Smart Communications boosts AI migration for enterprises

Smart Communications has expanded its AI-assisted migration tools for enterprises moving off legacy communications systems. The changes are aimed at regulated organisations modernising customer communications and preparing to use AI more widely.

The update focuses on two migration tasks that have often required extensive manual effort. Smart's AI analyses existing communications libraries to identify duplication and opportunities to consolidate documents, then converts legacy files into modern, reusable templates.

The process is intended to give organisations a prioritised migration plan and reduce the document-by-document rework that has traditionally made platform changes slow and expensive. Human oversight remains part of the process, with customers and Smart's migration teams reviewing and validating each conversion before deployment.

The target market is largely made up of regulated industries such as insurance, financial services, healthcare and government, where organisations often run several communications systems built up over many years through expansion and acquisitions. In those sectors, customer correspondence can include policies, statements, notices, claims documents and compliance-related communications, making system replacement more complex than a straightforward software swap.

Smart Communications cited IDC data showing that 57% of organisations still rely on legacy technology to create, manage and deliver customer communications, while 64% are producing at least 20% more communications than a year ago. Those figures highlight the challenge for companies trying to reduce operating complexity while facing rising document volumes and tighter scrutiny over how customer information is handled.

Migration pressure

For many large organisations, the challenge is not deciding whether to retire older systems but managing the cost and disruption of doing so. Legacy communications platforms are often deeply connected to core business systems, and companies may have thousands of templates created over time by different business units. As a result, migration programmes can turn into prolonged clean-up projects rather than simple technology upgrades.

Heidi Johnson, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Smart Communications, said this is where the company believes AI can change the economics of migration.

"Most enterprises know where they need to go. The difficult part is the journey," said Heidi Johnson, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Smart Communications.

"Legacy complexity makes it harder to consolidate, modernise and put AI to work at scale. By using AI to reduce the cost and time of migration, while maintaining human oversight and the audit trail regulated organisations require, we can help turn modernisation from a 'next year' ambition into an achievable initiative today," Johnson said.

Smart Communications presented migration not only as a way to cut costs but also as a prerequisite for more controlled use of AI. Bringing communications content into a single governed environment can make it easier for organisations to manage approved language, maintain audit trails and apply automation without relying on fragmented and outdated content sources.

Switching costs

Industry analysts have long pointed to switching costs as one of the biggest barriers in customer communications management software. Rebuilding templates, validating output and ensuring regulatory compliance can take months or years, especially in sectors where even minor changes to language or format carry legal or operational risk.

Amy Machado, Research Director at IDC, said AI-assisted migration may begin to weaken that barrier.

"Migration is now an opportunity, rather than solely a cost consideration, when changing vendors," said Amy Machado, Research Director at IDC.

"AI-assisted template reconstruction is cutting migration timelines, which means switching costs - long the biggest moat in this market - are eroding. That's good news for buyers and a wake-up call for incumbents," Machado said.

That shift could matter beyond Smart Communications itself. If migration becomes faster and less expensive, buyers in regulated sectors may be more willing to review long-standing technology suppliers and consolidate fragmented communications estates. It may also increase pressure on vendors whose installed bases have been protected by the difficulty of moving rather than by continued product differentiation.

Customer example

Smart Communications said it has worked with hundreds of large enterprises in insurance, financial services and healthcare. Among the examples it cited was Aptia, which used its services during a complex implementation with a tight timetable.

"We had an ambitious timeline for a complex implementation, and the Smart Communications team helped us deliver it in just a few months," said Anna Hewer, Business Improvement Manager at Aptia.

"It was a true partnership that helped us achieve our goals," Hewer said.

Smart Communications said more than 700 enterprises use its software, including companies in insurance, healthcare and financial services, and that its systems handle more than 60 billion customer interactions each year.