Artificial Intelligence at Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading insurance company based in Toronto, Canada, reported solid financial performance in early 2025, with core earnings of $1.8 billion and revenue of $2.14 billion. Managing assets totaling CA$1.3 trillion and employing over 38,000 people globally, Manulife is advancing its digital transformation by investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI).
By mid-2025, Manulife had implemented more than 35 generative AI use cases worldwide and plans to expand these further before the year ends. The company anticipates that its digital and AI initiatives will deliver a threefold return on investment over five years, generating benefits exceeding $600 million in 2024 alone.
Democratizing AI to Drive Workforce Productivity
Manulife’s approach to AI centers on empowering its workforce. Recognizing that digital transformation requires widespread adoption, the company rolled out generative AI tools to its entire staff of over 37,000 employees. One key tool is ChatMFC, a proprietary AI assistant integrated into daily workflows to streamline tasks, provide information, and support decision-making.
To support this, Manulife invested in a cloud-based AI platform and assembled a team of nearly 200 data scientists and engineers to develop and scale AI solutions. Currently, over 43 generative AI applications are live across Canada, the U.S., and Asia, with 70 more slated for deployment by the end of 2025.
- AI is accessible through a unified platform embedded in employees’ daily work tools.
- ChatMFC helps with information retrieval, task automation, and personalized recommendations.
- The platform uses natural language processing, large language models, and predictive analytics to deliver relevant results.
- Continuous feedback and usage data refine AI models to improve performance.
While exact financial details for ChatMFC are not published, Manulife reported $600 million in digital initiative benefits during 2024. According to the Global Chief Analytics Officer, generative AI has already contributed $4.7 million in measurable value. Over 75% of employees engage regularly with AI tools, boosting productivity and operational efficiency.
Unifying Enterprise Knowledge to Boost Productivity
Large organizations often face challenges with fragmented knowledge systems, making it difficult for employees to find the right information quickly. A study from VU University Amsterdam showed that a single purchasing approval process involved over 100 separate informational items, highlighting how fragmentation slows work and frustrates users.
Manulife experienced similar issues, with its workforce needing fast access to critical information spread across multiple systems. To tackle this, the company partnered with Coveo, a software firm specializing in AI-powered enterprise search and knowledge management.
The objective was to unify search capabilities across Manulife’s intranet so employees could find both general company information and role-specific content efficiently. Coveo’s Relevance Platform indexes content from various sources and uses machine learning to deliver personalized, accurate search results.
- Content from intranets, knowledge bases, and cloud apps is integrated into a single index.
- Machine learning algorithms tune search relevance and provide query suggestions.
- User behavior analytics continuously improve search accuracy and recommendations.
Results at Manulife include:
- Over 65,000 average monthly searches with 70% guided by AI suggestions, reducing time spent searching.
- High employee satisfaction, with users reporting the right answers are “just there automatically.”
- Improved decision-making enabled by insights from search analytics that identify content gaps.
By simplifying knowledge access, Manulife enhances employee productivity and supports better customer service, aligning with its broader AI and digital transformation goals.
For insurance professionals interested in AI adoption strategies and tools, exploring practical AI training can provide valuable skills. Resources like Complete AI Training’s courses by job offer focused learning paths to help integrate AI into daily work.
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