FWD Group, a multinational insurance company based in Hong Kong, plans to integrate the latest generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology in its business operations.
The insurer has extended a partnership with Microsoft with a four-year agreement to leverage Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service among other technological advancements, as part of FWD's ongoing commitment to a cloud-first approach.
FWD Group's chief digital officer Ryan Kim said the company will develop new industry use cases and standards, with hopes to benefit from the private networking, monitoring and security capabilities of Microsoft Azure and its advanced AI models.
The initiative aims to refine and improve various operations, touching on client acquisition, marketing strategies, performance metrics for channels and agent performance and processes for underwriting, claims, and overall customer service.
Founded in 2013 as the insurance arm of Pacific Century Group, FWD Group sells life and medical insurance, general insurance and employee benefits to more than 11 million customers across 10 markets.
AI journey
It embarked on the AI journey in 2019 and now has implemented nearly 200 active AI models applied across its business, with over 600 specific applications.
FWD has also adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, an AI-driven tool designed to enhance employee productivity in their everyday tasks.
Microsoft's corporate vice president of worldwide financial services, Bill Borden said AI is driving transformation across the financial services industry, opening new opportunities for innovation and business growth with agility and at scale.
“We are committed to empowering our customers in the region with generative AI capabilities in a responsible way. With Microsoft’s enterprise-grade AI advancements, we are helping the financial services ecosystem accelerate innovation to drive operational efficiency and greater value creation to customers,” he added.
