The stated goal for Nationwide Inc., the Fortune 100 insurance services provider, is to “help protect families, businesses and futures.” Based on news released this month, Nationwide’s own business future will be in the cloud.

On Thursday, Amazon Web Services Inc. announced that Nationwide had selected AWS as its preferred cloud provider and will move more than 850 business and customer-facing applications to the cloud platform.

“Our journey with this started almost two years ago,” said Guru Vasudeva (pictured), senior vice president and chief technology officer at Nationwide. “We were looking for a partner who was leading edge in terms of cloud capabilities, as well as in creating new services. It’s not just about migrating the applications, but also modernizing them.”

Vasudeva spoke with John Walls, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during AWS re:Invent. They discussed the cloud services that Nationwide planned to leverage for its customer interface and a dedicated AWS program designed to ensure a smooth transition. (* Disclosure below.)

Migrating key workloads

For Nationwide, modernizing its applications meant taking advantage of cloud services, including machine learning, analytics, security and serverless. One of the insurance carrier’s objectives was to provide deeper insights for its independent agents and service associates and personalize recommendations for its customer base.

Among the key, business-critical workloads being migrated to the cloud will be Nationwide’s Claims, Personal and Commercial Insurance Policy Systems, and its flagship website.

“These are very critical systems for a company like us,” Vasudeva said. “It’s like the heart and soul of the company. You cannot just migrate them and hope that it will work out.”

To ensure a smooth transition, Nationwide will be relying on AWS Enterprise Next, a 15-month engagement program that pairs the cloud provider’s experts with customer teams to develop a long-term plan and key milestones. The program has already helped Nationwide build 60 applications in the cloud.

“On the innovation level, we’ve been able to tap into AI and machine learning capabilities and stitch together new experiences in our commercial lines space,” Vasudeva said. “Our vision is completely transforming the customer experience that we provide to them using digital capabilities.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of AWS re:Invent. (* Disclosure: Amazon Web Services Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither AWS nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE