AXA partners with Publicis Sapient on AI hub growth

AXA has formed a strategic partnership with Publicis Sapient to expand its Global AI Hub, which is already in use across five AXA entities.

The agreement focuses on further developing the hub as AXA rolls out artificial intelligence agents across its operations. The platform provides shared, standardised foundations for AI projects, allowing local businesses to focus on specific use cases rather than building common infrastructure separately.

Publicis Sapient will support the insurer with engineering and AI deployment as AXA extends the platform across the group. The hub is intended to support the implementation, governance and operation of AI systems at scale.

The first version of the platform was delivered in July. AXA entities in Germany, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and AXA XL are already developing applications including motor claims automation, customer email processing and enterprise knowledge management.

Governance focus

The platform has been designed to remain vendor-agnostic while embedding governance, FinOps, SafetyOps, security, compliance and human oversight throughout the AI lifecycle. It is also intended to help AXA select and coordinate different large language models and AI tools across use cases while managing costs.

The partnership reflects a broader shift among large companies from limited AI pilots to deployment across multiple business lines. For insurers and other regulated businesses, that has increased attention on oversight, security and controls as much as on speed of deployment.

Angela Robinson, Country Managing Director, Publicis Sapient Australia, said Australian companies were facing the same challenge.

“Australian organisations are under pressure to move AI beyond pilots and deliver real business impact at scale. What stands out in AXA's approach is the focus on building the foundations that allow AI to scale responsibly, with governance, security and flexibility built in from the start. That's a challenge many enterprise leaders are grappling with today,” Robinson said.

For AXA, the Global AI Hub is part of a broader effort to industrialise the use of artificial intelligence across the group. The insurer wants to strengthen AI-led features while maintaining human oversight of business-critical decision-making.

Matthieu Caillat, Group Chief Technology & AI Officer and Chief Executive Officer of AXA Group Operations, outlined the company's approach.

“Artificial intelligence represents a unique opportunity to enhance our innovation capabilities, support our employees and better serve our customers. As we continue to scale AI across the Group, our priority is to combine safe and efficient artificial intelligence, strong governance and practical business applications that create lasting value. Publicis Sapient brings together specialist AI expertise, enterprise AI solutions and global experience that will help us accelerate AI adoption consistently across our organization, while maintaining the governance and flexibility required in a highly regulated business,” Caillat said.

Insurance use

The use cases now under development indicate where AXA expects early returns. Motor claims automation could reduce manual handling in a high-volume process, while email processing and knowledge management point to internal productivity and service improvements rather than customer-facing underwriting or pricing decisions.

That distinction matters in insurance, where companies have been more cautious about deploying AI in functions that could directly affect regulated outcomes. Human oversight will remain in place for business-critical decisions, suggesting the group is drawing clear boundaries around the role of automated systems.

Publicis Sapient said its role in the partnership would combine AI expertise with the engineering needed to make deployments consistent across the insurer's operations. The company has been building its position in enterprise AI services as large organisations seek external support to integrate models, controls and operating processes.

David Murphy, Head of Financial Services EMEA & APAC, Publicis Sapient, said the work with AXA would focus on those foundations.

“Enterprise AI delivers the greatest value when it combines deep industry expertise with strong engineering foundations. We are excited to partner with AXA to establish the enterprise AI capabilities, engineering approaches and the necessary governance to accelerate AI adoption securely and consistently across the Group in support of AXA's long-term AI ambitions,” Murphy said.

AXA employs 156,000 people and serves 92 million clients in 52 countries, underlining the scale of any technology deployment that extends beyond a local market or single function.