To ensure responsible AI development, Nationwide has established an AI Centre of Expertise in partnership with IBM Consulting, supported by an AI Council.

Nationwide Building Society, a prominent UK-based institution with around 17 million customers and over 600 branches, has successfully reduced its customer response times from 45 minutes to just 10-15 minutes by leveraging GPT-4 technology.

Following a successful collaboration with Microsoft, Nationwide is expanding its use of Generative AI to further enhance its services.

The deployment of GPT-4 within Azure OpenAI has allowed Nationwide to automate letter generation, achieving a remarkable 66% efficiency improvement in customer service.

Paul Ballard, Nationwide's director of technology strategy and enterprise architecture, emphasizes that the goal of AI implementation is to enhance employee roles rather than reduce headcount, ensuring human oversight in AI outputs.

The overarching aim of these initiatives is to evolve service delivery and create more engaging experiences for both Nationwide members and employees.

Srinath Kanisapakkam, the chief data and analytics officer at Nationwide, highlights the transformative potential of generative AI in improving both customer service and employee experience.

Nationwide has centralized its data using Microsoft Azure, which facilitates better accessibility and integration for analysis, crucial for effective service delivery.

Ranked as the number one high street bank in the 2024 UK Customer Satisfaction Index, Nationwide aims to further improve its services through Microsoft generative AI.

This integration of data not only supports personalized services but also sets the stage for future applications of Azure OpenAI in areas such as contact centers and economic crime monitoring.

Generative AI is expected to enhance service delivery, improve decision-making, and operational efficiency at Nationwide, enabling more personalized digital propositions.

Looking ahead, Nationwide plans to expand the use of Azure OpenAI applications across various operations, including contact centers, credit risk assessments, and economic crime monitoring.