Cloud and AI for future work in the insurance industry

Insurance companies that want to increase their efficiency and improve the employee experience with the help of artificial intelligence should consider four key factors for gaining a competitive advantage in the long term.

At the Swisscom Insurance Meet-up on the ‘New Way of Working in the Insurance Industry’, an expert group discussed the effective and secure deployment of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in insurance companies. In the specialist presentations from Helsana, Mobiliar and Swisscom, the following factors were identified as crucial for successfully establishing GenAI in insurance companies.

1. Stable cloud foundation

Migrating the workplace to the cloud with Microsoft 365 is a basic prerequisite for the effective use of innovative tools such as Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Power Platform. A well-designed and secure modern workplace of this kind lays the foundation for the success of forward-looking ways of working (future work).

A stable, cloud-based modern workplace allows insurers to store data securely in the cloud. Robust cloud security protects against cyberattacks and prevents unwanted data leakage. Insurance companies can ensure adherence to legal requirements and minimise their risks when using AI tools with properly enforced compliance and governance. This leads to the creation of a secure and trusted working environment that Copilot can access.

In terms of the technical requirements for effective and secure deployment, all data must be made available online on SharePoint or in OneDrive and mailboxes must also be accessible online through Exchange. Microsoft Entra ID (Active Directory) must be used for user management.

2. Proactive change management

On the journey to successful future work, it’s important to assess the current state of affairs. Only by understanding the present situation for the insurance company is it possible to define what goals it is pursuing and figure out the steps and pathways there.

Proactive change and adoption management is crucial to ensuring that insurers make a successful transformation to future work after this transition. It’s not enough to provide employees with tools – they need to know how to use them effectively in order to derive the maximum benefit.

The human factor is particularly important here, because new technology is only as good as the people who use it. Change and adoption management goals can be considered achieved once the new tools have been identified and employees are empowered to use them and have been convinced of their utility and added value.

3. Targeted use of GenAI

Insurers often wonder whether all employees could benefit from using GenAI. Starting and evaluating a pilot project with committed employees is a good way to gain experience with GenAI. The practical experience of Swiss insurance companies to date shows that sales, customer service and marketing employees as well as others who handle a lot of writing have great potential to save time through the use of AI tools. For example, GenAI can already be used as an e-mail assistant and for summaries of virtual meetings, project administration, text tasks, data evaluation and many other activities.

Despite this universal use, it’s difficult in general to measure the return on investment (ROI), for example from Microsoft 365 Copilot. Certain applications such as proprietary generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs) already demonstrate a high ROI. The introduction of new features, e.g. agent builders and AI-supported simultaneous translation, can further impact ROI depending on the organisation.

‘Microsoft Copilot is already generating real added value in specific areas. Augmented intelligence will lead to huge efficiency gains in the future. Human expertise is becoming increasingly valuable in this context.’

Marcus Schwemmle, Head of Artificial Intelligence, Die Mobiliar

4. Data security and compliance are key

While ChatGPT may seem more cost-efficient in the short term, Microsoft 365 Copilot offers the data security and compliance guarantee needed to protect sensitive company data and expertise. The choice of AI platform should always take these critical factors into account.

Conclusion

It takes some time and resources to prepare for the deployment of GenAI in insurance companies so that company know-how can be used in tandem with artificial intelligence. Experience of first movers in the insurance environment shows that it makes sense to complete these preparations early and to build future work on a stable, secure foundation. The step into the cloud and the use of modern workplaces based on this are essential conditions for success.