Manulife Hong Kong and Alibaba Cloud Sign Strategic Partnership to Accelerate and Scale AI Innovation

Hong Kong — Manulife Hong Kong today announced a strategic partnership with Alibaba Cloud, a leading global provider of AI infrastructure and the intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, to establish a collaboration framework focused on advancing responsible AI innovation and accelerating the deployment of AI technologies across the business. The partnership will support the development of AI applications within the insurance industry, while reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as a regional hub for AI innovation.

This collaboration builds on Manulife’s enterprise-wide ambition to become an AI-powered organization and the momentum of its continued AI leadership and investments in Hong Kong and globally. According to the Memorandum of Understanding, by combining Manulife’s extensive insurance and financial services expertise with Alibaba Cloud’s leading AI and cloud technologies, the two parties will explore opportunities to co-develop AI-enabled initiatives that enhance customer experience, operational effectiveness, and sustainable long-term growth. The collaboration will be guided by robust security, privacy and responsible AI principles, in line with applicable legal, regulatory and data governance requirements.

Under the partnership, Manulife Hong Kong and Alibaba Cloud will explore the establishment of a joint AI hub to incubate next-generation AI applications and develop innovative use cases aligned with Manulife’s business priorities. The collaboration is expected to focus on embedding AI-powered solutions across digital customer journeys, including strengthening fraud detection capabilities and advancing service personalization.

The partnership also provides a framework for identifying and evaluating potential co-development opportunities, pursuing go-to-market collaboration where appropriate, and assessing emerging technologies that can deliver meaningful business impact, subject to further agreement between the parties and regulatory approvals.

Dr. Hongjuan Liu, Chief AI & Data Officer, Manulife Hong Kong and Macau, said: “This partnership with Alibaba Cloud marks an important step in expanding our AI ecosystem. Through the establishment of a joint AI hub, we are creating a structured platform to co-develop innovative AI solutions that can transform both customer experiences and business processes. We see this collaboration as a catalyst for unlocking new ideas and accelerating impactful AI applications, underpinned by robust data governance and regulatory safeguards.”

Andy Bruce, Chief Information Officer, Manulife Hong Kong and Macau, said: “The collaboration builds on an established technology partnership between Manulife Hong Kong and Alibaba Cloud, which has supported a range of digital initiatives across our Hong Kong and Macau businesses. This represents a further step in deepening this relationship, with a shared focus on strengthening our technology foundations to support responsible AI adoption aligned with our evolving customer, distribution and operational needs.”

Edward Zhang, Vice President of Public Cloud and General Manager of Financial Services Industry, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, said: “This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to advancing innovation through AI and cloud technologies. By working closely with Manulife, we will combine deep industry expertise with Alibaba Cloud’s advanced technical capabilities to co-develop AI-enabled solutions that address real-world business needs. We believe this partnership will help deliver tangible value for customers and contribute positively to the broader digital ecosystem.”

In Hong Kong, Manulife has already deployed AI across multiple areas of its business, including customer engagement tools, data driven insights to support frontline distribution, and intelligent automation to enhance operational efficiency and service responsiveness. These initiatives form part of Manulife’s broader enterprise strategy to embed AI responsibly into day-to-day operations and decision-making. Manulife is deploying AI at scale, aiming to unlock value and deliver meaningful benefits across the organization. The company expects to generate more than $1 billion in enterprise AI value by 2027ⁱ.