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Westfield Insurance has partnered with IBM to harness the power of Generative AI, transforming business operations and setting new benchmarks for innovation and efficiency in the insurance sector as technology continues to redefine industries.
Westfield Insurance, one of the US-based property and casualty insurance company, was facing mounting industry pressures against it namely:
1. Cost and competitive challenges
2. Adherence to ever-changing regulatory requirements
3. Higher customer service expectations
To address the above requirements, Westfield had to streamline its application development processes on its IBM System z environment, improve developer productivity, as well as onboard new talent. The company also aimed at minimizing its risk exposure of misreporting to the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO).
To overcome these challenges, Westfield partnered with IBM Consulting and utilized IBM watsonx™ Code Assistant for Z, a generative AI solution. The eight-week pilot project included:
1. Collaboration between IBM’s Client Engineering teams and 16 Westfield application developers.
2. Deployment of IBM’s AI tools on IBM Cloud to simplify code explanation and documentation.
3. Leveraging watsonx Code Assistant to analyse, generate reports, and identify code change impacts.
Key functionalities allowed Westfield to minimize much manual research and automate the processes for efficiency.
IBM Watsonx™ Code Assistant for z is a generative AI solution tailored for the mainframe environment, designed to streamline development and optimize process delivery. It automates the discovery and analysis of applications, supports documentation and code change management, and boosts developer efficiency by enhancing code comprehension and testing processes. Leveraging the scalability and reliability of IBM Cloud, this solution seamlessly integrates with enterprise systems, providing flexibility and improved operational efficiency.
Time Savings: It saved 80% of the time required for understanding applications and conducting discovery analysis, equivalent to 20 hours. Additionally, the time spent on code explanation and documentation was reduced by 30%, saving 150 hours when analyzing 47,000 lines of code.
Productivity Gains: The improved documentation and analysis significantly accelerated the onboarding process for new developers. Test case creation was greatly streamlined for experienced developers, boosting the productivity of the development team.
Cost Efficiency: The Generative AI helped Westfield to save cost on change management processes and it gave competitive advantage. It was able to deploy better operational efficiency without increasing overheads significantly, besides making resource allocation effective through its efforts.
Risk Mitigation: Use of AI-driven tools enhanced the accuracy and quality of change management documentation to help Westfield avoid risk misreporting to the Insurance Services Office (ISO), ensuring regulatory compliance and avoiding potentially costly mistakes.
Westfield Insurance has founded in 1848, as a US property and casualty insurance leader. The company has more than USD 10 billion worth of assets. It offers commercial, personal, surety, and specialty insurance through a network of independent agents and brokers.
IBM is a global technology and consulting company, offering cutting-edge solutions across cloud computing, AI, and enterprise systems. IBM Consulting specializes in delivering transformative business results through innovative technologies like the watsonx™ platform for generative AI.
Westfield Insurance's use of IBM's generative AI capabilities shows how legacy companies can leverage cutting-edge technologies to modernize their operations and address current challenges. By reducing costs, enhancing productivity, and streamlining developer onboarding, Westfield demonstrates how generative AI can transform the insurance industry, serving as a model for organizations aiming to modernize and remain competitive in a dynamic landscape.
