How Benepass Governs AI: From Support to Claims

Employee benefits vendors increasingly embed AI into their technology in response to customer demand. AI and automation is capable of replacing more than half (52%) of a reward team’s workload, according to Mercer, handling benefits administration and tasks related to routine employee enquiries particularly well. Meanwhile, Mercer’s separate Global Talent Trends 2026 study reports that 89% of organizations are already using or planning to use AI to support their benefits enrollment this year. Clearly, the productivity gains offered by AI are impossible for benefits teams to ignore. 

But while AI is capable of achieving incredible levels of efficiency and insights, it’s vital to use the technology with care. This article shares Benepass’s AI philosophy, how our platform already incorporates aspects of AI, and why keeping your data secure and private is central to our product. 

The Benepass approach to AI

AI has been part of the Benepass platform and helping to support benefits work since 2025. We deploy AI when it meaningfully improves the experience for our employers and partners, and never just for the sake of adding more bells and whistles to the platform. We’ve developed a framework that allows us to innovate responsibly with AI, while keeping all data fully protected, always. 

Before introducing any new AI-powered capability to Benepass, we: 

• Research the value it will bring employees and benefits teams 
• Define a delivery plan 
• Build and rigorously test that delivery plan 
• Pilot it with a select group of customers 
• Iterate the rollout based on feedback and performance 

After launching any new AI capability, Benepass continues to monitor, improve, and audit what’s happening on the ground. The goal is always to provide a safe and reliable platform that meets customer needs. 

The governance framework behind our approach 

Any AI philosophy is only as strong as the governance framework behind it. At Benepass, we’ve built that framework around the following three questions. 

What data trains the AI model? 

While some large language models rely on personal data to train or fine-tune AI’s output, Benepass never uses customer, employer, or user data for this purpose. Our approach is entirely different, and it centers on improving the workflow around the model, such as: 

• The instructions that AI follows to complete a task 
• The validation checks it runs 
• How it routes a request 
• The quality review behind it 

The takeaway: Benepass will never trade data privacy for AI performance.

Where does data live? 

Data storage follows the same standard as the rest of the Benepass platform. Benepass runs on AWS data centers in the United States, with transactional data stored in Amazon RDS and receipt images and other unstructured data stored in Amazon S3. 

Every piece of that data stays: 

• Encrypted in transit using TLS 1.2 or higher
• Encrypted at rest using AWS-managed encryption and keys

The takeaway: Benepass uses enterprise-grade encryption to protect your data, everywhere.

Who can access the data? 

Access follows the same discipline. Benepass limits AI-assisted workflows specifically to approved business purposes, such as support and submitted receipt or claim reviews. Customer and user data is only ever processed for that purpose. 

Role-based access controls and least-privilege permissions govern who can reach that data, backed by vendor review and operational oversight. If a customer's contract includes a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) or a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA), Benepass is bound by it. The legalities here mean using data only for the reason it was collected, and touching only the minimum amount of PHI (Protected Health Information), such as claim details or medical receipts that are tied to an individual and necessary to do the job.

The takeaway: Access to your data is earned, clearly defined, and never assumed.

How Benepass uses AI today 

Today, Benepass uses AI to improve the benefits experience for employees, while reducing admin for in-house teams, freeing them up to add value and expertise elsewhere. 

Providing exceptional customer support 

Benepass’s customer support chatbot helps employees and administrators find relevant support information quickly. Grounded by a wealth of information in the Benepass Help Center, the chatbot uses generative AI to respond and find fast answers to general support queries, or route more complex issues and account-specific needs to the relevant Benepass team member. 

Overall, the AI chatbot is a great fit where education and self-service are the focus rather than making benefits determinations. 

AI-assisted claims automation 

Benepass also uses AI-assisted automation to review submitted receipts and process reimbursement claims. Reviews happen faster and more consistently, as part of a near-instant review process. 

AI doesn't make the final call, though. It classifies and structures the submitted information so the review moves faster, and it runs automated checks along the way. The outcome itself still comes down to Benepass's claims process. Eligibility rules, the details of the submitted claim, and operational oversight all influence that decision, whether AI touched the claim or not.

The future of AI at Benepass 

Benepass plans to expand our use of AI responsibly to improve speed, clarity, and program operations. We expect to continue developing AI capabilities in the following areas: 

• Faster claims review: We plan to keep improving automated claim reviews, with clearer denial reasons, guided remediation, and support for additional claim types where rules, risk, and controls support it. 
• Benefits intelligence for administrators: To complement support from our Customer Success team, we’re building an admin experience that acts like a proactive assistant. Administrators should be able to analyze data, see timely alerts, plain-language summaries, and drill-down data in one place, rather than searching across reports. 
• Improved employee guidance: We expect AI to help employees find answers, understand benefit options, and resolve spend or answer claims questions faster and with less friction. 

Human oversight will always be central to our philosophy and remain part of every workflow we build. Any new AI capabilities must clear the same bar we set at the start: do they meaningfully help employees or benefit teams, and can we stand behind how they work? 

If your team wants to go deeper on how Benepass builds, tests, and governs AI-enabled features, our security, privacy, and legal teams are available to walk through it directly. Get in touch or learn more in the Benepass Trust Portal.