Q&A: What a $1.5 billion technology and AI investment means for Nationwide Financial partners

Q&A: What a $1.5 billion technology and AI investment means for Nationwide Financial partners

Nationwide, a Fortune 100 enterprise and one of the largest insurance and financial services companies in the U.S., announceda transformational $1.5 billion investment through 2028 in technology innovation initiatives, with $100M earmarked for advancing AI each year for the next three years. Nationwide Financial Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President Michael Carrel explains the impact this investment will have on the company's financial partners.

Q: How will this investment benefit Nationwide Financial partners?

Carrel: This investment is a strategic step forward in our commitment to deliver exceptional value to our partners. By modernizing our technology and scaling AI responsibly, we're enhancing operational efficiency, improving customer service and making it easier for our partners to do business with us. Our current AI tools, like Sales Sidekick and Copilot Chat, have empowered our teams to respond faster and more accurately to partner needs. Additionally, our Partnership Portal integrates our systems directly into partner ecosystems, simplifying workflows and increasing digital-tool adoption. With this new investment, those capabilities will advance further, helping us better support our partners in growing their businesses and serving their clients.

Q: How will Nationwide Financial keep partner and customer data secure?

Carrel: Security is foundational to our technology strategy. We've built a trusted data environment that ensures the quality, protection and governance of both structured and unstructured data. Our AI tools, such as Chat With Your Data, are designed specifically for sensitive and regulated data, allowing associates to work confidently and securely. We also have dedicated teams-a Blue Team and Red Team-focused on innovation and risk mitigation, ensuring that every AI deployment is safe, compliant and aligned with our values.

Q: What are you most looking forward to as a result of this business-changing technology investment?

Carrel: I'm most excited about how this investment will unlock new opportunities for transformation. We're not just optimizing-we're reimagining how we work. With over 2,000 custom AI agents already developed, we're seeing productivity gains of 15-30%. These tools allow our associates to focus on higher-value work and solve previously unsolvable problems that will help create success for both our business partners and our members. Ultimately, this means deeper partnerships, faster service, and more meaningful outcomes.

To learn more about Nationwide's technology organization, visit the Nationwide Technology & Innovation Newsroom page.

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