April 2, 2026 | Claire Hall

UConn Grad Students Win InsurTech NY Challenge By Offering Practical Solutions to Insurance-Provider Woes

“Experiences like this are exactly what we strive to create for our students—a chance to take what they’ve learned in the classroom, step into a real-world challenge, and show the world what UConn talent looks like,’’ said Laurissa Berk, director of Global and Experiential Education at the School of Business. “This team came in with a phenomenal, industry-informed idea, and they absolutely delivered.’’

UConn Grad students Trishan Kundu and Vitosavero Avila Wibisono pose for a photo with an executive from Principal Insurance at the InsurTech NY University Competition.

Trishan Kundu (left) and Vitosavero Avila Wibisono (right) pose for a photo with an executive from Principal Insurance, the event sponsor, at the InsurTech NY University Competition. The two UConn graduate students took first-place in this year's challenge. (contributed photo)

For the second consecutive year, a team of UConn grad students won the InsurTech NY University Case Competition.

Graduate students Trishan Kundu (BAPM) and Vitosavero Avila Wibisono (FinTech) took home the top prize and a $2,500 award on Tuesday at the event in New York City. The competition was judged by insurance leaders, investors and practitioners.

The prompt asked students what emerging risk or industry trend could be addressed through insurtech innovation to positively impact the insurance industry. Teams were asked to propose a new concept or an existing solution applied in a novel way. They were evaluated based on their data, innovation, creativity, and quality of presentation.

“The ‘secret sauce’ behind our win was our ability to clearly connect our solution to real-world scenarios,’’ Wibisono said. “We focused on addressing a key ‘pain point,’ detecting AI-generated content used as evidence in insurance claims, and proposed a practical solution to tackle it. We also made sure to explain how our approach could be integrated into existing workflows, showing a complete end-to-end pipeline from detection to implementation. I think this clarity and practicality really helped our solution stand out.’’

Kundu attributes the team’s win to their ability to bridge the gap between AI and real business impact. “We didn’t just build a model, we designed a solution that insurers can realistically adopt and scale,’’ he said.

Applying Classroom Lessons to ‘The Real World’

“Experiences like this are exactly what we strive to create for our students—a chance to take what they’ve learned in the classroom, step into a real-world challenge, and show the world what UConn talent looks like,’’ said Laurissa Berk, director of Global and Experiential Education at the School of Business. “This team came in with a phenomenal, industry-informed idea, and they absolutely delivered.’’

In order to get to the competition, Wibisono and Kundu had to compete against four other UConn teams to earn their trip to New York. Once there, they competed against students from the University of Iowa, St. John’s University and Columbia University. The goal of the competition is to engage the next generation of insurance professionals.

“What stood out about this team was the feeling that the product was easily relatable and the solution understandable,’’ said professor John Wilson, who mentored the students with professor Anna Radziwillowicz. “The team was required to revamp their deck to make it a professional-sounding pitch and they were clearly successful in doing so.’’

Second Consecutive Victory for UConn

Kundu said the experience will be beneficial in his career.

“This experience reinforced how critical it is to translate technical innovation into practical, industry-ready solutions, which will strongly shape my career in AI and data-driven decision making,’’ he said.

“Looking ahead, I believe it will help me develop and sharpen my skills, especially if I pursue a path in the insurance industry,’’ Wibisono said. “It can also help me gain recognition and build confidence when applying for roles in this field.’’

This is the second consecutive year that a UConn team took home the top prize. Last year, during the inaugural year of the competition, MSBAPM students Elia Cocoli and Rehaan Ahamed also earned the top prize.