Sun Life Philippines to increase AI investments

SUN LIFE of Canada (Philippines), Inc. (Sun Life Philippines) is boosting its artificial intelligence (AI) investments across its core operations to better cater to customer demand.

“For Sun Life, globally, regionally, and of course in the Philippines, we’ve already made a decision that AI is actually the direction where we decided to proceed,” Sun Life Philippines President Jonathan Juan “JJ” D. Moreno said in a forum last week.

“We have been making investments in AI as we speak, and we will continue to make investments that will benefit the multiple facets of our operations, from our core operations to our advisors, to our distribution channels, as well as with our own people.”

AI is helpful in key tasks like underwriting new claims and managing customer service, he said.

“We see it as also impacting the way we operate, the way our agents operate, and also our ability to put ourselves in the middle of an ecosystem we would like to build,” Mr. Moreno said.

But he emphasized the importance of having skilled humans in the AI adoption process.

The official said in January that they will increase their spending on technology to further expand its reach via online distribution platforms and create specialized products to cater to Filipinos’ varying insurance needs.

The financial and insurance sector can also grow by P300 billion (around $5.2 billion) — increasing its gross value added by 12% — if it adopts AI, according to according to a 2025 report by Google Philippines and consulting firm Public First.

In 2025, Sun Life Philippines topped the life insurance industry in premium income terms with P61.81 billion. It was also ranked first in terms of net income, net worth, invested assets, and total assets. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz