As the country had been transitioning into new leadership, the Social Security Administration (SSA) had also undergone several changes, some more major than others. After being nominated by President Donald Trump earlier in the year, Frank Bisignano was officially elected as the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration on May 7th. Bisignano was previously president and CEO of Fiserv, CEO of First Data, and the COO of JPMorgan Chase and appears to have jumped into his new role as SSA Commissioner with ambitious plans in mind.
In a largely unscripted address with managers in May, Bisignano shared his plans which includes the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) tools at the agency.
Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano expects no more layoffs
Prior to Bisignano’s appointment as Commissioner, the SSA planned to cut 7,000 jobs and reassigned a number of employees to field office positions. As a result, the SSA currently has its “lowest headcount in 50 years.” Regarding this, Commissioner Bisignano has confirmed that he has no further plans to reduce the workforce. He does, however, want the SSA to pursue artificial intelligence tools to expedite work.
In his address to managers, Bisignano explained that AI tools would be a “great enabler” to aid employees with a growing workload.
“I have no intent to RIF people,” Bisignano confirmed to managers. “If I wake up and find out we can do all our work with 20,000 people — which I can’t see that right now — we’ll be 20,000. If I wake up and say, ‘We need 80,000,’ we’ll be 80,000. I’ve got to determine what the right staffing level is.”
“We’ve got a lot of turmoil. I think we reassigned a lot of people,” Bisignano added. “I guarantee you, we’re going to get the job done, and my dream is to not have to let people go. If we can’t get the job done, that’s a different problem. You guys don’t want people who don’t give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, do you?”
AI at the SSA
Amongst his goals for the agency is the pursuit of making the SSA a “digital first” agency in the hopes of easing the process of having queries answered for beneficiaries, rather than having them wait in queues at a field office.
“We’re never going to be client-first if we’re not digital-first in this era,” Bisignano explained. “That’s the only way we’re going to win. You’re competing with experiences that people have with Amazon. If I can get something done at Amazon, why can’t I get something done the same way with Social Security? That’s how people think.”
In pursuit of the “digital first” agency, Bisignano also wants to introduce AI tools to the agency’s phone line, with the ultimate goal of eventually utilizing AI for more complex tasks as well.
“The phone has to have artificial intelligence to do the work. We can all do this in a year, and then your jobs will be more enriching,” he said. “The reason we get so many phone calls is because half the people have to call twice.”
Ideally, Bisignano would like to implement AI to tasks that will help reduce processing times for claims. He did also clarify that the use of automation will not mean employees are going to lose their jobs.
“Do you think those people are happy waiting 230 days, 270 days? There’s a ton of things that AI can apply to move it along faster,” he said.
“I’ve always believed in, if you automate over here, well, you’re going to find jobs for people over somewhere else,” he added. “The best thing that could happen is we answer the phone in one minute, a lot of it through technology. We turned around claims — whether they are disability or retirement — at a much different speed.”
“We’re not going to get everything done in a week, but if we need to spend more money on tech, I’ll do it. I’m not sure I need to. We spend a boatload of money on tech. But we can make our technologists better, too,” he added.