Des Moines at a glance
We work with insurance and financial services firms across the Des Moines metro, remotely from Dallas and with senior consultants only. The work spans Salesforce, HubSpot and AI, built around clean data and compliance needs.
The Des Moines economy
Finance and insurance makes up 30.8% of metro GDP, far ahead of manufacturing at 7.6% and wholesale trade at 6.8%. The Greater Des Moines Partnership says the area has the highest concentration of insurance employment among US metros, with more than 80 of Iowa's insurance companies headquartered here. It says Wells Fargo, Principal, Nationwide and John Deere Financial alone employ over 20,000 people.
The Partnership's list of local firms also includes Athene, F&G Annuities and Life, EMC Insurance, GuideOne, Wellmark, Sammons Financial Group and Global Atlantic. It reports a concentration of actuaries six times the norm and the fourth-highest concentration of insurance underwriters, and says the Global Insurance Symposium has drawn more than 5,000 attendees from over 20 countries since it began. For buyers, that depth means plenty of insurance talent and plenty of peers running similar systems.
Figures cover the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro area as the Census Bureau defines it.
Where CRM and AI fit in Des Moines
The largest private sectors by share of 2024 metro GDP, and what Salesforce, HubSpot and AI work usually looks like in each.
| Sector | Share of 2024 GDP | Where CRM and AI fit |
|---|---|---|
| Finance and insurance | 30.8% | Annuity and life carriers, property and casualty insurers, agencies and banks need clean customer, producer and policy data. Salesforce with Applied Epic or other policy platforms connected through APIs covers distribution and service. Insurance |
| Manufacturing | 7.6% | Manufacturers selling through dealers and distributors need quoting and account history in one system. Sales Cloud with an API or MuleSoft link to the ERP is the usual shape. Sales Cloud |
| Wholesale trade | at least 6.8% | Wholesalers and distributors depend on repeat orders and account coverage. Sales Cloud or HubSpot Sales Hub tracks accounts, quotes and reorder timing, depending on size. HubSpot Sales Hub |
| Health care and social assistance | at least 5.6% | Health systems and benefits-related firms need compliant member and patient outreach. HubSpot Service Hub or Service Cloud covers intake and follow-up, with protected health information kept out of marketing tools. Healthcare |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP by county (CAGDP2), 2024, summed to the metro area. Private sectors only, excluding real estate. "At least" marks sectors where BEA suppresses some county figures.
Salesforce, HubSpot and AI in Des Moines
Salesforce
Des Moines carriers often sell through independent agents, brokers and financial professionals, so the producer record matters as much as the policyholder. Salesforce can hold the producer, customer and service view above the policy and administration systems, with Applied Epic and others connected through APIs or middleware such as MuleSoft. Financial Services Cloud suits banks and wealth teams in the same market.
Salesforce in Des MoinesHubSpot
Smaller agencies, independent advisers and growth-stage insurtech firms in the metro often run HubSpot instead of a larger platform. Marketing Hub and Sales Hub handle compliant nurture, referral tracking and renewals, with a typical implementation of 4-8 weeks. Carriers' marketing teams also use it for campaigns when the core CRM sits elsewhere.
HubSpot in Des MoinesAI
With this many carriers, document work dominates: policy, claim and underwriting files, producer meeting prep and service correspondence. Claude fits that work, with a human reviewing each result before it is used. Agentforce can answer routine policyholder and agent questions once knowledge articles are accurate. OpenAI and Breeze AI support sales and content workflows. AI earns its place only on clean data and tight permissions, so we check both first.
AI consulting in Des MoinesWhere AI usually earns its place first
- Policy and claim summaries
- Underwriting file review
- Agentforce agent and policyholder service
- Producer meeting prep
Take the 3-minute AI readiness quiz
Common CRM challenges in Des Moines
Producer data scattered across systems
Carriers sell through many agents and brokers whose data sits in separate tools. A single producer record helps sales and compliance.
Annuity and life product complexity
Long-lived products with multiple riders and suitability records need careful data modeling. Getting this right comes before reporting or AI.
Competition for the same talent
With so many carriers nearby, experienced analysts and administrators are in demand. Senior outside help covers the gaps during a build.
Des Moines, service by service
What each kind of engagement looks like for Des Moines firms.
Industries we serve in Des Moines
Insurance
CRM, marketing automation and AI for insurance firms in Des Moines.
IndustryWealth Management
CRM, marketing automation and AI for wealth management firms in Des Moines.
IndustryBanking
CRM, marketing automation and AI for banking firms in Des Moines.
IndustryFintech
CRM, marketing automation and AI for fintech firms in Des Moines.
Our work in these industries
Client names are anonymized and these projects are not specific to Des Moines. All case studies
Across the Des Moines metro
Principal cities
- Des Moines
- West Des Moines
Counties
- Dallas, IA
- Guthrie, IA
- Jasper, IA
- Madison, IA
- Polk, IA
- Warren, IA
Des Moines questions, answered
We sell annuities through independent agents. How would Salesforce handle producers?
Salesforce can hold each producer as a structured record, with licensing, appointments, contacts and activity, and link them to the policies and customers they serve. The annuity admin system stays the system of record, connected through APIs or middleware such as MuleSoft. We confirm feasibility for each platform in discovery. A typical implementation runs 10-16 weeks, depending on the number of systems and how much producer data needs cleaning.
Is HubSpot realistic for a mid-sized P&C agency?
Yes, in many cases. HubSpot Marketing Hub and Sales Hub work well for prospecting, referral tracking, renewal reminders and reporting, and a standard implementation takes 4-8 weeks (6-10 for complex workflows). If you need deep policy hierarchy or Applied Epic-centered service workflows, Salesforce may suit you better. We compare both against your process and recommend whichever fits, not whichever is larger.
Where should a carrier start with AI?
Start with an AI readiness assessment covering data quality and permissions, since AI on messy or over-shared data creates risk. Then choose internal uses such as summarizing claim and policy files, preparing producer meetings and drafting service replies for staff to edit. A person reviews every customer-facing output. Pilots stay narrow and measured until the review step is routine and the underlying data is clean.
Nearby markets
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 metro totals (July 1, 2025)
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP2 GDP by county and industry, 2024, summed to the metro area
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, metro file
- U.S. Census Bureau, metro area delineation files, July 2023