NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Financial institutions can generate gains from AI-driven assistants if client demands are prioritized.

Putting the client experience first when developing an AI-driven digital assistant leads to improved operational efficiency and revenues, Joanne Wyper, executive vice president and head of digital and operations for Citizens Commercial Banking, said during a panel today at Bank Automation Summit 2025 in Nashville, Tenn.

“I’ve always believed that if you take the friction of something and make it simple, the money will fall out,” Wyper said. “First you go after client experience, and then all the other goodies come with it.”

The $217.5 billion Citizens launched its digital assistant, “Citizens Digital Butler,” which contains a chatbot called Dash in 2023, and it has since replaced the call center function for hundreds of clients, Wyper previously told BAN.

“For us, it was about providing that optionality for a client, not forcing them down a digital channel, but instead saying, if you want to self-serve, then we’re going to give you that as another option,” Wyper said.

Efficiency gains

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union used a similar approach when it rolled out its digital assistant, Fran, in 2019, Ashley Ashbrook, vice president, digital service experience at the $7.8 billion MSUFCU, said during the panel.

“We initially launched Fran next to our option to speak directly to an agent, so members would have the option to choose: “I want to speak directly to a human,” or “Do I want to try out our chat bot?” And it slowly gained more traction. They were trusting the information that was provided,” Ashbrook said.

Today, Fran handles 75% of customer conversations, freeing up employees’ time for more complex tasks, which has led to boosted morale and less turnover, she said.

The credit union’s internal assistant, Gene, has also saved employees “tens of thousands of combined hours,” since launching in 2021 as they’re getting information in seconds without having to call other departments, Ashbrook said.

While efficiency was not the purpose of Citizens’ Digital Butler, it was an outcome, said Wyper. The digital assistant could save clients “hundreds of thousands of hours” in waiting time, she added.

Citizens in 2025 plans to connect the Digital Butler to a large language model to make conversations with the assistant more sophisticated, she said.

Follow coverage of Bank Automation Summit 2025 at finainews.com.