Why Artificial Intelligence Is Open Enrollment’s New Power Player

Information overload is a growing concern among employers, according to research from risk management and consulting firm Gallagher. This is especially seen during the open enrollment process, where employees are overwhelmed by benefits choices and HR teams are being asked to do more with fewer resources.

Here is where artificial intelligence (AI) can help. According to Gallagher, 19% of HR leaders said improving benefits navigation through AI is a priority over the next year, while 72% of employers plan to operationalize AI within their organizational functions in the next two years.

Workspan Daily (WD) recently interviewed Jacqueline Fowler, the U.S. benefits client experience leader at Gallagher, to learn more about how AI is reshaping open enrollment, what benefits areas are seeing the most return on investment (ROI) from emerging technologies and implementation steps for you to consider.

Jacqueline Fowler, U.S. benefits client experience leader, Gallagher

WD: How is AI moving benefits enrollment from a one-size-fits-all experience to personalized, guided decision-making?

Fowler: For years, open enrollment has largely been a one-time annual transaction where employees were presented with a long list of options and expected to figure out what was best for them.

AI is helping shift that experience toward personalized guidance that takes into account factors such as life stage, family circumstances, prior utilization patterns, affordability concerns, caregiving responsibilities and individual health needs. Rather than overwhelming employees with choices, AI can help surface the benefits that are most relevant to their situation and explain tradeoffs among options, including plan cost, prescription drug exposure, provider access, mental health resources, voluntary benefits and financial well-being support.

Many employees don’t lack information — they lack confidence in their ability to make benefits decisions. AI can help bridge this gap by translating complex plan information into personalized recommendations that are easier to understand and act on. That is especially important as employees weigh rising healthcare costs and their financial exposure. The goal is not simply to present more choices but to help employees feel more confident selecting the benefits and resources that align with their needs.

The larger opportunity is moving beyond enrollment altogether. AI is helping transform benefits from an annual event into a continuous, data-informed decision-support experience where employees receive guidance throughout the year as their needs change.

WD: What benefits functions are seeing the fastest AI adoption?

Fowler: Healthcare navigation is emerging as a significant area of adoption. AI-enabled platforms can help employees identify high-quality providers, compare treatment options, estimate costs, and connect with benefits or resources that support their health needs, creating a more guided care experience.

The fastest adoption is occurring in areas where employees need help navigating complexity and where HR teams are managing large volumes of routine interactions.

Decision-support tools that help employees compare plans, estimate costs and understand coverage differences are gaining traction quickly. AI-powered chat and support tools are also helping answer common enrollment questions and guide employees to relevant resources.

On the employer side, organizations are increasingly using AI for benefits communications, workforce analytics, post-enrollment analysis and identifying gaps in employee understanding. AI also helps employers evaluate how different benefits programs work together across what can often be a fragmented ecosystem of vendors and point solutions. This is creating new opportunities to simplify the benefits experience, reduce point-solution fatigue, strengthen compliance and governance, and generate insight into utilization, care patterns, pharmacy trend, health equity, outcomes and employee engagement.

WD: Where are employers seeing the greatest ROI from AI-enabled benefits tools?

Fowler: Increasingly, employers are evaluating ROI through a combination of employee experience, healthcare outcomes, affordability and cost management. AI-powered navigation and decision-support tools can help employees access appropriate care sooner, reduce unnecessary utilization, identify lower-cost care alternatives and make better use of existing programs. They can also support smarter decisions around glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) coverage, mental health resources, chronic condition programs and voluntary benefits. This helps address a common challenge employers face today — investing heavily in benefits that employees either don’t know about, don’t understand or don’t use effectively.

The greatest return is often found in improving employee decision-making, reducing administrative burden and helping employees make better use of the benefits already available to them. When employees receive personalized recommendations and navigation support, they are more likely to enroll in the right plans, use benefits appropriately and access higher-value resources

For HR teams, AI can significantly reduce time spent answering routine questions during enrollment and provide deeper insights into employee needs and communication opportunities. Over time, employers may also see ROI through improved healthcare navigation, more efficient use of benefits, reduced waste, improved employee satisfaction, and more measurable outcomes across claims, engagement and administrative efficiency.

