Manulife launches AI assistant that answers Canadian advisors' underwriting questions, but makes no decisions

Manulife has separated underwriting guidance from underwriting decisions in its latest AI tool for advisors in Canada, Insurance Business Canada reported on 14 October. The new Manulife Advisor AI Assistant deals only with questions asked before a case is submitted. Decisions on submitted cases remain with Manulife's underwriters and its automated decision engine.

On the decision side, nothing changes. Every application still goes through Manulife's standard underwriting requirements, and the assistant gives no binding view on insurability, premium, coverage or outcome. Submitted cases go to MAUDE, the automated engine Manulife introduced in 2018 and upgraded in January. Manulife said that by December 2025 MAUDE approved 58% of eligible cases automatically, 56% more than before the upgrade.

On the guidance side, advisors can type plain-language questions into the assistant at any hour through the Advisor Portal. Answers come from Manulife's underwriting handbooks for advisors, and the first release covers life, critical illness and Synergy products. Manulife's aim is that advisors understand the likely requirements and collect information before client meetings. The insurer cautions that answers can be wrong, expects advisors to apply professional judgement, and says the tool supports its underwriters and wholesalers rather than replacing them.

Insurance Business notes that the announcement does not explain how questions typed into the tool are stored or used. Manulife plans to take the assistant beyond underwriting. The launch comes in the same week as Manulife's group-wide AI platform, on which tools already cleared for security, risk and governance can be reused in other markets. Manulife expects AI to produce US$1 billion of cumulative enterprise value by 2027 and says it had achieved $300 million of that by the end of 2025.