The fastest way to build confidence in AI is to put it in everyone's hands

Many large companies that introduce generative AI follow the same playbook: A central team runs pilots. A specialist group gets the tools first. Everyone else waits for a policy, a training course and a business case. As a result, many colleagues spend their first year with the new technology imagining what it might do to their jobs instead of learning what it can do for them.

Manulife chose to put the tools in everyone's hands from the start, as part of a strategy built on the view that AI is a people transformation more than a technology transformation. We made generative AI tools, including Microsoft Copilot and ChatMFC, our internal GenAI chat assistant, available to colleagues across the company, and built the training, support and guardrails in tandem as people began to use it. As Chief People Officer for Asia, I believe that decision did more to build colleague confidence than anything we said about it. Every employee should have the opportunity to learn, experiment and help shape how AI makes them more effective in their roles. Our role as leaders is to ensure colleagues have the tools, skills, confidence and support to thrive in an AI-enabled future. That means creating an environment for responsible experimentation while teaching people as they go and letting them learn from each other.

Learning spreads fastest from colleague to colleague

Alongside access, we built a skills program for users, leaders and practitioners, with role-based training so that an underwriter and a software developer each learn what their own work requires. Our AI Champions now form a network across our markets: strong users who share what works and set an example for their colleagues. Learning cannot stop at a one-off training, so workshops, enablement programs and AI communities of practice run throughout the year and tie what people learn to their day-to-day work. AI is also a standing item in team meetings and senior leadership meetings, where leaders practice with the tools and discuss them. A series of internal campaigns keeps encouraging colleagues to try new uses and share what they find.

No one should be afraid to admit what they don't know

Colleagues come to AI at very different levels: some are already expert users, others have barely started, and some are reluctant to admit they aren't using it. Psychological safety means making clear that it doesn't matter where someone starts: No question is too basic, it's fine to challenge what the tools produce and to learn from mistakes, and everyone gets the same chance to learn. We work to keep that environment a nurturing one and to show colleagues what is possible, so they are inspired to try rather than worried about being found out.

Manulife's AI adoption has been recognized outside the company. Manulife Asia won Best Overall AI Adoption: Life/Health at the 2026 Asia Consumer Insurance Awards, and Evident has ranked Manulife the top life insurer for AI maturity for two years running. Manulife has made GenAI capabilities available to 100% of its workforce, and more than 82% of colleagues globally were actively using GenAI tools as of September 2026.

Open access needs clear rules Everyone will use AI whether their employer provides it or not. Microsoft and LinkedIn's 2024 Work Trend Index, a survey of 31,000 people in 31 countries, found that 78% of AI users were bringing their own AI tools to work, and only 39% had received AI training from their employer. Giving everyone approved tools is the more responsible course, provided people understand the guardrails well enough to apply them on their own.

Our Responsible AI Principles require human oversight of AI systems and additional review for higher-risk uses. They sit within governance and risk-management frameworks that guide how AI is assessed, approved, deployed and monitored across its lifecycle, with attention to privacy, transparency and accountability. We also train colleagues to recognize where human judgment is essential. These guardrails are not a barrier to innovation; they provide the trust needed to explore and scale AI responsibly.

AI brings the greatest benefit when it lands in a culture built to help people learn and grow with it. By combining broad access to AI, continuous learning, psychological safety and responsible governance, we're helping our people embrace change with confidence while continuing to deliver better outcomes for customers. In our experience, AI scales when everyone stop being recipients of the change and become participants in creating it.