executive Summary
NRMA partnered with Antares to deploy QBot — an enterprise AI platform (branded internally as “NRM8”) — inside NRMA’s Microsoft Azure tenancy. Over six months NRMA deployed several AI agents, supported by strong governance, security controls and an active changemanagement programme to drive adoption and continuous improvement. The implementation delivered substantial productivity gains across the organisation: manual report generation fell from around one week to ten minutes; and talent and technical teams realised rapid time savings through automated jobad creation and faster document search. The platform has begun to drive a cultural shift at NRMA, with staff adopting AI personas as trusted workplace mates.
“Since its introduction, QBot—known internally as the m8 series (NRM8, Chatm8, SIXTm8, and beyond)—has emerged as a vital enabler in NRMA’s journey toward AI & Automation adoption. By fostering greater awareness, championing ethical AI practices, and unlocking enhanced productivity across our business, it’s paving the way for a smarter, more innovative workplace.” Andy McCarthy, GM Technology Engineering.
Background
The NRMA is one of Australia’s bestknown membership organisations, supporting millions of people across motoring, travel, tourism and a range of frontline and corporate services. As the organisation and its information landscape grew in complexity, NRMA found it increasingly difficult to keep a large, diverse workforce connected, informed and empowered to deliver highquality service.
To modernise the workplace, NRMA turned to a trusted partner: Antares, a leading Microsoft Solutions partner with a pragmatic, clientfocused approach and a strong track record of delivering measurable business outcomes. That longstanding relationship provided the foundation for NRMA’s enterprise AI journey.
Challenges and Requirements
Traditional information management was creating digital friction: staff spent significant time searching for information scattered across multiple systems, which reduced productivity and slowed daytoday work. Each department faced specific pain points: contact centres needed rapid access to accurate information to serve customers; talent teams faced repetitive, timeconsuming jobad creation; and technical teams struggled to find critical details buried in large, complex documents.
Leadership wanted to validate whether an AI platform could securely leverage generative AI within NRMA’s environment to address these issues and unlock broader business value. Security, privacy and compliance were nonnegotiable: any solution had to ensure data sovereignty and satisfy internal governance. The platform also needed to be flexible, scalable and costeffective across multiple use cases.
Solution
Antares proposed deploying QBot — an enterprise AI platform designed to deliver agentic AI capabilities within secure, private environments. QBot was selected for its technical maturity and its ability to be deployed rapidly with low upfront investment.
Key aspects of the solution:
- Secure deployment — QBot was implemented inside NRMA’s Microsoft Azure tenancy, integrated with Azure AD single signon, rolebased access control (RBAC) and private network endpoints to preserve data sovereignty and meet governance requirements.
- Multichannel access — The platform was surfaced where staff already work: Microsoft Teams, SharePoint and web browsers, enabling seamless access across devices and locations.
- Purposebuilt personas — Distinct AI personas were created for each use case and roles providing high quality results.
- Agile delivery — The project followed an iterative approach: rapid requirements capture, pilot testing with content owners, continuous feedback loops and staged rollouts to reduce risk and accelerate value.
- Change and adoption — The platform was humanised through a staff naming competition that produced the internal brand “NRM8” (NRMA Mate). NRMA also established training, and inproduct feedback mechanisms to drive adoption and continuous improvement.
“Generating reports with NRM8 that previously took a week now takes about ten minutes when we ask the right questions.” Jesse Corke, IT Project Manager in Technology
Benefits and Results
Since the roll-out of NRM8 and its family of AI agents, NRMA has witnessed a significant transformation in the way its people work. Tasks that once took days or weeks can now be completed in a matter of minutes. For example, generating detailed reports that previously took a week now takes as little as ten minutes. In the call centres, agents can retrieve information in seconds, reducing average call times from thirty minutes to just five. The talent team can instantly generate tailored job ads, while technical departments can quickly locate critical codes and data within large document repositories.
Beyond these efficiency gains, the implementation of AI has brought about a notable cultural shift. Staff now view the AI personas as genuine digital teammates, not just digital tools. This sense of ownership and trust has fostered a more connected and confident workplace, where employees are empowered to problem-solve, learn, and lead more effectively. The project has also helped reduce digital friction, unlocking time for staff to focus on higher-value, more meaningful tasks.
Importantly, NRMA’s investment in AI is not just about immediate productivity gains. The platform is designed for continuous improvement, with regular analytics and feedback loops ensuring that the solution evolves alongside the organisation’s needs. NRMA is now exploring new use cases across additional brands and business units, confident that the AI platform will continue to deliver value well into the future.
“What started as a digital assistant is really evolving into a strategic enabler.” Elena Sergis, Digital Workplace Manager
Looking Ahead: The Future of AI at NRMA
As NRMA and Antares reflect on the progress made, both organisations are united in their vision for the future—a future where AI becomes an even more integral part of the NRMA workplace, driving deeper transformation across all levels of the business.
Looking forward, NRMA is committed to expanding the range of AI use cases across more brands and business units. Plans are underway to tailor AI capabilities for frontline teams, integrate the platform even more deeply, and explore advanced automation scenarios. The strong foundation built in collaboration with Antares means NRMA can confidently trial new ideas, pilot innovative solutions, and scale what delivers value.
With QBot’s secure, flexible architecture and the ongoing Antares partnership, NRMA is well positioned to accelerate AI adoption safely and translate innovation into measurable business outcomes that benefit members, staff and the broader organisation.
“For us, the future isn’t just about more bots. It’s about smarter, more connected ways of working. And NRM8 is really helping us lead that change.” Elena Sergis, Digital Workplace Manager