Reinventing customer experience through data modernization
AI-powered data strategy positions Old Mutual as a stronger, agile financial leader
Old Mutual Limited (‘Old Mutual’) is a premium African financial services group that offers a broad spectrum of financial solutions to retail and corporate customers across key markets in 14 countries. With 179 years of heritage across sub-Saharan Africa, Old Mutual continues to play a vital part in the communities it serves as well as in broader society.
Challenges
Old Mutual sought to digitize customer journeys for improved accuracy and quality, but valuable data was trapped in three separate master data management (MDM) systems. Without a comprehensive customer view, they couldn't scale to meet modern demands. Their shift to the cloud also highlighted interoperability issues with existing MDM solutions, underscoring the urgent need to modernize their data systems.
Outcomes
Partnering with Tamr, Old Mutual infused 69% of their records with up-to-date referential data in six weeks. Within nine months, Tamr had decommissioned the first of the legacy MDM systems, reducing complexities in data integration, eliminating data silos, and saving millions of dollars.
Old Mutual began its digital transformation journey, intending to leverage technology to align more closely with its business strategy. The organization aimed to modernize its operations using cutting-edge technology but faced challenges due to its outdated MDM infrastructure and architecture.
Consequently, Old Mutual undertook a journey to modernize its infrastructure, leading to the decommissioning of its legacy MDM systems.
“For an insurance organization — not traditionally known for rapid change and execution — this transformation has been remarkably swift,” says May Govender, Chief Information Officer at Old Mutual. To leapfrog and realize its ambitions, Old Mutual recognized the need for a two-pronged approach: addressing current issues while ensuring the foundational elements were correct to modernize customer experiences, and simultaneously envisioning the future today.
Tamr has been instrumental in helping Old Mutual build the foundational elements for our data strategy, a critical requirement for achieving our long-term ambition of becoming an AI-led insurance organization”
May Govender
An AI-first approach to an age old data problem
To support its digital transformation initiatives, Old Mutual turned to Tamr for best practices and execution assistance. Initially, Old Mutual partnered with Tamr to replace its legacy MDM systems with AI-first software and modernize its data capabilities— a task that couldn't have been accomplished internally.
Tamr was instrumental in helping Old Mutual build the foundational elements for their data strategy, a critical requirement for achieving their long-term ambition of becoming an AI-led insurance organization.
By adopting Tamr’s patented advanced AI/ML technology, Old Mutual saw immediate improvements in its data. The firm:
- Improved data accuracy by 69% in just six weeks, resulting in golden records
- Fully decommissioned legacy MDM solutions within nine months and saved millions of dollars in costs
- Simplified their IT landscape, reducing complexities in data integration and eliminating data silos
And they accomplished all of this on-time, on-budget, and without hiring new resources.
These advancements have not only fortified Old Mutual's position as a stronger, more agile, and financially healthier organization, but have also provided profound benefits to their customers. By delivering a more holistic and accurate view of each customer, the firm can now offer more personalized, efficient, and responsive services, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Future-proofing with Tamr: Old Mutual's AI-driven journey ahead
Moving forward, Old Mutual continues to deepen its collaboration with Tamr. With Tamr’s AI-powered, human-refined golden records enabling their business and delivering tangible value, Old Mutual is now on a journey to establish its AI Center of Excellence, aiming to future-proof its business.
Explore Old Mutual's complete digital transformation journey in Fintech Magazine.