The collaboration aims to harness the latest advancements in generative artificial intelligence (AI) while bolstering FWD’s cloud-first technology strategy.
The partnership underscores FWD Group’s commitment to staying at the forefront of technological innovation in the insurance sector. By extending its collaboration with Microsoft, FWD Group gains access to cutting-edge AI innovations that promise to reshape insurance experiences across the Asia-Pacific region.
In 2019, FWD Group initiated its venture into the realm of artificial intelligence, and presently, it boasts nearly 200 operational AI models integrated across its operations, catering to more than 600 distinct scenarios.
FWD Leveraging Microsoft’s AI services
Under the agreement, FWD Group intends to leverage Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service alongside other state-of-the-art technologies to enhance its AI-driven capabilities. The partnership will enable FWD Group to capitalise on Microsoft Azure’s private networking, monitoring, and security features, as well as its advanced AI models.
The collaboration signifies a strategic alignment between FWD Group’s vision for transformative insurance solutions and Microsoft’s expertise in AI-driven technologies. By joining forces, the two entities aim to pioneer a new era of AI-driven insurance experiences that prioritize innovation, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
The partnership announcement underscores the growing importance of AI-driven solutions in the insurance industry and highlights FWD Group’s commitment to delivering unparalleled value to its customers through technology-driven initiatives.
With the extension of its partnership with Microsoft, FWD Group reaffirms its position as a trailblazer in the insurance sector, poised to redefine industry standards and shape the future of insurance experiences in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Ryan Kim, Group Chief Digital Officer of FWD Group, said, “Digital innovation has always been core to FWD’s vision of changing the way people feel about insurance. This collaboration marries FWD’s pioneering spirit in Asia in some of the fastest growing insurance markets in the world, with the global scale and skill that Microsoft brings in engineering and AI.
“We’re excited to harness more next-generation innovations to develop new industry use cases and standards that we believe will shape the insurance journey of the future.”
FWD Group is working to enhance the customer experience and its operations in areas like acquisition, marketing, channel and agent performance, underwriting, claims and customer service. The company is also an early adopter of Copilot for Microsoft 365, an AI companion that supports employees in their day-to-day work.
Bill Borden, Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Financial Services, Microsoft, 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 thrilled to strengthen our AI partnership with FWD by offering Azure OpenAI Service and Copilot for Microsoft 365 capabilities to enable world-class customer experiences and operations securely and responsibly.
He continued: “As a pivotal player in the global financial landscape, the Asia Pacific region stands out for its dynamism and adaptability, fostering continuous growth and driving innovation. We are committed to empowering our customers in the region with generative AI capabilities in a responsible way.”
Borden added: “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.
