Univé builds an AI-ready workforce

Building AI capability across the organization

As one of the Netherlands’ largest cooperative insurers, Univé⁠(opens in a new window) serves millions of members across insurance, mortgages, financial services, and risk prevention. Its mission has always been to help people prevent problems before they happen—and as AI began reshaping knowledge work, the organization saw an opportunity to rethink how employees could better deliver on that mission.

Rather than approaching AI as another technology deployment, Univé viewed it as a major organizational transformation. The objective wasn’t simply to introduce new tools, but to build AI capability across the workforce so every employee could use AI safely, responsibly, and effectively. OpenAI became a key part of that strategy, with ChatGPT Enterprise providing a secure platform that employees could adopt quickly within Univé’s governance framework.

Leadership creates direction

Univé’s transformation began with leadership.

Instead of treating AI as an IT initiative, the company brought its entire management community together for dedicated AI leadership sessions.

Rather than focusing on product demonstrations, these sessions challenged leaders to rethink how work itself would change and what role they would play in enabling that transformation. Managers moved beyond approving AI initiatives to creating the conditions for responsible innovation across their teams.

“Most organisations try to scale AI by building more solutions. We chose to scale AI by creating more builders.”

—Yous van Halder, Director Data & AI, Univé

Governance creates confidence

Univé also recognized that adoption at scale would only happen if employees trusted the platform they were using. Governance wasn’t something added after deployment—it was designed into the rollout from day one.

Employees create momentum

With leadership providing direction and governance providing confidence, employees became the driving force behind adoption.