Prudential launches global AI Lab in Singapore

• Lab will create AI solutions to improve customer experience, drive business impact
• 100+ AI use cases have been submitted to the Lab by Prudential employees since Aug

Prudential plc has launched the Prudential AI Lab in Singapore, with the aim of accelerating the adoption of AI, generative AI, and machine learning organisation-wide.

In a statement, the company said its AI Lab will incubate AI-powered solutions designed to deliver a better customer experience and meaningful business impact, while integrating AI capabilities into its operations, services, and products. Following its soft launch in August 2024, more than 100 AI use cases have been submitted to the Lab by employees across Prudential’s 24 markets in Asia and Africa, it added.

The Prudential AI Lab was developed with support from the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, the Economic Development Board of Singapore, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. It has been launched in partnership with Google Cloud, which is providing Prudential employees with end-to-end technical support and access to advanced AI solutions.

The Lab will prioritise solutions that improve consumer access to quality healthcare and drive operational excellence at Prudential. AI will also enable financial representatives to serve customers better and faster with strengthened advisory capabilities. The Lab will be staffed by a dedicated team of AI engineers and data scientists based in Singapore.

Anil Wadhwani, CEO of Prudential plc, said, “Data, advanced analytics, and AI are crucial to the delivery of our strategic priorities. The AI Lab will supercharge the development of exciting applications such as predictive analytics, hyper-personalised customer engagement, and real-time guidance for agents.”

“I believe we are just beginning to explore the vast possibilities and value this technology offers. The Prudential AI Lab will significantly enhance our ability to deliver exceptional experiences for our customers, agents, and financial representatives across all markets,” he added.

Commenting on the collaboration with the Singapore government, Wadhwani said, “Singapore was selected as the location of Prudential’s global AI Lab for its robust infrastructure and supportive environment for AI innovation, highlighted by its National AI Strategy. Our partnership with EDB and MAS allows us to tap into Singapore’s rich network of resources and talent from academia, business, and government. This collaboration will greatly support our ability to develop innovative solutions that address customer and business challenges while building even stronger AI capabilities.”

Meanwhile, Gillian Tan, assistant managing director (Development and International) and chief sustainability officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said, “Prudential’s AI Lab is aligned with Singapore’s Smart Nation 2.0 goal to encourage businesses to utilise AI and technology to raise productivity, transform, and serve customers better. MAS will continue to support financial institutions as they develop capabilities and harness AI to enhance their customer and advisory services, fraud detection, and risk insights generation."

Nurturing AI innovators through a strong ecosystem

According to Prudential, the Lab will collaborate closely with ecosystem partners, such as institutes of higher learning (IHLs), research centres, government agencies, and technology partners.

It already has agreements with several IHLs, including the National University of Singapore Asian Institute of Digital Finance, Singapore Management University School of Computing and Information Systems, Republic Polytechnic, and Singapore Polytechnic. The Lab will engage students from these local schools to nurture the next generation of AI experts by offering hands-on experiences and fostering knowledge sharing and innovation.

Students on internships with Prudential and those whose final-year projects are selected will work alongside the Lab, its partner ecosystem, and Prudential’s business units to build proofs-of-concept for selected use cases.