While artificial intelligence isn’t a novel concept in benefits administration, all sides of the industry are still considering best uses and areas for improvement. 

1Password’s benefits provider incorporates AI for data analytics, as well as typical service requests and personalization, says Katya Laviolette, the software company’s chief people officer. For employees looking for different resources, there are planned texts and frequently asked questions to help streamline these searches, she notes, while its claims process has become much faster with a very minimal wait time for reimbursement compared to a few years ago. 

Sobeys Inc.’s providers use AI to send instant text responses to employees to help them understand their benefits and what’s available to them, says Basil Rowe, the company’s vice-president of total rewards. “Our plan members are looking for quick answers to their questions, so being able to search on their phone and get the answer through the app or a call centre [is more efficient]. It also cuts down on the call volume and the time it takes to find relevant information.” 

Read: Employers seeking simpler benefits solutions amid increasing HR demands: survey

Additionally, the grocery retailer is using AI for benefits analytics and identifying how to evolve its plan. “Benefits, in particular, is a very complex space, with everything from health to vision to dental coverage,” he says. “[With AI, we can] look at member usage in the plan and how our plan should evolve and it can inform future plan design considerations. That’s where we’re seeing the real value of analytics coming from AI.” 

These forms of AI have been available at Sobeys for the last two years and their evolution is apparent in the company’s annual review with its benefits provider, involving more in-depth analysis, anticipatory questions and clearly identified trends. 

Insurer applications 

Beneva Inc. believes AI should be used to find efficiency in every task and deliver a better experience for plan sponsors and members, according to Sunil Hirjee, its vice-president of group sales and partner experience. 

It’s well integrated into Beneva’s strategic plan, he adds, so much so that the insurer created a vice-president role that looks at how AI can be leveraged to augment the partner experience. 

“We see AI as an opportunity for us to improve everything we do, [but] it won’t replace people. It’s just being used to make things easier, faster, more accurate and free up time for us to focus more on the human aspect of what we do.” 

Read: 2024 Group Benefits Providers Report: Leveraging AI to streamline benefits

In addition, Beneva is using AI through its call centres for transcription services to ensure there’s an accurate record of phone call details, as well as call routing so people can get to the right resources immediately. It’s also looking at how it can evolve so members have the ability to engage with a virtual agent for simple, frequent questions. 

At Medavie Blue Cross, AI is integrated across benefits administration to reduce friction, improve accuracy and give plan sponsors clearer insights into plan performance and member needs, says David Adams, the company’s senior vice-president of insurance business. “This includes intelligent document processing for faster, more consistent claims handling, agentic systems that automate multi-step operational workflows and AI enhanced reporting that supports plan sponsors with real time, actionable data.”  

Medavie also applies AI to fraud detection and cybersecurity to help improve plan sustainability, he notes, adding its AI capabilities have steadily expanded over the past several years, with more than 80 active AI use cases........

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