IIT Bombay, HDFC ERGO join hands to improve R&D in insurance sector

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, has entered into an agreement with HDFC ERGO General Insurance to increase expertise and research and development (R&D) in the overall insurance sector.  

The alliance is a first in the insurance sector and aims at operationalising high-impact projects. IIT Bombay and HDFC ERGO’s strategic partnership is expected to focus on the research and development in the emerging areas and add value to the overall insurance sector.  

IIT Bombay will provide strategic business solutions to HDFC ERGO by leveraging the startups at the pre-incubation and incubation stage at the Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship (DSSE) and the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), respectively.  

On the other hand, HDFC ERGO will provide strategic investments to IIT Bombay over five years to institutionalise 50 high-impact projects across business verticals such as acquisition, servicing, claims, renewal, underwriting actuarial practices and operations. 

Partnership to help in setup of innovation lab at IIT Bombay 

The partnership will help in the establishment of an innovation lab at IIT Bombay’s campus in Powai, Mumbai. The lab will facilitate interactions, brainstorming sessions and requisite workstations for the students, professors and the HDFC ERGO team. The engagement is expected to provide a gateway to professors and students of IIT Bombay to pitch ideas and solutions directly to HDFC ERGO and leverage HDFC ERGO’s industry expertise.  

Ritesh Kumar, managing director, HDFC ERGO General Insurance, said, “We have been focusing on evolving into an AI-first insurance company that will prove beneficial for our customers, and have been adopting and implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in almost all of our operations. Associating with IIT Bombay will aid in accelerating this transformation and will further help us differentiate our offerings in the industry.” 

Director, IIT Bombay, Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri said, “IIT Bombay has been at the forefront of digital transformations undertaken by many large companies and brands. With our ongoing focus on using technologies such as AI ML to solve real-world problems, this partnership is a natural fit. It gives us immense joy to work with HDFC ERGO”. 

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