When we started planning our latest Melbourne Expert Talks event, we didn’t anticipate bulldozers becoming a central AI metaphor. But that’s the beauty of bringing experts together to talk about technology and leadership – you never know where the conversation might lead!

With a recent Gartner poll finding that 55% of organisations globally are already in pilot or production with Generative AI, we wanted to discover if Australia’s finance and superannuation sectors were investing in AI. At  “Beyond Gen AI: Navigating how businesses realise the benefits of AI”  our experts shared insights into how organisations are embracing the potential of AI and the foundational steps that organisations need to maximise their return on investment. As moderator of the panel, I’m delighted to share some of the discussions here. 

Combining Artificial Intelligence with Human Intelligence

Gen AI continues to dominate technology conversations, but more organisations are understanding that its efficacy hinges on human oversight.  Stephen Reilly Chief Operating Officer at HESTA illustrated this with the memorable bulldozer analogy: “No-one is surprised that a bulldozer can lift more dirt than a human with a shovel. But you still need a human to drive the bulldozer and decide where you want the dirt to go. It’s the same with AI. It’s no surprise that AI can do things faster than a human, but you still need a human in the process to get the best results.”

Claire Cornfield, Senior Executive Head of Customer Experience at La Trobe Financial, expanded on the importance of combining artificial intelligence with human intelligence, especially in organisations where trust is vital, such as financial services. ”We need to decide what we want the technology to do, what we want our staff to do and where each can add value. But we’ll still need humans to be involved in highly emotive or sensitive areas, even though these are also the more challenging jobs.”

Our panel also highlighted AI’s potential to improve customer experience and be used to create better outcomes for vulnerable people. For example, within healthcare, we are seeing the potential for AI to use data sets to predict health problems and enable early intervention. Andrea  Lymbouris, Head of Information Services at State Trustees, can see the potential in AI to provide improved personalised customer interactions within her teams. “AI could support our consultants access data about the client they are speaking to, when they last called and why, so the client doesn’t have to repeat all the information and we can give them the help they need quicker.”

Balancing AI’s risks and rewards

The finance and superannuation sectors, bound by regulatory constraints and financial responsibilities, can often be seen as cautious in their approach to new technologies. But even within this sector, each business will have a different appetite for risk, said Michael Collins, former Chief Information Security Officer at Judo Bank.  “Other businesses are going to run harder and run faster with AI –  they won’t have the sensitive data we do so they’re going to be able to take more risks. But within each organisation, it comes down to what your board and your senior management are comfortable with from a risk perspective.”

Stephen noted numerous potential AI applications in the competitive superannuation sector, such as personalised experiences and detecting anomalies in customer behaviour.  “But, as with everything with technology,  we have been very conscious with what we enable, “ he said. “We want to ensure it adds value, optimise our use and ensure we keep it secure.”

Claire also raised concerns about AI’s impact on talent development if it is used to automate some tasks. “A lot of AI-use cases are automating tasks that usually fall to entry-level roles, “ she said. “But these tasks, like dealing with calls in a customer centre, give people the breadth of experience that they can take into their long-term financial services careers.  If we take that work away, how are they going to get that experience?”

No doubt inspired by the Crowdstrike incident in the week before the event,  the panel also stressed the importance of human intervention in AI systems. Michael said: “Good AI needs three things – confidentiality, integrity and security.  But if an AI system went down, you would still rely on humans to be involved to fix it or maintain the service.” 

For Andrea, the biggest challenge is creating a strategy for the business when AI is advancing so rapidly and how businesses decide when to leverage AI capabilities built into the tools they already procure and when to decide to take a wider approach. Andrea added: “I think from a technology perspective we need to rapidly increase our skill set and expand our knowledge of AI.” 

Alongside AI strategies, getting funding for AI projects can also be a challenge, with limited investment models currently available to organisations to use within business cases. Michael said: “You’ve got to be very clear about why you’re asking for money and what you want to do because the business is always making trade-offs. But it’ll again come back to risk appetite and where you can pivot funding from in your current strategy.”

The importance of data quality and security

I’ve worked in digital transformation for a long time and I’ve seen the same questions about risk come up with each new technology – I remember people being horrified when we first introduced APIs in banking for example. But the difference I see with AI is that it is a technology that can be democratised and anyone can access tools like ChatGPT.  During the panel, I asked if it means that tasks we often put on the back burner, such as data cleansing or resolving our internal data permissions, now become consequential. The question of data quality is certainly one we hear from businesses looking to start working with AI, particularly for organisations looking after sensitive information for their customers or clients. 

Andrea said: “I think organisations are right to be thinking about protecting and securing the data. We need to be very mindful of it and put in place some additional risks and controls.” Michael also echoed the data security sentiment, adding: “You need to understand your data, where it is and how you’re going to use it before you start just running to the sexiest thing that’s on the internet and trying to install it and see how it goes.”

But Stephen also cautioned organisations waiting too long for their data to be perfect before embarking on an AI project. “Your data is never going to be perfect, so you have to figure out how to build in the margin for error for imperfect data. You have to drive forward. My encouragement is to test the quality of your data, overlay human intelligence onto your AI and embrace data governance people.”

Conclusion

We’d like to thank everyone who attended the event and our panel members for sharing their expert insights. 

We’re also delighted to announce that will be matching the total amount raised from the event, boosting the final figure to $1,500 donated to the  Aboriginal Investment Group’s Remote Laundry Project. This will power a laundry site for an entire year, giving remote aboriginal communities access to free laundry services to improve health and social outcomes. 

Watch out for details of our next Expert Talks event and If you’re interested in exploring Gen AI in your organisation, contact the Equal Experts Australia team.

