SINGAPORE – Manulife Singapore has launched an Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence (AI CoE), in line with its thrust as a digital-first, AI-powered insurer.
The AI CoE will focus on developing and scaling AI solutions that make insurance simpler, faster, and more intuitive for customers. These range from enhancing customer experience, personalising advice and recommendations, and equipping employees and advisors with tools that enrich the human experience.
“AI gives us the opportunity to deliver better, faster, and more personalised service to customers,” said Benoit Meslet, CEO, Manulife Singapore.
“When our teams are supported by the right tools, they can spend more time on the moments that truly matter – listening, advising, and building trust,” said Meslet. “This CoE strengthens our ability to combine the efficiencies of technology with the human touch that defines exceptional experiences.”
The CoE will develop use cases across underwriting, operations, customer engagement, and distribution, ensuring AI-driven improvements remain transparent, secure, and guided by human insight.
Manulife will grow its AI talent base over the next three years, hiring across areas such as data science, AI governance and AI engineering to deepen its capabilities in model development, oversight, and deployment.
The CoE will also tap into Singapore’s research institutions and industry associations to grow AI talent and uplift the broader financial services sector.
“By developing AI solutions that enhance customer experiences and drive operational efficiencies, this CoE will showcase the applications and benefits of AI within the insurance sector,” said Philbert Gomez, SVP, executive director and head of Digital Industry Singapore.
“It also creates opportunities for Singapore’s talent, including through collaboration opportunities with our local academic institutions and research institutes,” said Gomez.
The Singapore CoE will partner with the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF), local universities and training bodies to build practical skills in AI governance, model oversight, and development of responsible AI capabilities.
This includes internships and mentorships with Singapore’s institutes of higher learning to expose students to real-world AI application in financial services.
There will be AI training programmes recognised and supported by the IBF to strengthen AI literacy for Manulife employees.
It will work with IBF as one of the 11 pilot Financial Institutions on workforce development for generative AI adoption, which includes upskilling and reskilling of employees into new or enhanced roles across advisory, underwriting, risk, operations, and technology functions.
The CoE will contribute best practices and insights to advance AI adoption in the industry as part of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Pathfinder Programme (MAS PathFin.ai).
The center will collaborate with the Asian Institute of Digital Finance at the National University of Singapore on research and knowledge exchange.
“AI is reshaping how organisations solve problems and create value,” said Mark Czajkowski, chief AI officer of Asia.
“Our enterprise AI strategy centres on responsible innovation, governance, and impact,” said Czajkowski. “The Singapore CoE enhances our ability to test, refine, and scale solutions that help our teams serve customers better.”
Today, more than 75% of Manulife’s global workforce uses GenAI tools, including its proprietary ChatMFC platform.
The Singapore CoE will further advance these efforts by accelerating development and deployment of next-generation AI tools, enabling teams across markets to work more efficiently and deliver higher-quality service.
