sacrificing Personalization
At its core, Sonant is an AI-powered phone receptionist designed to handle high volumes of inbound and outbound calls with speed, clarity, and professionalism. It automates:
- Quote intake, with real-time data capture and AMS syncing
- Policy service requests, freeing agents from repetitive administrative calls
- Appointment scheduling, integrated directly with agent calendars
- Live transfers and escalation pathways when human touch is needed
- Multilingual support, handling complex, bilingual client conversations in real-time
- Post-call summaries are automatically entered into the AMS to save documentation time
With 24/7 availability, Sonant ensures no call is missed—and no opportunity is lost.
Industry Validation: Catalyit and Momentum AMP
Sonant’s approach hasn’t gone unnoticed. The platform was recently named a Premium Solution Provider by Catalyit, a leading technology partner to independent agents. In Catalyit’s announcement, Sonant was praised for its industry-specific design, seamless deployment process, and conversational voice quality that avoids the robotic pitfalls of other AI systems.
More recently, Sonant entered a strategic partnership with Momentum AMP, one of the industry’s most agile and open agency management platforms. The integration gives agencies using Momentum AMP access to Sonant’s AI receptionist to handle inbound inquiries and automate outbound policy renewal reminders.
Early pilot programs have already shown measurable improvements in agency responsiveness and internal efficiency. As Coverager reported, these tools are allowing independent agencies to deliver round-the-clock, multilingual, and personalized service without expanding headcount.
“Our integration with Sonant is a game-changer,” said Peter Germanov, CEO of Momentum AMP. “By leveraging AI voice agents, agencies can automate routine communications, reducing operational strain while maintaining a high level of personalized service.”
Empathy in Design, Not Just Technology
The origin of Sonant speaks volumes about its philosophy. Lopes didn’t come from the insurance industry. He studied astrophysics and published academic papers before joining BCG as a consultant to enterprise CEOs. He later earned an MBA from Stanford, built a multi-award-winning marketing agency, LINKagency.social, and eventually earned a spot on the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
However, like all the best entrepreneurs, it wasn’t until Lopes had his own frustrating experience navigating commercial and personal insurance policies that the seeds of Sonant were planted.
“Like many people, I found myself completely lost trying to navigate both personal and commercial insurance,” he recalls. “When I finally connected with a knowledgeable agent, their expertise made all the difference—but the majority of their job didn’t make sense to me.”
Instead of trying to hack a solution together from the outside, Lopes got licensed in P&C insurance and began spending time inside real agencies—watching workflows, listening to phone calls, and asking what agents actually needed. What emerged was a vision for a receptionist powered by AI, but built on agent empathy and operational insight—not disruption for disruption’s sake.
Over the years, one moment in particular has stuck with Lopes. He recalls how an agent received a call from a prospect and spent an hour building a quote. When he tried calling back, the number turned out to be from a partner office’s front desk, and he had forgotten to ask for the client’s direct line.
It was a small oversight, but a costly one—and it encapsulated how much pressure agents are under to juggle detail, pace, and process all at once.
“Sonant wouldn’t forget that number,” Lopes says. “That kind of task should be handled by systems. Not people.”
A Vision for the Future: More Time, More Revenue, More Agency Value — With Agents at the Center
Sonant’s true innovation isn’t just in what it automates—it’s in what it enables. With routine calls managed and documented automatically, agency staff can redirect their time toward building relationships, closing policies, and scaling operations sustainably.
Every Sonant interaction syncs with AMS data in real-time, adds notes, routes follow-ups, and even manages multilingual conversations mid-call. It’s AI as a force multiplier—not a replacement.
While Sonant is designed to solve immediate operational problems, its long-term vision is broader: to power the future of independent agency growth. The team aims to touch 80% of global insurance transactions—not by dominating markets, but by quietly enhancing how agencies deliver service at scale.
Lopes sees a future in which one-person agencies manage $5 million or more books of business, using tools like Sonant to compete at a level that once required large teams and massive infrastructure.
“Independent agents will increase their market share in the next 10 years,” he predicts. “But agencies with tech will crush the others. The gap will widen.” In that world, Sonant is not the star of the show. It’s the infrastructure behind it.
Final Note
In an industry where client experience drives retention and referrals, and operational efficiency drives profitability, Sonant delivers both. It’s not a trend—it’s infrastructure. It doesn’t disrupt—it enables. And it’s not trying to reinvent insurance—it’s helping agencies evolve it, with empathy and precision.
For independent agency owners navigating a saturated landscape of tech promises, Sonant offers a rare combination: deep respect for the work agents do, and the tools to help them do more of it—better.
The future may be powered by AI—but it will still be led by agents. Check out the Sonant AI website for more information.
