Macros Reply has supported Helvetia insurance company in the introduction of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), thus making it possible to speed up many processes. As a result, a software bot that performs recurring routine tasks is now part of Helvetia's day-to-day business.
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"No AI Window Dressing"
Discover in this interview how Helvetia Baloise is transforming its experts into AI creators.
Putting People at the Heart of Technology
AI has long since moved beyond being a mere hype in the insurance industry. However, the real hurdles often lie in the acceptance of business units and the integration into established processes. While many companies still struggle with pilot projects that end up 'shelved', Helvetia Baloise Insurance has taken a different approach:
They simply let their experts design the AI services themselves. The result? Significant relief when analyzing complex reports , automated workflows directly in Outlook , and a workforce that celebrates AI as genuine support in their daily work.
Timo Kohler
Helvetia Baloise
Lead Product Owner ECM,
Product Owner Input Automation & Document Management
In our interview, Timo Kohler from Helvetia Baloise shares exclusive insights into why AI success starts with people, not technology.
Timo, Baloise has been digitalizing with Macros Reply for nearly 20 years — spanning input management, electronic records, and automated document distribution. Why the move toward AI now?
Timo: "Because we realized we were hitting a limit. The digitalization of inbound mail processing was a huge step back then—OCR, machine learning, straight-through processing. But in the actual case processing, much remained manual labor. Our specialists invested a significant portion of their working time in analyzing extensive medical reports, evaluating damage claims, and—in disability cases—in the time spent reading through many pages of documents to assess the degree of impairment and the expected duration. This costs time and concentration. When the topic of AI emerged, we thought: there could be real potential here. But please, no pilot project that ends up shelved after three months."
How did you ensure that it didn't just remain a pilot project?
Timo: "By bringing the business departments on board right from the start — not just pro forma, but as decision-makers. We organized workshops with our 'super power users' — the ultimate subject matter experts from individual life insurance, claims, debt collection, administration, and customer service. The task was deliberately open-ended: Where are the biggest procedural hurdles? Which tasks consume a disproportionate amount of time? Where would you like to see concrete support? Where do you see the greatest efficiency potential for yourselves?"
And did people get on board?
Timo: "Not immediately. Naturally, there was some initial skepticism, and the first reactions were rather cautious — as a rule, experts in the specialized departments are heavily utilized and are therefore initially only limitedly enthusiastic about 'the next IT project'. But once it became clear that AI was becoming tangible and that the department could determine what the AI should achieve, the mood shifted rapidly. Suddenly, suggestions started coming in, such as: 'Could you also create a timeline of events for the entire case file?'. Or: 'I would need a recommendation on which work steps make the most sense next for this specific process type'. These were no longer abstract use cases, but concrete problems from the daily work routine."
You can develop AI functions yourselves?
Timo: "What makes it special is that the business departments describe their requirements in natural language directly within tasks, which then immediately appear as new services in the AI-Panel. As soon as an agent is defined, it is available to all authorized users for the corresponding process type.
This offers several advantages: First, it eliminates the need for individual trial-and-error with phrasing—everyone can benefit from well-defined services and rely on the results. Furthermore, Power Users from the business side can fine-tune the functions in detail within the framework provided by IT. New services are added daily, providing immediate, individually tailored benefits."
That sounds like quite a cultural shift.
Timo: "It certainly is. The business units are much more closely involved in the ongoing development process. While IT provides the technological platform, the business departments define the functional design of the services. This has boosted acceptance enormously from minute one. No one feels left out because everyone is part of the creative process. And the beauty of it is that what someone develops for their own area can also benefit others. Individual solutions become a shared asset."
You also implemented a solution for Outlook. What was the reasoning behind that?
Timo: "Because not all correspondence flows through our central input management system. Some emails land directly in our specialists' inboxes. Particularly with personalized customer correspondence, a single email often contains multiple intents—three questions, four attachments, and finally a follow-up in the P.S. This is where the Macros AI-Panel, functioning as an Outlook add-in, provides crucial support."
And it can handle that level of complexity?
Timo: "Yes, it assists in identifying so-called multi-intents—emails containing various different requests. The AI analyzes the entire email, summarizes it, and suggests responses. Every single intent is automatically classified, and the relevant data is extracted. With just one click, everything is archived or forwarded directly to the electronic inbox, where the actual processing begins. A particularly popular use case: the AI extracts the business case number, identifies the document type, and drafts the comment for the case view. Ideally, the manual effort is limited to a final validation."
What does this mean for day-to-day work?
Timo: "It means that our specialists can focus on where they can best apply their long-standing expertise: professional assessment, case-by-case decision-making, and customer interaction. The administrative prep work—maintaining metadata, indexing documents, and retrieving information—is now largely handled by AI. Our colleagues simply verify whether the suggestions are correct. That is an enormous difference."
Looking back over the past few months: what has surprised you the most?
Timo: "The positive momentum on the business side. What started as a skeptical initial attitude has turned into increasing enthusiasm. Today, the departments take a certain pride in showing everything they have implemented themselves. And then, of course, there are the measurable effects.
Manually processing 45-page reports ties up capacities that are needed for the actual professional decision-making. It doesn't just cost hours; it requires immense concentration. The AI takes over this work and provides a structured summary containing all relevant information. This directly translates into significant time savings.
But even more important is the quality: The AI extracts relevant medical parameters and presents them in a structured format for review. Especially in disability cases, it helps in making well-founded decisions—determining whether an approval is justified or not."
What advice would you give to other insurers currently considering AI?
Timo: "Don’t start with the technology; start with the people. Seek a dialogue with your subject matter experts and identify where the real bottlenecks in their daily work are. Avoid getting bogged down in minor use cases that don’t offer real added value. It is crucial to give the business departments ownership—they know best what they need. AI is not an end in itself; it must tangibly simplify the daily work routine, otherwise its potential remains untapped."
At a glance:
Key success factors at Helvetia Baloise
Putting People First
Dialogue about real-world hurdles is the foundation for acceptance.
Liberating Specialists from Administrative Burdens
AI handles administrative prep work like metadata maintenance, freeing up experts to focus on the customer.
True Co-Creation
Business units take ownership — they know best what they need.
Are you ready for real AI value?
The Baloise success story demonstrates: AI reaches its full potential when it is deeply integrated into business processes. Let’s explore together where the greatest strategic levers for AI lie within your organization.
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Macros Reply is the specialized technology service provider for optimizing business processes in the areas of financial services, insurance, and energy. Macros Reply delivers innovative solutions that help companies make their operations more efficient and intelligent. Whether it's input management, electronic mailboxes and files, rule-based and AI-based routing, or document management: the company provides seamlessly integrated 360° solutions and automation with GenAI, machine learning, and RPA, allowing customers to fully focus on their core business. Additionally, Macros Reply offers comprehensive consulting on regulatory requirements to ensure the highest compliance in all processes.