Ally Financial has launched Ally.ai, a proprietary, cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) platform that allows the bank to integrate any type of AI capability, including generative AI and large language models, into business operations.
“Generative AI has the potential to be a game-changer in financial services and global business in general,” Ally Financial CEO Jeff Brown said. “As a digital-first company, we are going to do it right with AI – exploring the technology in a responsible manner with core principles and controls firmly in place. In just a few months, Ally teammates have moved quickly and prudently to anticipate how this new technology can positively support our business. We are known for being relentlessly focused on our customers, and those values won’t change – it’s a matter of how generative AI can be integrated to support our vision for what digital banking can become.”
With this initiative, Ally is emphasizing three core principles. First, they are initially focusing on use cases that support employee productivity and optimizing internal business processes. Second, the platform will provide human intervention and controls for oversight and training. Third, it will prevent the disclosure of personal identifying information and restrict external generative AI models from learning or training with Ally data.
“The launch of the Ally.ai platform is the next evolution framing how we power deeper and more meaningful digital experiences while also unleashing productivity and new efficiencies. We’re being thoughtful about where and when to leverage its capabilities,” Ally’s Chief Information, Data and Digital Officer Sathish Muthukrishnan said.
Ally also has a robust governance structure in place, which includes an AI playbook from which the entire enterprise can operate. The playbook defines common policy, details processes that must be followed, and highlights ethical guidance and considerations. Further, the bank has established an AI Working Group, an internal team of professionals, who collaborate with Ally’s AI tech leaders to review and advise on use cases.
“Our teammates are being actively trained and involved in the evaluation and use of generative AI technology,” Muthukrishnan said. “Any time we launch a pilot program or explore the use of generative AI in any setting, human intervention and oversight mechanisms are fully defined ahead of time.”
Ally.ai, built on the cloud by the in-house technology team and powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, went online in June 2023. At that time, Ally launched a customer call summarization pilot program that supported more than 700 associates. Over the next 30 days, Ally.ai assisted associates in transcribing and summarizing live customer service phone calls in real time.
Approximately 82 percent of summaries coming back from Ally.ai do not require any human modification – a metric that increased steadily during the pilot. They also said that Ally.ai summarizations have helped them focus their energy on meaningful customer interactions and have reduced the amount of time needed to document the conversation and toggle between screens.