The superannuation sector is no stranger to complex challenges and transformations. In the past 30 years funds have navigated ever-changing regulatory frameworks, weathered multiple global financial crises and continuously strived to deliver more for their members.  

In 2024, superannuation funds find themselves in an increasingly digital-focussed world. Despite technological advances in the financial sector, including online and mobile banking, regular interaction engagement with superannuation funds remains uncommon. Around 33% of Australians check their super balance once every three months, and one in 10 never check it at all.

Delivering lifelong value to members and super funds through digital transformation 

As competition in the sector increases and capacity for advice services expands, super funds must embrace digital transformation as an enabler for future success. 

Improved data pipelines can help funds to help them better understand members at every stage of their employment lifecycle. By creating tailored, user journeys, technology can also help simplify services and make it easier for members to navigate their superannuation, accessing the information, support or services they need when needed. Digital transformation can help funds not only connect with their members but empower them to boost their superannuation balance and be proactive about their financial future. 

That’s why we created our latest eBook focused on advising superannuation funds to leverage data-driven insights to design seamless customer journeys, create tailored services and drive lifelong value for members

What is the eBook about and how can it help me?

Our eBook “Accelerating Superannuation’s Digital Transformation” combines our hands-on experience with detailed return on investment statistics and insights from industry experts. It aims to support and inspire funds to:

• Leverage data and technology to better understand member journeys.
• Strengthen engagement and empower members with targeted advice.
• Build flexible, scalable and secure services with event-driven architecture.
• And remain competitive in a constantly changing landscape.

The ebook also delves into our Super Accelerator programme,  a comprehensive package of predefined, ready-to-use modules designed to help superannuation funds build, deploy, and run event-driven services in just 12 weeks. Our Accelerator has already helped super funds on their digital transformation journey, with the book detailing case studies from Spirit Super and Employment Hero.

Ready to accelerate your digital transformation?

Download the ebook to unlock the potential of digital transformation in superannuation. 

You can find out more about our Super Accelerator programme and our work with the superannuation sector on our dedicated superannuation webpage.

If you’re ready to accelerate your digital transformation and harness the power of data-driven decisions to empower your members throughout their employment lifecycle, contact the team at Equal Experts Australia now.

When you’re a new parent, enjoying a long, leisurely retirement seems a lifetime away. And, let’s be honest, who’s thinking about how to maximise their retirement fund when there is a crying newborn demanding their attention? 

Superannuation funds were certainly the last thing on our minds when my wife Samantha and I welcomed our two children into the world. We were too busy getting to grips with feeding schedules, bedtime routines and the joys of parenthood. But, with Samantha taking maternity leave from her job as a firefighter (swapping saving lives for an even harder, more exhausting job as a mum), her superannuation contributions paused. We watched as my retirement pot continued to grow while hers stalled.

But this isn’t an uncommon experience. It’s a reality for millions of Australian women each year. 

Women retire with 24% less super than men on average

Research by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work found that women earn $136,000 less in superannuation over their working lives than men, based on median income data. Alongside the impact of the gender pay gap, women are more likely to take longer breaks from full-time employment due to maternity leave and the ongoing demands of raising a family, with a 55% drop in earnings for mothers in the five years following childbirth. 

Fewer earnings and less time spent in the workforce means new mums are saving less money in their super funds. When you factor in the impact of compounding interest, even a small reduction in contributions or a $75 fund fee paid unnecessarily can have a significant impact at retirement time. When you scale that up to the 300,000 women giving birth each year, it’s millions of dollars lost. 

But the superannuation sector is working to address this issue. Fund providers recognise that a person’s employment isn’t static – it’s a journey with many stops, changes of direction and differing priorities on the way. To deliver the best services for their members, including women and new mothers, funds need to provide better access to information, advice and support to help their members every step of the way.

How technology is helping families to update their superannuation 

One of the ways to better support members and deliver a better experience is to embrace digital transformation. Technology is often unfairly maligned as putting distance between people and providers; haven’t we all suffered from bad website chatbots and automated responses? But it can also help close the gap and make it easier for people to be proactive about their finances.

For example, women taking maternity leave are often required to update their employment status with their super fund provider themselves. This can be a time-consuming and arduous process, firstly finding out who to contact and how to contact them, then completing all the necessary steps to register the change. At a time when families have more pressing concerns – the imminent arrival of a new baby – it can quickly slip from the to-do list, leaving women being charged unnecessary fees or unable to access schemes to keep their superfund growing.

We have recently worked with Employment Hero, a forward-thinking Australian HR & payroll software provider, to give women better access to their super accounts when taking maternity leave. In just 12 weeks, our accelerator supported the creation of “Embedded Super” a simple integration for superannuation funds which allows members to easily manage and update their superannuation account without the hassle of having to contact their provider. It’s a low-cost, low-effort solution which can have a huge and immediate impact on super fund members and their retirement savings. 

Join us at ASFA Conference to find out more

As a trusted superannuation partner, we’re excited to be sharing our work at the ASFA Conference in Sydney on the 19th – 21st November 2024. Taking a cue from this year’s conference theme – Inspiring Excellence – we’ll be demonstrating the embedded super solution and hoping to inspire more providers to embrace this innovation in their system so their members can begin to benefit. 

We’ll also be sharing insights into how we’ve helped: 

• Spirit Super to increase capacity and deliver improved digital services as it rapidly grew in size. Read the case study or watch the video
• Improve digital capabilities so a super fund can quickly respond to new regulations and discover new opportunities to enhance returns for its members. Read the case study

Visit us at the ASFA conference at stand 36 or contact me in advance to find out more.