2 min readNew DelhiJun 30, 2026 02:58 PM IST
The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) has partnered with SBI Life Insurance to establish the ‘Bharat AI & Cyber Innovation Hub for Insurance’, a joint research and innovation centre aimed at developing indigenous artificial intelligence and cybersecurity technologies for India’s insurance sector.
The collaboration seeks to build AI-powered cyber defence systems designed, developed and owned in India, supporting the country’s push towards technological self-reliance under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. In a statement, SBI Life noted that India’s insurance premium market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 6.9% until 2030, making cyber security and customer data protection increasingly critical as insurance adoption expands.
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The Bharat Innovation Hub will undertake research across artificial intelligence, cyber security, quantum technologies and digital insurance systems. Besides technology development, the partnership will also focus on executive education, talent development, strategic consulting, innovation incubation, and collaborative research between academia and industry.
A key objective of the initiative is to create homegrown cyber defence capabilities that reduce dependence on imported security frameworks while strengthening India’s institutional capacity to tackle evolving digital threats in the financial sector.
The collaboration will also support the development of a skilled talent pipeline in AI and cybersecurity by enabling students and researchers to work on real-world industry challenges. IIT Bombay said the initiative aims to translate cutting-edge research into deployable technologies while fostering closer collaboration between academia and industry.
The institute added that the Bharat Innovation Hub is expected to serve as a model for future partnerships between higher education institutions and regulated industries, helping accelerate research-led innovation and indigenous technology development in critical sectors.