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Alex Cook speaks about AI at Vox Media’s Code Conference.
New York Life | January 10, 2024
Head of Strategic Capabilities addresses ‘Unlocking the Gen AI Advantage in the Workplace.’
New York Life’s Head of Strategic Capabilities Alex Cook recently served on a panel titled “Unlocking the Gen AI Advantage in the Workplace” as part of Vox Media’s 20th annual Code Conference. The event brings together key leaders from the tech and business worlds to talk about what comes next.
Cook noted that Generative AI (Gen AI) is ushering in a significant transformation within the life insurance space and that New York Life is exploring the many opportunities to leverage its potential while being thoughtful about the impacts on the company’s policy owners, agents, employees, and other stakeholders.
In discussing New York Life’s efforts to quickly adopt this technology, Cook explained, “As it became increasingly apparent that Gen AI was going to be a significant gamechanger, we were somewhat prepared already as we had quite a few predictive models deployed in various areas across the company using more traditional data science and AI approaches. With that said, we have ramped up in a few dimensions. This includes broad mobilization to get our tech stack ready to have the right type of environment for deployment of Gen AI models and all the management of critical proprietary data. We have also focused on education and communications to our employees and agents, helping people understand the appropriate uses of these technologies.”
With a strong emphasis on model governance and operating responsibly, the team embarked on Gen AI use cases that had the potential to deliver significant impact with limited downside risk. Knowledge management and knowledge synthesis have been priority themes as the team tests and learns
“New York Life recognizes the need to move faster to keep up with customer expectations and has been on a journey over the last few years, accelerated by the pandemic, to undergo a digital transformation,” Cook added. “This includes taking advantage of the cloud, leaning into AI, and driving an important cultural change in mindset across the company in terms of being thoughtful about risk taking and risk management in an era where the risk of the status quo is greater than the risk of change. We need to be in the mindset of pace over perfection with the appropriate degree of managing risk in the areas that matter most while enabling our organization to test, learn, and iterate.”
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Media contact
Kevin Maher
New York Life Insurance Company
(212) 576-7937
Kevin_B_Maher@newyorklife.com