Asia Awards 2025: Best IT initiative—FWD Group

Initiative overview

FWD Group’s Test Automation Platform (TAP) utilizes automation and GenAI technology to automatically generate test cases and streamline the entire testing process. The platform is built with a microservice architecture and operates in a cloud environment, leveraging Kubernetes and a serverless approach for deployment. This in-house-developed, AI-driven modular software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform aims to improve product speed to market and delivery efficiency by unifying and streamlining testing processes across multiple business units.

The problem it solves  

FWD Group has a customer-led strategy the drives the development of its various services. However, balancing the deployment of new features with quality is challenging, especially with localized services. TAP saves time, reduces manual errors, and provides a unified testing experience across markets. It enhances test case reusability and architecture across web and mobile apps. With embedded data analytics, the firm can measure testing processes, defect rates, and focus efforts to achieve expected results.

Results  

• Now operates in two markets and one service center—Hong Kong, China Technology Company and Malaysia—with 292 users, 485 projects, 833 test plans, and 29,255 test cases since its launch in July 2024
• Achieved significant outcomes for the Hong Kong testing service, including a 60% faster new product release, reducing the testing cycle from 30 days to one week, a 50% increase in IT release frequency, a 30% resource cost saving, and 10% reduction in manpower

Future plans

• AI testing—further integrating AI technologies, TAP will automate test case generation and self-healing automation scripts, enhancing test comprehensiveness and accuracy while reducing manual intervention
• Testing insights—will enable teams to better understand system performance in real-world scenarios and identify potential issues before product launch. The aim is to connect to production linkage to reduce incidents risk.
• Shift-right testing—performing testing after an application has been deployed to a production environment, enabling the firm to identify real-word issues and address them with minimal delays

Why they won

FWD Group follows up its two wins in last year’s WatersTechnology Asia Awards by emerging top in the best IT initiative category, thanks to its Test Automation Platform strategy. The cloud-based platform is designed to reduce manual errors and provide a unified testing experience across the pan-Asian life insurance firm’s various market segments. 

TAP enhances test case reusability and architecture across both web and mobile apps and features embedded data analytics that the firm can use to measure testing processes, defect rates, and ensure results are consistent with expectations. One of the key challenges facing engineering teams within financial services firms is how to minimize the chances of software errors being introduced to live environments. In this context, FWD Group’s TAP, which will shortly be enhanced by shift-right testing, is a significant step in the right direction.