The future for super

The Australian superannuation industry has evolved into one of the most critical pillars of the financial system, managing $4.2 trillion in retirement savings as of December 2024. However, its operational infrastructure has not kept pace, leading to high costs, compliance risks, and poor member experience.

The key challenges that are holding the industry back can be summarised as follows:

• Legacy systems & manual processes: Many super funds operate on decades-old technology, causing transaction delays, incorrect balance calculations and poor customer service.
• Regulatory pressures: Compliance requirements have grown significantly, but funds with inefficient processes struggle to keep up, which can lead to penalties and increased operational costs.
• Industry consolidation challenges: Fund mergers have created integration issues as funds attempt to combine different IT systems, leading to service disruptions and data inconsistencies.
• Rising member expectations: Members increasingly expect a more personalised service, proactive engagement, and real-time access to information and advice, but many funds lack the digital capabilities to deliver this.
• Cybersecurity risks: With increasing digitisation, super funds are becoming prime targets for cyber threats. For instance, a number of high-profile funds were targeted in April 2025. Many still rely on outdated security frameworks that leave them vulnerable to fraud and data breaches.

These inefficiencies create operational burdens that directly impact members. Higher fees, slower processing times, and a lack of proactive engagement lead to frustration and disengagement, weakening trust in the system. Without meaningful reform, the industry risks falling further behind at a time when regulatory scrutiny and member expectations are higher than ever.

This paper explores the transformative change that can be achieved through the implementation of smart technologies, highlighting how this has been achieved by some financial services entities overseas.

What a tech-enabled super industry looks like

The future of the superannuation industry will be shaped by automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital experiences. In addition to solving inefficiencies, an AI-enabled super industry will be built around proactive, personalised service experiences, real-time decision-making, and stronger cybersecurity. Funds that fully embrace innovation will be well-positioned to achieve compliance standards, transform member engagement, reduce costs, and enhance trust in the system.

The transition from legacy systems and manual processes to real-time, AI-driven solutions can redefine the industry, making it more accessible, personalised, and future-ready.

The transformative potential of AI is already evident in global financial services. Bank of America, one of the world's leading financial institutions, faced overwhelming volumes of routine customer inquiries-balance checks, transaction lookups and subscription tracking. In response, it launched 'Erica', a virtual assistant that now handles over two billion interactions, resolving 98% of inquiries within 44 seconds, and serving more than 42 million customers.

Automation as the backbone

In a fully tech-enabled industry, manual processes will be replaced by AI-driven automation, allowing funds to operate with greater efficiency, accuracy, and speed. Automation can streamline fund rollovers, benefit payments, and account updates, eliminating processing bottlenecks and reducing errors. By minimising human intervention in routine administrative tasks, funds can process transactions faster and allocate more resources to strategic initiatives rather than being bogged down by operational inefficiencies.

AI-driven compliance monitoring can expedite alignment with regulatory requirements in real-time. Rather than relying on manual compliance tracking and reporting, AI can continuously assess regulatory change, flag potential risks and generate accurate reports, relieving some of the burden of compliance management.

A clear example comes from US financial services provider Capital One, which deployed 'Eno', an AI virtual assistant that delivers real-time alerts and proactive fraud detection. By using natural language processing, Eno now handles over 50 million interactions annually, reducing staffing needs by up to 20% and helping the bank maintain compliance and service quality at scale.

Adopting AI in administrative functions can also allow super funds to become leaner, more responsive, and scale more efficiently without compromising service.

Proactive, personalised advice

Superannuation funds focus heavily on meeting compliance obligations. However AI-driven insights can enable funds to take a more active role in guiding members through their financial lifespan.

Capital One's Eno also exemplifies this shift, sending timely alerts about bill changes, expiring subscriptions, and unusual transactions. These proactive communications reduce inbound queries and help members make more informed decisions-enhancing satisfaction and trust.

In Australia, funds that proactively engage with members, providing timely and relevant guidance based on individual circumstances will have a clear advantage over those that continue to simply react to member inquiries. With AI-powered personalisation, members can receive tailored retirement planning guidance, taking into account their past actions, income levels, savings behaviours, and risk tolerance. By analysing real-time financial data, AI can help members make better investment decisions, offering predictive insights and scenario-based projections that allow them to plan for different retirement outcomes. This shift in approach increases member trust and satisfaction, better positioning super funds as partners in financial well-being rather than just service providers.

