Nationwide warns returns from corporate AI are still hard to measure

Nationwide, the building society, has cautioned that the financial benefits of implementing AI technology in the workplace are still challenging to measure, despite its widespread deployment to around 16,000 staff members. A total of 1,000 employees in the finance team, combined with Nationwide and Virgin Money, currently utilize premium Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses, while approximately 2,500 engineers have access to Github Copilot.

Paul Ballard, Nationwide’s technology transformation director, shared these insights with City AM. He noted that the society may observe staff employing AI more frequently and accomplishing tasks more swiftly, but has yet to determine the precise monetary value derived from these tools. Ballard emphasized that while they can currently see the value, translating it into financial gains remains elusive.

Nationwide has been participating in Microsoft’s early access program, commencing with around 300 users and gradually expanding to the current 1,000 premium Copilot licenses. The society was more cautious about spending, as Ballard explained, "Every pound that we spend is a pound of our customers." The finance division was among the first to adopt Copilot, alongside technology and retail operations.

Employees employ Copilot for various tasks such as analyzing spreadsheets, reviewing documents, drafting emails, and summarizing meetings. Nationwide has also previously leveraged GPT-4 offered through Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI service to expedite customer letter generation, reducing the average time from around 45 minutes to a mere 10 to 15 minutes.

However, staff are required to review the AI-generated content before dispatching the letters. The aim of this rollout, according to Ballard, is to enhance the productivity of Nationwide's existing workforce rather than replacing jobs. Nationwide is exploring the use of AI agents in areas such as anti-money laundering, customer due diligence, business analysis, and mortgage operations.

However, Ballard acknowledged that the society is "nowhere near" autonomous agents, and human oversight remains integral to all its AI implementations. He cautioned that complacency poses the greatest risk, as even a single instance of failure could have significant repercussions. Nationwide has established an AI council comprising representatives from technology, security, legal, and procurement departments to evaluate potential new uses of AI.

In tandem with this, Nationwide has consolidated 19 separate data stores onto Microsoft Azure and Azure Databricks. The society's expansion aligns with Microsoft's efforts to capitalize on the growing corporate AI adoption, as evidenced by Microsoft 365 Copilot's surpassing of 30 million paid seats in the latest quarter. Microsoft's overall revenue increased by 18% to $90 billion in the three months leading up to June, while Azure revenue surged by 43%.

As competition for corporate spending on AI intensifies, with Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic vying for a share, Nationwide plans to adopt multiple AI models for different use cases, maintaining flexibility amid evolving costs and regulatory landscapes. Nationwide has also adopted a "no FOMO" approach to AI investment, recognizing that AI is not a panacea for all challenges.

Ballard stressed that they are selective in identifying opportunities where AI can genuinely add value.