ABN AMRO
Laying the foundations in the age of AI with M365 Copilot
The AI race is relentless: new players enter daily, and the finish line is a constant moving target. The winners will be those who prove real business value, not just productivity gains. ABN AMRO – an international bank headquartered in Amsterdam recognised this early.
Led by ABN AMRO’s team, we joined forces to build a scalable and employee-centric model that moved the bank from 2,000 to 10,000 Microsoft 365 (M365) Copilot users in just ten months. By uncovering real business value, using data insights to drive effective adoption, and upskilling users across the business, ABN AMRO is setting itself up for the next frontier: the agentic AI era.
Harnessing AI to accelerate purpose
ABN AMRO is one of the large financial institutions in the Netherlands. With over five million clients across the Netherlands and Northwest Europe, the bank is trusted to deliver seamless service, expert advice, and tailored solutions.
For ABN AMRO, it was never a question of whether AI would impact the organisation, but how quickly it would happen and what the consequences would be. They choose to explore the transformational impact of AI with M365 Copilot as one of several Gen AI initiatives across the bank, and that required a clear and actionable transformation strategy.
AI only matters if it delivers value. We were not going to force-fit technology; M365 Copilot had to prove quantifiable gains for our employees and our business. PA helped bridge between business sense and a pragmatic employee-centric and data-driven approach to distinguish fact from fiction when it came to utilising M365 Copilot value, giving us the confidence to build an AI-ready bank.”
Enabling employee-powered transformation
To get under the skin of the organisation, ABN AMRO assembled a specialist team. We complemented their in-house expertise with our own specialists in strategy, AI, data and analytics, and change management – to unearth the bank’s genuine needs from the inside out.
We then paired this with our deep financial services expertise and Microsoft partnership to deliver a seamless, M365 Copilot-powered transformation – activating its full potential across the firm.
Moving from AI potential to proven value
To begin, ABN AMRO asked us to audit the AI status quo. How do they measure AI value beyond individual productivity gains like time savings? What was working? Where were opportunities being missed? How did the experience differ across the bank? To find out, we established a Value Measurement Framework split into two distinct lenses:
- Individual productivity: We captured employee-centric metrics – such as efficiency, employee experience, and quality of work to measure impact on employees’ daily tasks – through surveys, Microsoft’s Viva Insights, and focus groups.
- Business results: We started targeted experiments across areas such as HR, Wealth Management, and Corporate Banking to explore high value use cases and measure impact on workflows.
“The targeted experiment approach stood out because we reimagined legacy workflows,” explained PA AI expert, Julie de Meyere. She continued, “we mapped current business workflows, identified key business challenges, and created high impact M365 Copilot prompts to resolve them.” Results showed significant scalability potential across the areas both horizontally (wider workflows) and vertically (other departments). For instance, we mapped the credit application process, timing each stage to identify friction. By redesigning workflow steps with specific M365 Copilot prompts, we turned a lengthy and manual task into a streamlined, AI-augmented process with scaling potential to ~150 lenders.
By comparing the before and after of critical workflows over a timed experiment, we provided the evidence-based proof of time savings and improved employee experience needed to turn AI into a business-as-usual reality.”
Scaling M365 Copilot to 10,000 users with confidence
ABN AMRO teams, with our support, structured the individual and business result outcomes into a compelling value case comparing value against investments, adoption, and risk considerations. With clear proven gains in work quality, employee experience, and efficiency, the value case helped to secure approval and investment to scale from 2,000 to 5,000 and eventually 10,000 users.
Building AI skill maturity and enthusiasm
Having already uncovered where the true value potential lay, together with ABN AMRO our mission was to translate those findings for the rest of the bank. Our change experts scaled the team experiments to a total of 13 and included other areas such as Risk, Architecture, and Personal & Business Banking. These experiments acted as cultural catalysts. By proving measurable improvements in workflows, these teams became M365 Copilot ambassadors – helping to drive enthusiasm across their business lines.
In parallel, ABN AMRO established a consistent baseline of confidence across 10,000 users through targeted e-learning and essential risk training. Supported by active leadership advocacy, this initiative ensured every employee possessed the fundamental knowledge required to succeed.
Our data discovery revealed that leadership encouragement, learning, and solid AI skills were the greatest drivers of time savings, work quality, and adoption. Proving that a supportive culture was as vital as the tool itself.”
Entering the next phase of AI with confidence and clarity
Today, ABN AMRO is reaping the rewards of an employee-centric AI strategy. Day-to-day work is simpler, faster, and more effective. Analysis and surveys have shown that employees save time and better assess the quality of their output using M365 Copilot. Most importantly, many say their work feels more engaging when using M365 Copilot.
These gains translate directly into business impact. With a clear map of high-value use cases and a cultural foundation that empowers its people, ABN AMRO is no longer just experimenting; it is successfully embedding AI into its DNA.
PA provided a level of focus and clarity not often seen in large-scale change. Together, we have built the foundations to deploy M365 Copilot across our core operations, scale it responsibly, and evolve our processes with the business as we enter the agentic era.”
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