Supercharging employee productivity; building a foundation to scale

Executive Summary

• Sun Life Financial Inc. has been named a 2025 CIO Awards Canada winner for its internally developed GenAI-powered virtual agent, "Iris," marking the second consecutive year the company has won this award.
• The Iris agent utilizes Generative AI and Agentic AI to automate service desk tasks, resulting in an 83% reduction in average resolution time and handling over 10,000 employee queries since launch.
• The initiative is projected to save over 24,000 hours annually for employees and agents, while serving as a foundational model for scaling similar AI tools to client-facing operations globally.

Key Details

• Award Recognition: Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX: SLF) (NYSE: SLF) won the 2025 CIO Awards Canada for its use of IT to deliver business value, specifically for the Iris GenAI agent.
• Iris Agent Performance Metrics:
  • Reduced average service desk resolution time by 83%.
  • Resolves over 80% of employee questions in under two minutes.
  • Completed more than 9,000 password resets in the past year with an 82% success rate.
  • Handled approximately 10,000 employee queries since launch.
  • Projected annual savings of over 24,000 hours for employees and agents combined.
• Strategic Impact: Iris acts as a secure self-service option integrated into existing systems, freeing up service desk agents to focus on complex cases.
• Future Scalability: Insights from Iris are enabling Sun Life to scale similar GenAI and Agentic AI tools across all global contact centers to enhance client experiences.
• Additional Innovation: The release also highlights the "Advisor Notes Assistant," a GenAI tool that helps advisors save 15-30 minutes of administrative effort per meeting.

Notable Quotes

• "This recognition is a testament to the power of responsible innovation and how it can be leveraged to deliver Client and employee impact," said Laura Money, Executive Vice-President, Chief Information and Technology Innovation Officer, Sun Life. "Iris combines the power of GenAI and Agentic AI with practical application – delivering real time value for our employees while creating a blueprint for how we can apply GenAI to deliver enhanced productivity at scale across Sun Life globally and for our Clients."
• "With measurable gains in efficiency, satisfaction and speed, Iris is a tangible example of how Sun Life is delivering on its innovation agenda," adds Money. "By putting advanced technology like this at the centre of everything we do, we are safely and responsibly leveraging GenAI and Agentic AI to enhance operational efficiency while creating a foundation for broader digital transformation to meet the future needs of our employees and Clients."