Digitisation, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI) have played a pivotal role in bolstering the performance of Suncorp Group, as the company announced its FY23 results.
Highlighting the significance of being technology-enabled as a strategic pillar in its FY21-23 plan, the Group showcased substantial progress towards improved customer and employee outcomes. This technology-driven transformation has fueled growth and operational efficiencies across the business.
Adam Bennett, Suncorp Chief Information Officer, described the successful completion of the FY21-23 plan as a significant organizational milestone. Bennett emphasized the instrumental role of technology, particularly digitization, automation, and AI, in driving operational transformation across the value chain. He acknowledged the transformative power of innovative technology solutions, simplifying processes for customers and enhancing organizational efficiency.
As Suncorp transitions into its FY24-26 plan, the focus on streamlining and modernizing core tech platforms continues, including the completion of cloud migration by year-end.
Digital Dominates Choice of Channels
Collaborative efforts between agile technologists and insurance experts have propelled customers towards digital channels as the preferred choice, resulting in a surge in unique digital users to five million in FY23.
Digital transactions have witnessed a substantial uptick for the Group’s mass insurance brands, encompassing Home, Motor, and CTP products. These digital transactions now account for 68% of all sales and 44% of service transactions, up from 49% and 29%, respectively, at the plan period’s inception. Furthermore, approximately two-thirds of mass brand renewals are now executed digitally.
Notably, enhancements to the digital claim lodgement process have led to a significant increase in Home and Motor digital claim lodgements, rising from around 20% to approximately 50% over the past three years.
Automation & AI Propel Efficiency
Suncorp remains at the forefront of the insurance industry’s automation endeavors, reducing manual processes and empowering employees to engage in high-value tasks. The deployment of over 465 robots facilitated automation for more than 24 million transactions, resulting in time savings of up to 600,000 hours during FY23.
Conversational AI chatbots have witnessed an impressive fourfold increase in interactions with customers since 2021, culminating in nearly 1.9 million chatbot conversations during FY23. These capabilities have extended to include chatbots assisting customers with temporary authentication for digital policy cancellations. Future integration with popular AI digital assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant is being explored, along with the potential implementation of Generative AI and Large Language Model capabilities.
Suncorp’s strategic utilization of geospatial images and advanced AI models has transformed the customer experience. By significantly reducing the number of questions required for purchasing home insurance online, call times have been cut by nearly 90 seconds, and data accuracy for pricing and underwriting policies has greatly improved.
Empowering People through Agile Transformation
Despite its technology-driven focus, Suncorp attributes its success to its people. A transformation of working methods, rooted in agile practices, has been implemented across more than 3,000 employees. This shift has yielded a 60% increase in initiatives delivered, a 10% reduction in delivery time, and a 12% improvement in team health within Suncorp’s Insurance Australia change teams.
Suncorp’s cloud migration progress is noteworthy, with over 80% of workloads transitioned to the cloud. The Group remains on track to achieve 90% by year-end, facilitating the transition away from traditional leased and owned data centers. Strategic partnerships with industry leaders like AWS and Microsoft drive the multi-cloud strategy, enabling accelerated digital solution deployment and collaborative hybrid work environments.
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