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Nationwide Building Society, leveraging generative AI as a copilot, enhances customer service and operational efficiency for its 15 million members and 18,000 staff while adhering to responsible AI principles.
Founded in 1884 as the Southern Co-operative Permanent Building Society, Nationwide Building Society drives its technological transformation in 2025 with a focus on its member-owned mutual roots.
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Nitin Kulkarni, Nationwide’s Chief Information Officer for data platforms, engineering, and AI center of expertise, joined in July 2023 and emphasizes using generative AI as an aid for staff, not a replacement.
“We are using it as a copilot as we believe this is the right sweet spot,” Kulkarni states, highlighting a framework that ensures controlled and secure AI deployment.
Nationwide’s ambition is to lead the sector in data and AI strategy, taking “baby steps” to test generative AI end-to-end while staying within strict guardrails.
In January 2025, Nationwide expanded its generative AI use with Microsoft, utilizing the GPT-4 model within Azure OpenAI to generate customer letters, reducing response times from 45 to 10-15 minutes—a 66% efficiency improvement.
This Microsoft partnership enables staff to handle customer queries faster and address complex member needs by freeing up time through back-office AI applications.
Nationwide centralized its data using Microsoft Azure, applying Azure Databricks and Teradata’s VantageCloud to analyze and maintain information, a critical step for AI success.
“For AI to be successful all data has to be in one place – that is a fundamental thing you have to do,” Kulkarni explains, underscoring the importance of data centralization.
Microsoft’s ecosystem validates models and prompts, providing a singular platform to optimize Nationwide’s data-driven processes.
Nationwide employees now access information more effectively, supporting personalized customer services and laying the foundation for future Azure OpenAI applications.
The society targets its contact center, credit risk assessment, economic crime monitoring, virtual assistant ‘Arti’, and CO2 emissions reporting for expanded generative AI use to improve service and decision-making.
In 2024, Nationwide launched GitHub Copilot, with over 850 active users, empowering developers to deliver new code and customer experiences faster.
Kulkarni stresses that a strong data foundation supports Nationwide’s readiness for future technologies, emphasizing data-driven decisions.
Nationwide collaborates with Microsoft to monitor AI performance, embedding a responsible AI mantra into its strategy.
The society established an AI Center of Excellence with IBM Consulting to oversee AI development, ensuring adherence to responsible principles.
An AI Council, including representatives from risk, procurement, security architects, compliance, data protection, legal, and people teams, vets each AI use case for fairness, transparency, inclusiveness, and security.
Kulkarni describes generative AI use as an “organizational change,” requiring broad business representation in its implementation.
Since ChatGPT’s November 2022 launch, Nationwide has made significant progress in testing generative AI, moving beyond simple prompts to enterprise-grade applications.
“Enterprise applications need to be much more rigid, they can’t just rely upon prompts,” Kulkarni notes, emphasizing scalable, advanced tech plans.
With agentic AI emerging, Nationwide continues to challenge itself to adopt new practices while maintaining responsible AI governance.
