Suncorp sets sights on new ERP

Suncorp is set to overhaul its enterprise resource planning (ERP) as part of an ongoing multi-year technology transformation program.

The insurer is currently in the process of implementing a new human resources platform and a managed service for payroll.

In addition, Suncorp is also attempting to streamline its backend processes with a new consolidated financial management platform.

During an investor strategy update on November 6, Suncorp CIO Adam Bennett said that, through this program, the insurer “will simplify business processes and rationalise systems across the end-to-end employee life cycle”.

Suncorp declined to provide further details on the specific platforms being deployed when contacted by iTnews.

Much of Bennett’s presentation to investors covered ground already mentioned during Suncorp’s FY24 results in August.

Bennett touched on Suncorp’s generative AI strategy, including its 20 use cases for the technology, adding that the insurer’s current work would remain internally focused at least for the rest of FY25.

"[We] prioritised lower risk gen AI use cases in FY25, which are internally facing to augment our people with plans to graduate to more externally facing gen AI deployments in later years as the technology and the capabilities mature,” he said.

“But we would...over time...deploy more customer-facing AI agents. Our FY25 AI portfolio has around 20 use cases deployed or under development, but this is clearly just the beginning of delivering the full potential of this transformative and rapidly evolving technology.”

Leading Suncorp’s gen AI efforts is CTO Priyanka Paranagama, who was given the new title of executive general manager of AI Transformation in September.

Additionally, Bennett said, “thousands” of Suncorp staff are now undergoing AI training via hackathons, formalised training and a reskill program.

“We're taking an enterprise-wide approach top-down, but also we've galvanised all parts of the organisation,” he said.

More broadly, Suncorp now has over 100 traditional AI use cases in the works and has deployed Microsoft Copilot across its SaaS platforms.

In addition, Bennett said Suncorp now had 470 [software] robots deployed which automated around 30 million transactions in the last financial year, and has seen over 2 million chatbot conversations on its digital channels.

Bennett also announced that Suncorp is deploying a new cloud-based contact centre platform, upgrading its existing Genesys platform.

This, he said, “will further improve customer experiences and importantly, integrate AI capabilities into our assisted customer service”.