Sun Life: Building Trust in Technology, Redefining the Future of Insurance

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In the insurance industry, where trust is the most valuable asset, the true measure of technological innovation achievements lies not in complexity, but in the ability to empower people. For Sun Life, a leading financial services provider with a 130-year legacy serving one in eight Hong Kong people, the journey of digital transformation is a testament to this principle. By placing human expertise at the core while leveraging the power of cloud and generative AI through Amazon Web Services (AWS), Sun Life is not just improving workflow and operations but also creating a new paradigm for how advisors and clients work together.

This commitment to people-first innovation earned Sun Life recognition as an AWS Digital Innovation Hero. The program celebrates digital transformation champions who continuously drive innovation, honoring the collective effort of rolling the first boulder up the mountain, reaching that first critical milestone on the path to a better and brighter business future. For Sun Life, this accolade is not about a singular achievement, but a sustained culture of empowering teams to grow their skills and, in turn, deliver exceptional experiences for clients.

Co Creation with Purpose: A Repeatable Blueprint Rooted in Collaboration

For Anthony Buchanan, Chief Information & Digital Officer at Sun Life Hong Kong Limited, the philosophy is simple: “We see AI as an amplifier, not a replacement.” Guided by a focus on enhancing human interaction, Sun Life developed Advisor Buddy, an AI-powered assistant built on Amazon Bedrock. Co-created with the very advisors it was built to support, the tool serves a network of over 3,000 users as a tailored solution.

Designed with Hong Kong’s unique trilingual and mixed-language working context in mind, Advisor Buddy provides instant access to forms, product comparisons, and underwriting guidelines. Moving beyond simple text generation by analyzing advisor intent, the tool effectively slashed response time from minutes to seconds without compromising accuracy. 

This co-creation model, where real pain points and workflows were addressed from day one, enabled Sun Life to shorten its time to market. More importantly, by eliminating the friction of manual searches, it frees advisors to focus on building relationships, solving complex problems, and delivering the personalized human experience that clients seek. What emerged was a repeatable blueprint for AI delivery, proof that the significance of Advisor Buddy extends beyond the tool itself.

Speed with Discipline: A Responsible Approach Rooted in Compliance

Even as advisors embrace Advisor Buddy with remarkable speed, Sun Life is maintaining a deliberately measured approach to emerging technology trends. Buchanan notes that while the market moves on a day-to-day basis, Sun Life’s focus remains on providing value within clear boundaries. The goal is clear: equipping advisors with the right information at the right time, all while ensuring strict governance.

With reliability being non-negotiable in a highly regulated environment, Sun Life designed the solution with strictly governed content. Answers are grounded in curated, version-controlled sources, while access controls align with roles and entitlements. Continuous telemetry and monitoring allow the team to track usage, detect failure patterns, and implement quality loops regularly to reduce errors.

“We need to think differently about testing.” Buchanan states, highlighting a shift in governance frameworks. Unlike traditional software implementations where testing is one and done, agentic AI requires continuous validation to prevent divergence. Buchanan explains that the solution lies in building a way to do continual testing, adding, “Part of the answer lies in using AI tools to build test automation, which in turn helps us keep solutions relevant and responsive to change.”

This rigorous approach is supported by progressive regulatory frameworks in Hong Kong. Initiatives like the Insurance Authority’s Gen A.I. Sandbox++ provide a controlled environment for financial institutions to develop and test AI applications safely, giving organizations like Sun Life the assurance to innovate while upholding the highest standards of data protection and trust.

Flexibility with Agility: A Strategic Partnership Rooted in Empowerment

The successful deployment of Advisor Buddy is a direct result of the rapidly accelerating partnership between Sun Life and AWS. While the collaboration between the two groups has deep roots, the last two years have marked a significant turning point: Sun Life made the strategic decision to embrace cloud at scale, migrating the majority of its Hong Kong application suite to the AWS Cloud.

“We wanted to get away from the old constraints of legacy data centers.” remarks Buchanan. “Data will be core to the future, especially when it comes to AI applications. We are using a lot of AWS tools, such as SageMaker, to hydrate and bring data together, giving us the access needed to drive digital servicing.”

This migration has unlocked unprecedented flexibility, yet for Sun Life, technology is only part of the story. The partnership with AWS has evolved into a catalyst for internal capability building, with AWS experts now working alongside Sun Life teams through hands-on workshops, architecture sessions, LLM evaluations and tuning, equipping staff to drive innovation independently after initial deployment.

“Transformations stick when teams can build, run, and improve technology themselves.” Buchanan explains. This team-owned model ensures that skills are transferred and embedded, fostering a culture of innovation that goes beyond any individual project. By encouraging self-sufficiency, the approach transforms Sun Life’s people from passive end users into true owners of their technological journey.

Learning with Continuity: A Modernization Mindset Rooted in People

As Sun Life continues to scale its digital ambitions, the company is investing heavily in empowering both its advisors and backend staff with everyday AI tools. A key pillar of this effort is AI Month in May, which will bring external training partners, including AWS, to help staff build practical skills in using AI and confidence in decision making across their daily roles.

With a significant share of high-net-worth insurance policies, Sun Life’s advisors operate in a space where client needs are increasingly complex and expectations are understandably high. They must navigate intricate financial frameworks, evolving regulations, and personalized service demands, thus making continuous learning not optional, but essential. 

To support this, Sun Life has cultivated a modernization mindset that encourages everyone to see themselves as learners and co-creators. Discovery working sessions invite teams to experiment with emerging technologies in a hands-on setting, while formal upskilling pathways in cloud literacy and AI fundamentals help internal champions grow into roles that drive innovation. Together, these initiatives ensure that capability compounds over time, demonstrating that investing in people with the right tools makes excellence inevitable.

Innovation with Governance: A Roadmap Rooted in Trust

As Sun Life looks toward its 2026-2028 digital and technology strategy, the focus continues to be people-first innovation with responsible delivery. The roadmap is built on three pillars: empowering advisors with relevant tools, equipping internal teams with modern practices, and embedding AI governance into every layer of operations. By breaking down silos across technology, distribution, and operations, the company is enabling faster decisions and cohesive alignment.

Advisors are encouraged to think critically about where technology adds value and where human judgment must lead. The success of Advisor Buddy marks only the first step of an extensive digital transformation journey. It is a reminder that in a business anchored in trust, technology’s true value lies in delivering speed with precision, helping people find the right information to make better conversations and deeper connections.

“The goal is never AI for AI’s sake.” Buchanan concludes. “It is empowering our people with tools they can trust.” In partnership with AWS, Sun Life is proving that when a long-standing legacy of trust meets a modern mindset, the future of financial services is not just digital, but also distinctly human.