Real-time member interactions

Instantaneous AI-powered interactions can significantly reduce the long wait times, paperwork-heavy processes, and slow response rates that are the basis for so much member frustration. AI-driven virtual assistants, trained on individual superannuation history and data, could potentially provide immediate answers to queries, offering fast, accurate, and contextually relevant information to members.

Bank of America's Erica has automated more than 1.7 million routing number requests and 900,000 bill payment tasks per month-each handled in seconds. This frees up human resources for higher-value activities.

Similarly, Nordic-Baltic-based banking group Swedbank introduced conversational AI virtual assistant 'Nina' who now manages over 30,000 customer interactions each month. Nina fully resolves 55% of queries on first contact-this enabled the bank to redeploy 700 contact centre staff to other roles such as sales and advice. This change saved the bank the equivalent workload of 35 full-time agents annually.

AI-powered predictive insights can further empower members to make informed financial choices in the lead-up to significant life events, such as transitioning to retirement or changing jobs. By removing friction from member interactions, AI can enhance engagement and encourage individuals to take a more active role in managing their financial future.

Cybersecurity and data protection are non-negotiable standard

As the industry moves toward fully digital operations, strong cybersecurity infrastructure will be essential to maintaining trust and protecting sensitive member data. AI-driven security systems can identify and mitigate cyber threats in real time, preventing data breaches before they occur. Rather than reacting to security incidents, funds will adopt AI-powered monitoring tools that continuously scan for anomalies, strengthening overall data protection and regulatory compliance.

Capital One's Eno includes built-in fraud detection functionality that proactively alerts members to suspicious activity, helping reduce the volume of fraud-related inquiries and supporting regulatory compliance efforts across multiple channels. This also helps to minimise system downtime by detecting vulnerabilities and proactively addressing them before they escalate into significant disruptions. Cybersecurity will be an integrated, AI-driven function that ensures superannuation funds remain resilient in an increasingly digital world.

Superannuation funds at a crossroads: The need for urgent reform

The superannuation industry stands at a defining crossroads. For decades, funds have concentrated on investment returns and regulatory compliance, often at the expense of operational efficiency. However, as the industry has grown in complexity and scale, its supporting infrastructure has failed to keep pace. Legacy IT systems, fragmented processes, and rising member expectations are straining the system, demanding urgent transformation.

The risks of inaction are rising costs, declining service quality, regulatory pressure, and the erosion of public trust. Members increasingly expect seamless digital experiences, instant access to their accounts and proactive engagement from their providers. Meanwhile, regulators are increasing scrutiny, and competitors who embrace automation and AI will gain the edge. The industry can either seize this moment to evolve or continue down a path that leads to inefficiency, dissatisfaction, and growing irrelevance.

The contrast is already playing out. Bank of America and Capital One, through early adoption of AI tools like Erica and Eno, have reduced support costs while lifting service performance and member satisfaction-providing a competitive edge in digital engagement.

The call for leadership

Real change is not just about upgrading technology-it requires vision and leadership. Superannuation leaders must commit to a strategic overhaul of how funds operate and serve their members. Technological transformation must become a core strategy rather than an afterthought, forming the foundation of a modern superannuation ecosystem.

Investing in AI and automation will be critical to streamlining administration, enhancing compliance and delivering a seamless member experience. At the same time, a culture of adaptability must be fostered, ensuring that funds can respond swiftly to regulatory changes, technological advancements, and evolving member needs.

Both Swedbank and Bank of America demonstrate how strong leadership catalyses AI transformation, by prioritising automation to reduce service load and improve engagement-well ahead of the curve.

Funds that embrace this shift will not only future-proof their operations but also set a new standard for service, security, and efficiency in superannuation. Those who resist it will fall behind, struggling to keep up with regulatory demands and member expectations in an industry that will no longer tolerate inefficiency.

The superannuation sector must act now-not just to meet today's challenges, but to build a system capable of serving future generations.