Humana has tapped Google Cloud for the launch of Agent Assist, a new AI-powered tool that aims to support its teams in addressing member questions.
Humana employs more than 20,000 member advocates who manage as many as 80 million member calls each year, according to the announcement, and the Agent Assist tool is designed to make it easier for them to focus on the members' needs. The tool provides real-time summaries of the call, anticipates questions and needs and surfaces critical information.
With the tool running in the background, call center teams can spend their time directly engaged with members, the company said.
"We are always looking for new ways to enhance the member experience by making those interactions more personalized, accurate and faster," said Japan Mehta, chief information officer at Humana, in the announcement. "Agent Assist puts responsible innovation directly into the hands of our advocates, helping them to focus on what matters most—helping our members."
The tool also provides member advocates with key guidance and compliance support proactively, according to the announcement. Beyond improving the member's experience when they call in, the tool is able to reduce the manual workload for call center teams and drive greater consistency between interactions.
The Agent Assist tool builds on Humana's existing agentic AI platform and leans on enhancements from Google Cloud's Vertex AI, Gemini and Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, the companies said. This approach makes it easier for the member advocates to address members' needs while maintaining the "human in the loop," according to the announcement.
Humana said the tool is seamlessly integrated into the existing workflow and undergoes routine and regular reviews to ensure compliance and performance.
"Our collaboration with Humana is a blueprint for the future of healthcare—where technology doesn't replace the human element, but radically enhances it," said Chris Sakalosky, vice president of strategic industries at Google Cloud. "By integrating Gemini Enterprise for CX, we're giving Humana's advocates an agent that handles the complexity of benefits in the background, so they can focus on the empathy and care that members deserve."
"This isn't just about efficiency; it's about redefining the standard for member support," Sakalosky said.