Plans to disrupt the ‘notoriously outdated’ insurance industry with new technologies have taken a leap forward thanks to a new partnership between insurtech specialist Ripe and the University of Salford.
Manchester-based Ripe Insurance has secured support from Innovate UK for a new knowledge sharing partnership with the university as part of its strategy of using data and machine learning to drive rapid growth.
The company will work with researchers at the university’s School of Computing, Science and Engineering to investigate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities to improve customer experience.
Paul Williams, executive chairman at Ripe, said the venture will accelerate the company’s plans to lead the insurtech sector.
“The insurance industry is notoriously outdated and very few insurance organisations in the UK are investing in these new technologies,” he added.
“We know AI and machine learning technologies have the potential to be a complete game-change for the entire insurance sector and we aim be one of the pioneers of this revolution.”
The two-year partnership will see Ripe investigate the use of data-driven pricing models where policies, pricing and marketing can all be personalised to the individual’s needs.
Behavioural economics will also be applied to understand what drives peoples’ decisions to purchase, or not, an insurance policy.
Professor Sunil Vandera, Dean of the School of Computing, Science and Engineering, said: “Knowledge Transfer Partnerships like this give businesses access to academic skills and expertise that will help them grow.
“The collaboration with Ripe is an exciting one and the in-house data scientist role is an incredible opportunity for someone to come into an industry which has been slow to innovate and make a very big impact.”