Nationwide Deploys Azure OpenAI to Cut Response Times by 66%

Britain's largest building society, Nationwide, has implemented Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service to reduce customer query response times from 45 to 10-15 minutes, marking a significant shift in how traditional financial institutions are adopting generative artificial intelligence.

The mutual financial institution, which serves 17 million customers through more than 600 branches, has integrated GPT-4 technology through Azure OpenAI to assist with letter generation and back-office operations. 

The implementation comes as Nationwide maintains its position as the highest-ranked high street bank in the 2024 UK Customer Satisfaction Index.

Governance and Implementation

To oversee the deployment of AI technologies, Nationwide has established an AI Centre of Expertise in partnership with IBM Consulting, a technology services provider. 

The building society has also created an AI Council to ensure compliance with responsible AI principles, reflecting the financial sector's growing focus on AI governance frameworks.

“Generative AI offers potential to improve how organisations serve customers while improving the employee experience,” says Srinath Kanisapakkam, Nationwide's Chief Data & Analytics Officer. 

Srinath notes that the speed of implementation has exceeded expectations, with the first generative AI solution deployed rapidly through Microsoft's platform.

Data Infrastructure Modernisation

The implementation follows a substantial data infrastructure project using Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing platform, to consolidate the building society's data estate. 

This consolidation was necessary to address the fragmented data landscape resulting from Nationwide's absorption of 250 smaller building societies.

The building society has deployed Azure Databricks, a data analytics platform that combines data warehousing with artificial intelligence capabilities, alongside Teradata's VantageCloud for data analysis and maintenance. 

These tools enable staff to access centralised customer information, supporting the institution's personalisation strategy.

Paul Ballard, Technology Strategy & Enterprise Architecture Director at Nationwide, emphasises that the AI implementation maintains human oversight. “Our mantra is 'Copilot, not autopilot',” says Paul, adding that all generative AI output undergoes human review. 

The approach reflects Nationwide's commitment to using technology to enhance rather than replace human capabilities in customer service delivery.

Future applications of the technology at Nationwide may include contact centre operations, credit risk assessment, economic crime monitoring, virtual assistant services and CO2 emissions reporting. 

“Generative AI will enable us to offer more tailored digital propositions, improve service, and optimise decision making, risk management and operational efficiency,” adds Paul.

Exploring Microsoft Azure OpenAI

Microsoft Azure OpenAI is a cloud service that integrates OpenAI's language models and capabilities into Microsoft's Azure cloud platform. 

It allows organisations to access powerful AI models like GPT-4 and DALL-E through Azure's enterprise-grade infrastructure, with added security, compliance and scaling features.

The service works by providing API endpoints that developers can use to interact with these AI models directly through Azure's infrastructure. 

When a developer sends a request, it's routed through Azure's secure network to the appropriate AI model, which then processes the request and returns the response. This happens within Azure's data centers, ensuring data privacy and regional compliance.

Azure OpenAI includes features like role-based access control, private networking and monitoring tools. 

Organisations can set usage quotas, track costs and manage model deployments through Azure's familiar interface. The service also supports fine-tuning of models on custom data and allows integration with other Azure services like Azure Cognitive Services or Azure Machine Learning.

Businesses can use Azure OpenAI for various applications including content generation, code assistance, language translation and data analysis, while maintaining enterprise-level security and compliance standards. 

The service scales automatically based on demand and includes features for responsible AI development.

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