Media release

Vero launches AI-powered customer sentiment monitoring to strengthen customer care and support brokers

16 July 2026

First financial services organisation in New Zealand to implement Salesforce’s AI Sentiment Analysis

Vero Insurance has become the first Salesforce customer in the financial services industry to implement Sentiment Analysis, using artificial intelligence to identify customer dissatisfaction, complaints and vulnerability in real time and enable earlier intervention.

Rolled out across Vero's Sales and Service teams following a successful pilot, the new capability analyses customer phone and email interactions, identifying whether sentiment is positive, neutral or negative. Where negative sentiment is detected, consultants are prompted to review the interaction and take action where required.

The technology also flags potential complaints and indicators of customer vulnerability, helping ensure issues are identified earlier and appropriate support is provided sooner.

Nic Dorward, Executive Manager - Consumer Operations at Vero, said the capability marks an important shift towards a more proactive approach to customer care.

Insurance often comes at a stressful time in someone's life. If we can better understand how a customer is feeling while we're still working with them, we have a much greater opportunity to step in, resolve concerns and provide the right support before those issues escalate.

The capability was piloted between November 2025 and March 2026 across approximately 45,000 customer interactions before being rolled out across Vero's Consumer and Business operations. Since launching, it has generated more than 65,000 sentiment outcomes, with approximately 10% of customer email and voice interactions now analysed in real time.

Traditionally, insurers have relied on customer surveys, complaints and manual quality assurance reviews to understand customer experience. Managers could only review a small sample of interactions, making it difficult to identify dissatisfaction, complaints or vulnerability before issues escalated.

Sentiment Analysis changes that by automatically analysing customer interactions as cases close and highlighting indicators of dissatisfaction, complaints and vulnerability. 

Where negative sentiment is detected, the system creates a follow-up task for consultants to validate the result and, where appropriate, resolve any outstanding issues.

The capability also gives leaders visibility across approximately 58 customer interactions per consultant each month - almost 30 times more than Vero's previous quality assurance approach.

Dorward said this allows leaders to spend less time reviewing interactions and more time coaching their people.

"Historically, managers could only manually review a small number of customer interactions each month. Sentiment Analysis gives us a much broader view of what's happening across our customer conversations, allowing us to identify trends, coach our people more effectively and continuously improve the experience we deliver."

Supporting better customer outcomes 

Beyond individual customer interactions, Sentiment Analysis provides Vero with a clearer understanding of emerging customer themes across different channels, teams and partners, enabling continuous improvements based on real customer experiences rather than post-interaction surveys alone.

Importantly, it also strengthens Vero's ability to identify customers who may be experiencing vulnerability. By surfacing potential indicators earlier, consultants can ensure customers receive the right level of support through services like Vero Support, giving them access to practical assistance and specialist support.

For brokers, this means issues affecting shared customers can be identified and addressed more quickly, reducing the likelihood of unresolved concerns progressing to formal complaints and helping maintain confidence throughout the claims and service journey.

Dorward said the technology strengthens human judgement.

Customer advocacy starts with listening and acting with care. Sentiment Analysis helps our teams recognise when customers need us most - strengthening how we show up with empathy and intent.

The rollout marks another step in Vero's ongoing investment in customer-first technology.

About Vero New Zealand:

Vero is one of New Zealand’s leading insurance providers, offering a wide range of personal and commercial insurance solutions. With a strong focus on customer service and innovation, Vero helps individuals and businesses protect what matters most and recover quickly when the unexpected happens. www.vero.co.nz