Interac empowers financial analysts with generative AI and HAQM QuickSight

This post was written with Manoja Manoharan from Interac Corp.

Interac Corp. (Interac), one of Canada’s leading payment networks, faced the challenge of transforming complex information into actionable insights amidst a 30% surge in data requests over two years. Traditional business intelligence (BI) tools required technical expertise and hindered data exploration. To tackle this, Interac took advantage of the generative AI capabilities of HAQM QuickSight, enabling business users to access and analyze data using natural language. This AI-driven platform provides instant insights, democratizes data access, and empowers teams to make strategic decisions with ease.

In this post, we highlight our journey implementing generative AI with QuickSight, yielding notable data benefits for business users at Interac.

Industry challenge

As Interac continues to grow, its demand for data access and literacy surges, necessitating a solution that allows business users to independently analyze and visualize data without technical know-how. Traditional BI tools are insufficient for the organization’s fast-paced environment where instant insights are needed for strategic decision-making.

Adopting HAQM Q in QuickSight aligns with the strategic BI vision at Interac. The organization aims to integrate data and analytics to drive strategic outcomes, support growth, and embed data into its culture. BI plays an essential role in fostering a data-driven environment by empowering teams to derive valuable insights and make informed, data-backed decisions.

As demand for BI has grown in recent years, Interac identified generative AI through HAQM Q as a game-changing tool to unlock access to data. HAQM Q simplifies data analysis by providing business users with straightforward and direct access, enabling us to embrace a culture of data-driven decision-making.

Roger Wang, Data & Analytics Strategy & Product Management lead at Interac, highlighted a key feature of HAQM Q:

“HAQM Q’s natural language query solution stood out to us because its multi-visual answer delivers a comprehensive dashboard in response to a single question. This feature is critical for the business users we support across the organization, allowing them to trust and understand the data they rely on to drive success in their areas.”

Solution overview

With Interac onboarding this new solution, employees have been empowered to engage with data intuitively, reducing the dependency on technical teams and enhancing data literacy across the organization.

The following diagram illustrates the solution architecture.

Key benefits of QuickSight generative BI

With generative BI in QuickSight, Interac benefits from enhanced data interaction, compelling data stories and insights, and accelerated dashboard creation.

Business users at Interac can now make data-driven decisions faster and with greater confidence. Previously, users had to manually build reports, analyze data, and submit requests to the analytics team for simple ad-hoc questions—processes that could take hours or even days. Now, with the advanced multi-visual experience of HAQM Q, they can obtain insights within seconds. This transformative capability eliminates the time-consuming steps of manual report generation and back-and-forth requests, allowing teams to focus on strategic initiatives and driving outcomes. Business users can ask vague or complex questions and receive immediate, comprehensive visual insights. For instance, queries like “Show me the transactions trend by month in 2024” deliver instant, actionable data.

The following screenshot shows an example of a user asking a vague question using sample data (HAQM Q answers using an implicit metric, in this case “transaction volume”).

Additionally, QuickSight enables users to create compelling data stories that combine multiple visuals to suggest business strategies. This feature aids in uncovering nuanced insights and communicating them effectively across teams. For example, using sample data from the topic Financial Services Card Payments, HAQM Q suggests that based on the top occupations (unemployed, student, and editor) by reward points, this program appeals to “cost-conscious demographics, and that promoting earn opportunities at dining and supermarket merchants to these high-value segments could significantly enhance engagement.” The following screenshot shows this example data story.

To learn more about data stories, refer to Working with data stories in HAQM QuickSight.

With natural language inputs, users can swiftly build and refine dashboards by eliminating the traditional ticket-based process that typically took 2–4 business days. This enhances the overall efficiency of data reporting and visualization within the organization. For example, asking HAQM Q to build the visual “revenue for top 3 banks last year” instantly builds a bar chart already filtered for “top 3 banks by revenue” and “last year” without the extra clicks. Similarly, refining visuals with language can save several extra clicks by asking HAQM Q to do the work, like “change this visual to a table, add transaction fee, and color profit less than $1M in red.” Creating calculations with natural language saves authors time from figuring out exactly the right syntax to create their complex calculation.

Implementation and rollout

Interac is strategically implementing generative BI by rolling out HAQM Q through a well-planned process. The organization is systematically integrating advanced AI capabilities by equipping employees with targeted training, comprehensive workshops, and a strong support system. By selecting data champions and fostering a collaborative feedback loop, Interac is cultivating a data-driven culture that democratizes the generation of insights and decision-making. The phased rollout, which will span 4–6 months, helps teams gradually build confidence with generative BI tools, enabling all employees to harness AI-driven analytics for uncovering valuable business insights. This strategic initiative not only introduces cutting-edge technology but also transforms how data drives innovation and strategic thought at Interac.

Real-world impact

The adoption of generative BI in QuickSight is transforming how teams at Interac are interacting with data. The intuitive interface and natural language processing has democratized data access, reduced ad-hoc requests, and significantly increased the speed and quality of insights.

Conclusion

Interac is embarking on its journey with generative BI in QuickSight, exemplifying the transformative power of AI in business intelligence. By enabling straightforward access to complex data, Interac has fostered a culture of data-driven decision-making, setting a benchmark for other organizations in the financial sector.

To explore how QuickSight can empower your organization, see HAQM QuickSight.

About the Authors

Manoja Manoharan, a leader in Data Insight and Enablement at Interac, specializes in strategically integrating analytics, technology, and market intelligence to drive business success. Passionate about innovation and data-driven decision-making, Manoja empowers businesses and individuals to harness technology for a competitive edge. Known for building strong connections and simplifying complex concepts, Manoja is committed to expanding data literacy and making AI more accessible to all.

Prabir Sekhri is a Senior Solutions Architect at AWS, helping financial services customers to innovate and transform their business. With experience across finance, multimedia, telecommunications, and energy sectors, he architects solutions that drive business agility, operational efficiency, and sustainable growth. His expertise in DevOps, security, and enterprise storage enables customers to build resilient, scalable applications that meet strict regulatory requirements. Beyond technology, he’s an accomplished musician, leading a jazz ensemble in Montreal as a pianist, composer, and arranger.

Amy Marvin is a technical product manager for HAQM Q in QuickSight. She is passionate about analytics and is focused on delivering the best natural language Q&A experience for every QuickSight reader.