“AI is helping transform benefits from an annual event into a continuous, data-informed decision-support experience where employees receive guidance throughout the year as their needs change.” 

WD: Why are some employees still skeptical of AI recommendations involving healthcare, and how can employers build trust?

Fowler: Healthcare and benefits decisions are deeply personal. Employees naturally want to understand who has access to their information, how their data is being used, and whether recommendations are being generated fairly and accurately. Many employees are also concerned about whether AI is making decisions on their behalf rather than simply providing guidance.

Trust begins with transparency. Employers should clearly explain what information is being used, how recommendations are generated and what role AI plays in the decision-making process. Employees should always retain control over final decisions and have access to human support when they need it. Employers should also be mindful of equity, bias and accessibility by ensuring AI-enabled tools work for different workforce populations, languages, digital comfort levels, health literacy levels and family circumstances. The organizations most likely to succeed will combine advanced technology with a human-in-the-loop approach that allows employees to validate recommendations and speak with a benefits expert when appropriate.

WD: What risks should employers consider around privacy, trust, compliance and inaccurate AI-generated recommendations?

Fowler: The biggest risks involve data governance, transparency and accuracy. AI is only as effective as the data and systems supporting it. Fragmented data sources, poor data quality or inadequate governance can undermine the quality of recommendations and create employee distrust.

Employers should also be cautious about adopting AI simply because a vendor markets it as an AI capability. As the benefits ecosystem becomes increasingly crowded, organizations should evaluate whether new tools integrate effectively with existing programs, improve employee outcomes, support governance and fiduciary oversight, and create measurable value rather than adding another disconnected point solution.

Equally important are robust privacy protections, employee consent and clear guardrails around sensitive health and benefits information. Because benefits often involve deeply personal matters, employees need confidence that their data is securely protected, used only for its intended purpose and never accessed without appropriate authorization.

Organizations should be transparent about how information is collected, stored and used, while giving employees meaningful control over their data. Strong governance and privacy standards are essential to building trust and ensuring personalization enhances the benefits experience without compromising confidentiality.

WD: What steps can employers take to help ensure the open enrollment process goes smoothly?

Fowler: Successful open enrollment starts long before enrollment begins. Employers should move away from concentrating education into a short enrollment window and instead adopt year-round communication and benefits education strategies. Personalized campaigns targeted by life stage, demographics, location and prior benefit usage can help employees better understand their options before enrollment opens.

AI can support this effort by helping employees compare plans, estimate costs, understand coverage tradeoffs and get answers to common questions on demand. Employers should also ensure human support remains available, thoroughly vet AI vendors, communicate clearly about data privacy, test systems well ahead of enrollment season, and equip managers, HR teams and vendors with consistent messaging. Strong change management is critical, so employees understand not only what is changing, but why it matters and how to take action.

WD: How will AI reshape open enrollment in 2026/2027 and beyond?

Fowler: The future is less about making open enrollment smarter and more about making benefits easier to navigate throughout the year. AI has the potential to help employees connect with the right resource, provider, program or benefit at the moment a need arises, whether that’s addressing a healthcare issue, managing a chronic condition, preparing for a financial challenge or supporting a family member. In many ways, AI is shifting benefits from a static catalog of available programs to a more dynamic and personalized support experience.

The most significant change will be the gradual shift away from open enrollment as the primary employee interaction with benefits. AI will increasingly provide year-round guidance, helping employees navigate life events, healthcare decisions, financial well-being needs and caregiving responsibilities as they arise.

We’re also likely to see more proactive and personalized recommendations that help employees identify the right benefit, provider or resource at the right moment. AI-powered navigation tools will become better at connecting employees with high-quality care, lower-cost providers, mental health resources, voluntary benefits, financial well-being tools and caregiving support that align with their circumstances. Personalization and steerage will play an increasingly important role in helping employees make better decisions while also improving benefit efficiency, reducing waste, simplifying vendor ecosystems, and helping employers manage medical and pharmacy trend.

The organizations that get the most value from AI won’t be those that replace people with technology. They’ll be the ones that combine intelligent decision support, transparent governance and human expertise to create a benefits experience that is more personalized, accessible and effective for employees.

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

For more information and resources related to this article, see the pages below, which offer quick access to all WorldatWork content on these topics:

• Employee Benefits
• Organizational Performance