"Bharat Innovation Hub" - a joint research and innovation centre dedicated to building deep-technology defences that are designed, built, and owned in India
MUMBAI, India, June 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In a move that reshapes how India protects the financial data of millions, SBI Life Insurance, one of the country's most trusted private life insurers, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) to establish 'Bharat's AI & Cyber Innovation Hub for Insurance' (the "Bharat Innovation Hub"), a joint research and innovation centre dedicated to building India's own deep-technology defences for the insurance sector.
The MoU was signed by Prof. S.V Kulkarni, Dean-R&D, IIT- Bombay and Mr. Vishal Bhatia, Chief Information & Digital Officer, SBI Life Insurance in presence of Prof. Shireesh B Kedare, Director, IIT-Bombay; Mr. Abhijit Gulanikar, President - Ops & IT, SBI Life; Mr. Subhendu Bal, President - Chief Risk Officer, SBI Life; Mr. Balaji Venketaswar, Professor of Practice, IIT-Bombay; Prof. Ganesh Ramakrishnan, Chair Professor, Department of CSE, IIT-Bombay & Founding Director, BharatGen; and Mr. Pravin Ghate, EVP & Head - Infra Core, Cloud & CITSO among other respected dignitaries.
India's insurance premium growth is forecasted at 6.9% annually until 2030, making it the strongest growing major insurance market[1]. As the country's insurance penetration improves, customer data is set to grow by the day, protecting that data is as important as protecting the policies themselves. Thus the need for 'Bharat Innovation Hub', which marks a decisive shift away from dependence on imported security frameworks and towards cyber defence capabilities that are designed, built, and owned in India.
Aligning with the government's vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', the 'Bharat Innovation Hub' brings together SBI Life's deep understanding of insurance and customers with IIT Bombay's distinguished academia and scientific talent to develop solutions across Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Quantum Technologies, and the future of insurance. The collaboration spans cyber defence innovation, AI-driven tools, talent development, executive education, strategic consulting, and innovation incubation.
The partnership marks a significant step in SBI Life's journey towards becoming an AI-native insurer; an organisation that does not merely adopt technology, but actively creates it. The goal is to build scalable, resilient, deep-tech solutions capable of meeting the expectations of both customers and regulators in an increasingly digital world.