New Zealand insurer Tower says using AI in its contact centre has saved customers more than 13,000 hours in seven months.

The centre, built on Amazon Connect, reduced average handling time by two minutes 38 seconds per interaction, cutting the time customers spent in contact with Tower by about 15%.

“This work shows how AI can support our people to deliver better outcomes for customers,” CEO Paul Johnston said. “Reducing the time it takes to get help – without sacrificing care or judgment – is critical to maintaining trust.”

Every sales, service and claims call at Tower now uses real time transcription to capture conversations, eliminating the need for representatives to pause to type notes.

This cuts the risk of missing important details, the insurer says.

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Tower was one of seven organisations worldwide in the inaugural Amazon Web Services pilot for Amazon Connect, and the only one from Australia and New Zealand.

The platform also offers automated quality monitoring and AI agent support. Tower says it is increasingly using these capabilities and continues to invest in platforms as a “digital insurer”.

“We’re poised to invest further in technology and AI enablement throughout 2026,” Mr Johnston said.

“This is a critical part of our strategy that will drive greater efficiencies and continue to enhance our customer experience.”