HONG KONG, Oct. 2, 2024 -- Following the exciting GenAI capabilities and initiatives that Manulife displayed at the recent Investor Day, Manulife today announced a significant leap in implementing its Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to transform business processes and elevate customer service with new capabilities across Asia, including the integration of GenAI with the agent experience in Singapore.

With the integration of capabilities and tools ranging from optimized contact centre technology, a Sales Agent Enablement tool, and leveraging GenAI for underwriting, Manulife is placed at the forefront of GenAI adoption within the insurance industry.

"GenAI is accelerating our transformation, driving growth, and highlighting innovative opportunities to drive efficiency across our organization," said Karen Leggett, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Manulife. "Our market-leading progress in deploying and scaling multiple global use cases are resulting in deeper customer engagement and satisfaction. The significant investments we've made in cloud, data capabilities, and talent are enabling our speed, efficiency, and innovation to lead in the GenAI space."

Enhancing Customer Interactions with AI in our Contact Centres

Manulife's commitment to AI extends to customer service, where GenAI is being utilized in contact centres to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of client interactions. The technology automates call summaries, performs daily trend analysis, and manages complex contract lookup within seconds, enabling servicing colleagues to provide faster, more precise responses. The first rollout in Asia will take place in Singapore by the end of the year.

Transforming Sales and Underwriting in Singapore

Manulife is also making waves with the launch of two GenAI initiatives in Singapore that are transforming the way our Manulife agents and underwriters operate, setting new benchmarks for the industry.

  • Sales Agent Enablement Tool: This innovative tool equips agents with deep insights into customer preferences and needs, significantly enhancing the personalization of customer interactions. Based on a customer's last 12-months of engagement, life stage and needs, and recent news, the Sales Enablement tool leverages a combination of traditional AI, automation, and GenAI to generate engagement ideas unique to each customer. Launched to a pilot group in May and extended to over 2,000 agents in Singapore in July, and planned expansion to Japan later this year, Manulife is enabling agents to have more effective needs-based conversations and create stronger, more personalized customer experiences.  

    • In the first two weeks of launch, about 68% of pilot agents had already used the new GenAI capabilities to engage with customers. A total of 12 enhancements are planned for the remainder of the year. The success of this Singapore-developed tool is paving the way for rollout in other global markets.
  • Underwriting Assistant: The Underwriting Assistant leverages GenAI to streamline the underwriting process by automating the analysis and summarization of documents. With the assistance of our GenAI-powered Underwriting Assistant, Manulife can significantly expedite this process from a 5-day window, down to a target process window of 3-days. This new tool is slated to launch in October 2024.
    • This automation not only accelerates processing times for our customers, but also improves accuracy in decision-making, further simplifying the underwriting process and freeing up underwriters to focus on more complex cases.

"The launch of these AI-driven tools in Singapore will significantly improve customer interactions by providing faster, more accurate, and personalized service. By automating routine tasks in underwriting and streamlining customer support through AI, we are furthering our commitment to delivering exceptional value to our customers and colleagues alike," said Mark Czajkowski, Chief Analytics Officer, Asia and Chief Marketing Officer, Singapore.

Looking to the Future: Expanding AI Capabilities

Manulife recently published its Responsible AI Principles, empowering the company to deliver impactful solutions for its customers, colleagues, and society. As AI continues to advance, Manulife will evolve its principles in line with the maturing industry as new or updated regulations emerge.

These GenAI capabilities are just the beginning of a broader strategy for Manulife to revolutionize business operations and customer service in the journey to digital, customer leadership. Manulife is continuously refining these tools to better support our sales force, enhance our operations, and benefit our colleagues, customers, and shareholders.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we provide financial advice and insurance, operating as Manulife across Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Through Manulife Investment Management, the global brand for our Global Wealth and Asset Management segment, we serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2023, we had more than 38,000 employees, over 98,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 35 million customers. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges, and under '945' in Hong Kong. 

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Media contacts: Belinda Wong, Belinda_SJ_Wong@manulife.com, Carl Wong, Carl_KK_Wong@manulifeam.com