AI Role Play: Empowering Agents Through Scalable, GenAI-Enabled Training Excellence Qorus-NTT DATA Innovation in Insurance Awards 2026

AIA's Premier Agency model has long been the cornerstone of our success, with 96,000+ active advisers across 18 markets generating 73% of our Group Value of New Business (VONB). However, as customer demand continued to grow, existing training capacity was challenged to scale at the same pace, creating the impetus to reimagine capability-building to better support agent success and long-term retention.

The Training Challenge

The opportunity was multifaceted. Experienced agents and Managers of Agents (MOAs) had limited bandwidth to provide comprehensive training for new recruits, who needed intensive skill-building within their first three months before approaching customers. Traditional classroom training and static e-learning couldn't meet the demands of scaling across 18 diverse Asian markets, each with distinct cultural contexts and customer expectations. Additionally, we were sitting on a rich supply of training and customer interaction data, but lacked a training solution that meaningfully tapped into this source. We needed unlimited, high-quality practice opportunities leveraging rich data sets without proportionally increasing trainer resources.

Why This Moment Mattered

Following our successful $800 million Technology, Digital, and Analytics (TDA) transformation from 2020 to 2023, we achieved 90% cloud adoption (twice the insurance industry benchmark). This infrastructure created the foundation for applying GenAI solutions to frontline workforce development. Our Group Innovation Office (GIO), established in October 2024, was purpose-built to systematically identify, validate, and scale these kinds of innovations across our business units.

Our Human-Centric Approach

We designed AI Role Play for behaviour change and genuine performance improvement, moving beyond simple automation because we believe that technology should enhance human capability, not replace it. This is central to our innovation philosophy that is championed at our highest levels, with Group CEO Lee Yuan Siong directly chairing our monthly Innovation Steering Committee.

Building the Solution Together

Executing this vision required deep cross-functional collaboration. Our core GIO delivery team of nine specialists worked alongside business unit agency teams across China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Critically, we involved Managers of Agents and top-performing agents in co-designing training scenarios, ensuring frontline credibility. Six business units (China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia) ultimately contributed 40+ enhancement requests that shaped the platform's evolution. External partners Ogilvy, Tencent, and Alibaba provided UX design, speech technology, and cloud infrastructure respectively, while our AI Centre of Excellence ensured responsible AI compliance throughout.

What We've Achieved

• Performance Impact: 1.5x higher (50%) monthly Annualised New Premium (ANP) for adopters versus non-adopters, with 18.2% assessment score improvement across diverse scenarios

• Multi-Market Deployment: Fully launched in three business units (China, Singapore, Malaysia); Hong Kong launching March 2026

• Continuous Evolution: Platform expanded from 10 to 43+ scenarios based on frontline feedback

• Operational Efficiency: 24/7 accessibility eliminates scheduling constraints, freeing experienced agent capacity for complex coaching

• Flexible Development: Group training functionality supports both individual and team development

• Organic Expansion: Success drove extension to Partner Distribution (bancassurance partners including Citibank, Bank of Philippine Islands, Public Bank Berhad, Bank Central Asia) and Corporate Solutions teams

Country

China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia

Launch Date

Pilot: September 2024 (AIA China)

Fully launched in China, Singapore, Malaysia (2025)

Hong Kong: March 2026