Sun Life's GenAI agent, Iris, earns 2025 innovation honour
- Iris is a transformative application of GenAI and Agentic AI technology that directly impacts employee productivity while creating a foundation for Sun Life to scale future Client-facing innovations.
- Projected annual savings of over 24,000 hours for both employees and agents combined.
TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2025 /CNW/ - For the second consecutive year, Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) has been named a 2025 CIO Awards Canada winner, this year for its internally developed GenAI-powered agent, Iris. The CIO Awards Canada celebrate Canadian organizations and the teams within them that are using IT in innovative ways to deliver business value.
Sun Life's internal virtual agent, Iris, uses GenAI and Agentic AI to improve employee productivity and service desk efficiency. Iris is a secure service desk assistant that delivers instant, conversational responses to common inquiries such as password resets, software requests, and ticket status updates. Integrated into Sun Life's existing systems, service desk workflows and knowledge base, Iris creates a seamless and secure self-service option for employees while freeing up service desk agents' time to focus on more complex cases allowing employees to return to their priorities more quickly. The result: significant time savings, enhanced productivity, improved satisfaction, and a scalable model for future Client-facing AI innovations.
Productivity by the numbers
- Iris has dramatically reduced average service desk resolution time by 83%, resolving over 80% of employee questions in under two minutes.
- More than 9,000 password resets have been completed over the past year. The current success rate is 82%.
- Iris has successfully handled approximately 10,000 employee queries since launch.
- Projected annual savings of over 24,000 hours for both employees and agents combined.
"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."
Digital leadership, backed by results
Iris is foundational for future Client-focused innovations. The insights gained from this internal implementation are enabling Sun Life to scale similar GenAI and Agentic AI tools across all contact centres globally, transforming how Sun Life interacts with Clients, allowing faster, more personalized digital experiences. In addition, the Agentic AI system functionalities continue to expand and will have the ability to handle increasingly complex employee needs as Sun Life continues to introduce new features.
"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."
Iris is just one step on Sun Life's broader digital transformation journey. The enterprise recently also developed and launched the Advisor Notes Assistant tool, an innovative GenAI tool designed to enhance the Client experience and streamline advisor workflows. This cutting-edge technology helps advisors save 15-30 minutes of administrative effort per meeting, enabling them to spend more time deepening Client relationships and providing trusted tailored advice.
Sun Life is committed to digital leadership and to ensuring a focus on Client impact by continuing to adopt and experiment with innovative technology. Our culture is rooted in safety and security which extends to our adoption of emerging technologies. Through technology like GenAI, Sun Life empowers its people to enhance their skills to deliver on our Purpose of helping Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives.
About Sun Life
Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of June 30, 2025, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1.54 trillion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.
About the CIO Awards Canada
The CIO Awards for Canada celebrate Canadian organizations and the teams within them that are using IT in innovative ways to deliver business value, whether by creating competitive advantages, optimizing business processes, enabling growth, or improving relationships with customers. The award is an acknowledged mark of enterprise excellence and a source of pride for all winning organizations.
About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,300 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology, IT benchmarking and sourcing, and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC the world's leading tech media, data, and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit https://www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights. To learn more about IDC Canada, please visit www.idc.com/ca or follow us on LinkedIn.
About CIO
CIO focuses on attracting the highest concentration of enterprise CIOs and business technology executives with unparalleled peer insight and expertise on business strategy, innovation, and leadership. As organizations grow with digital transformation, CIO provides its readers with key insights on career development, including certifications, hiring practices and skills development. The award-winning CIO portfolio provides business technology leaders with analysis and insight on information technology trends and a keen understanding of IT's role in achieving business goals. For more information about CIO please visit, https://www.cio.com/.
Note to editors: All figures in Canadian dollars.
To contact Sun Life media relations, please email [email protected].
SOURCE Sun Life Financial Inc. - Financial News
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