This article was first published in Society Matters magazine in June.

Katie Clinton, Partner and Head of Regional Financial Services, KPMG UK

The forum set out to bring the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to life for the mutual sector, demystify the technology and, reflect on what it means for building societies, credit unions and their members. This was all underpinned by how to approach AI safely and confidently. 

It was important that we demonstrated AI solutions aligned to the values, culture, and propositions of the mutual sector, focusing on key questions AI could potentially answer:

• How can I increase staff productivity?
• How can I increase customer satisfaction and empathy – at scale – but reduce cost?

Given all the talk about AI, it was important to bring the power of AI to life through real use cases tailored to the mutual sector. This really helped to show how AI can help meet and exceed customer expectations and enhance staff productivity by summarising long email threads or capturing meeting actions in seconds!

Rewriting the rules of customer experience

In the sessions, we invited attendees to challenge their perceptions of the art of the possible with AI. We looked at KPMG’s 2023/24 Customer Excellence Report where adoption of AI was synonymous with many top-ranked organisations. This included personalising experiences, such as adjusting website content or anticipating which products a customer might be interested in, showcasing how relevant products could be shared with members before they even search for them. 

Trusted AI 

Topics such as AI often trigger concerns about privacy, security and fairness. So it was important for us to take participants through how to use this technology safely. We explored the growing challenges AI presents, the importance of controls and how to adopt trusted AI principles to be able to use the technology safely. The need for transparent and ethical use of data really resonated with the participants. 

Let the conversation continue!

The mood in the room was unanimous. In order to drive the development of trusted AI principles and a clear AI control framework, board accountability is required, a theme which was repeated on the second day of the conference. This underscores AI’s impact on an organisation’s purpose and ensures mutuals stand out even more for the right reasons. 

Find out more

- Scan the QR code to participate in our AI Rapid Maturity Assessment and we’ll be in touch with the findings https://forms.office.com/e/6pA19T3tfG

- Visit https://kpmg.com/uk/CustomerExperienceExcellence and https://kpmg.com/uk/TrustedAI