Malaysia’s AIA Berhad has implemented an enterprise data management platform, known as One Data, to integrate and process data from disparate operational source systems and gain insights for decision-making.
AIA Berhad is part of AIA Group, the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group.
AIA’s head of data, analytics and AI, Desmond Foo, told iTnews Asia that managing multiple lines of business and products that cater to market demands requires data and analytic-driven planning and execution.
“We assessed many relational database management systems (RDBMS), both on-premises and cloud-based, and decided to go with Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer (ExaCC) platform,” said Foo.
With reliability and scalability, it allows AIA to manage and run the data platform within a private, secure data centre environment.
This addresses data sovereignty and residency concerns, he added.
According to Foo, the performance of critical applications has increased three-fold compared to the previous Exadata system, helping the company process more data, respond to customer needs, and reduce waiting times.
AIA has also achieved a 40-fold speed improvement, reducing the time required to scale up infrastructure from two to three months to one day.
According to Foo, the time required for data extraction and processing for marketing analytics purposes has been cut from one month to less than a day.
This is a 20 times increase in speed, he added.
Foundation of One Data platform
The insurance company uses two Oracle products, ExaCC and Oracle GoldenGate (OGG).
ExaCC forms the foundation of the "One Data” platform that supports front-end applications, ensuring efficient and reliable data processing and management.
OGG is integral to AIA's data architecture, facilitating the integration of the One Data platform with operational systems.
In Malaysia, AIA deals with over 30 source systems, from which data is extracted and ingested into the One Data platform in real-time using OGG, Foo said.
This ensures the data remains up-to-date and accessible for applications, enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making processes, he added.
Use cases
Leveraging ExaCC and OGG, the One Data platform supports traditional and modern use cases across the organisation.
Foo said, it powers AIA's "AIA Plus" mobile app, which provides customers with self-service capabilities.
This includes checking policy details, submitting claims, booking appointments with specialists, and submitting guarantee letters for hospital admissions.
It allows customers to manage insurance needs directly from mobile devices, Foo said.
For AIA's life planners (agents), the "ALPA" app utilises One Data to improve sales processes and customer engagement.
According to Foo, the app features the "Customer 720" solution, which provides a comprehensive view of customer profiles, including product holdings, interaction history, premium payments, and claims.
This data, enriched by machine learning models, helps agents predict customer behaviours, identify high-potential leads, and make personalised product recommendations, he said.
This enables agents to engage with customers, enhancing sales performance and customer relationships.
One Data also supports operational processes within AIA, including underwriting and claims processing automation.
AI-enabled solutions built on top of One Data streamline these functions, for instance, AI models help process new customer applications and claims adjudication.
This reduces turnaround times and enhances service delivery.
Foo mentioned the primary challenge at the application level was developing the enterprise data model, which involved identifying and mapping critical data elements from source systems into a unified model.
Achieving consensus on data definitions across business units required technical expertise, stakeholder management and communication skills, he added.
AI integrations
Enhancing internal processes, AIA has integrated AI to automate underwriting decisions, increasing the straight-through processing rate and improving customer experience by speeding up the buying journey.
“We have introduced AI chatbots to provide round-the-clock on-demand servicing capabilities, allowing customers to receive assistance and address issues,” said Foo.
In the claims journey, the company has integrated an AI-driven claims solution to automate the adjudication of medical claims.
This improves the detection of fraud, waste, and abuse, and helps reduce the turnaround time for processing guarantee letters from hospitals, Foo added.
Additionally, AIA is currently running a POC (proof of concept) on Oracle Autonomous Database, exploring its potential for enhancing data management capabilities and streamlining operations.
