How AXA UK Commercial is Shaping Their Digital Future with AXA GBS

As the insurance tech world evolves at lightning speed, those who lead the charge are the ones who innovate boldly and keep pushing boundaries. AXA UK Commercial has been leading this effort, starting a major digital transformation around 2019-2020. They shifted from older, legacy systems to modern Java-based applications to make operations more agile and improve service delivery. While they made steady progress, they also saw chances to boost their testing processes and overall operational efficiency even further.

Strategic Partnership for Testing Excellence 

To help achieve this vision, AXA Global Business Services stepped in with a strategic partnership aimed at boosting testing capabilities. Their aim was to streamline testing responsibilities, accelerate automation, and implement best practices across the testing lifecycle – all to enhance quality and speed. 

AXA GBS’s approach was thorough yet flexible. They put together a clear transition plan that focused on sharing knowledge, building skills, and quickly stabilizing operations. 

A key milestone was how quickly they took over testing duties. The incumbent partner had planned a transition for about 10 months, but AXA GBS managed to do it all in just nine weeks. This fast handover cut down on disruptions and sped up results. AXA GBS followed a clear, well-structured plan, used both onsite and hybrid activities, and employed a Knowledge Transfer Effectiveness Scorecard to keep track of progress and make sure everything went smoothly. 

The partnership also focused on delivering quick, tangible results early on. During the stabilization phase, AXA GBS identified around 32 quick wins – small but impactful improvements like automating tasks, fixing defects faster, and streamlining processes. These changes were rolled out in phases, helping to maintain steady progress and build confidence across the teams. 

They also introduced a daily dashboard to provide key insights, enabling proactive decision-making and swift issue resolution. Additionally, they advanced the testing approach by integrating continuous testing within the CI/CD/CT pipeline, enabling earlier detection of issues, reducing defect turnaround time, and supporting more rapid and reliable release cycles. The strategic collaboration extended to working closely with development partners, sharing artifacts and deliverables effectively to minimize defect leakage and improve overall quality. 

Roadmap for Future Growth 

The results so far have been quite impressive. AXA UK Commercial managed to transfer their testing functions in just nine weeks – way ahead of the original 10-month plan – while also boosting their testing capabilities through automation and adopting a “shift left” approach, which involves starting the testing process earlier in the development process. At the same time, they focused on “strengthening RIGHT” – ensuring that testing aligns with delivering the right quality at the right stage, ultimately enhancing overall effectiveness.  

These improvements help catch issues earlier, deliver higher-quality releases, and make their operations more agile and responsive – strengthening their position as leaders in innovative insurance solutions.  

Looking forward, AXA GBS has laid out a clear, phased roadmap for advancing testing maturity and expanding operations. The focus will be on increasing test coverage, automating repetitive tasks, and continuously improving testing practices. The goal is to create sustainable, scalable improvements that support AXA UK Commercial’s broader digital ambitions well beyond 2026.