The license to challenge

Elle is proud to be a Westpac boomerang. Drawn back by the people, culture and direct access to leaders, she’s now eighteen months into her second stint and never looking back. This is a good thing. Her role in innovation means she’s always got an eye on the future.
 

But it’s not just the future she’s passionate about. There’s something bigger that motivates her. Elle’s passionate about using emerging technology to solve big problems which help protect customers’ financial livelihoods.

“Everything is solvable” is the mantra Elle passes onto her team.
 

When the power of AI began to make itself known, Elle was invited by her leaders to join a working team of six to explore the possibilities for Westpac.

The most obvious point of impact was the customer, but why not bankers too?

Since the Royal Commission, bankers have found it time-consuming to keep up with ever-changing credit policies and what information is needed from the customer.
 

Elle asked herself: Why should a banker read pages and pages of policy updates? Why not use AI to share the updates and alert bankers to the relevant information? 

Again, the power of two words “Why not” became the starting blocks to an inspiring solution that could potentially make the experience simpler, smarter and faster. The plan: to build an AI-assisted chat service supporting bankers through the lending process.

Implementing this tech-driven solution in a regulatory environment like a bank was always going to be a path that would come with a steep learning curve. This was exactly the type of problem Elle was passionate about resolving.

“How do you truly advance the customer’s experience while still protecting their interests?”

Thanks to her time in corporate innovation, and with leaders who empowered her with the licence to challenge the status quo, Elle knew that this was just a question, not a roadblock.

Forever looking to strike that balance, Elle could see it wasn’t a case of “everything at once” rather taking small steps, to safely realise the bigger picture. Her team, over the next two years, made sure the right controls and constant testing was in place as they rolled out this innovative project, starting with the Bank of South Australia.

What does it look like today? Well, it’s more than a responsible home lending chat service used by bankers across the Group. True to Elle’s approach of changing it up, she thought: Why stop there? Why not offer support for our people that goes beyond home lending?

And that’s how Astro was borne; a virtual assistant offering information and guidance to our people on a diverse range of topics – from customer service to corporate workplace policies. It’s a powerful tool to help protect the financial livelihoods of our customers, communities, and each other.

This is exactly the end result that drives people like Elle. Her passion to uphold a duty of care to our customers when unlocking the possibilities of emerging technologies is another way we’re making a difference, to create better futures together.

#WeAreWestpac #WeInspire