Marsh, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk adviser, today announced the winners of its inaugural #ReWRITE all-women risk and insurance hackathon event held earlier this month in New York and Phoenix.

Representing “Team Breeze,” graduate students Paulina Barragán, Jing Li, and Xinyi Qian took home first place and the $25,000 prize for their small business recommendation engine prototype. The platform offers personalized insurance and risk management solutions using real-time data and unique preferences.

Teams “iInsure” and “Marshmallow” tied for runner up and will each receive a $15,000 award for their prototypes: a comprehensive insurance coverage marketplace powered by data aggregation and an artificial intelligence (AI) risk and insurance advisory chatbot, respectively.

Marsh’s #ReWRITE hackathon attracted 60 women from leading universities and businesses who competed on April 6-7 to solve for risk management challenges using emerging technologies such as blockchain, AI, and the Internet of Things.

Prototypes were judged by a panel of insurance and technology leaders based on their innovation, technical solution, practicality, and potential impact on the industry. All entries now will be evaluated in Marsh Digital Labs for potential future development.

“#ReWRITE is a great example of how diversity brings a fresh perspective and unlocks innovative products. Congratulations to all the women who participated and built some amazing prototypes,” said Sastry Durvasula, Chief Digital Officer and Chief Data and Analytics Officer, Marsh, who revealed and awarded the winners at the “D&I in our DNA” session held yesterday at the RIMS annual conference in Boston. “These women demonstrated the power that emerging tech can bring for the future of risk management and insurance, and I can’t wait to see the possibilities ahead,” added Asha Vellaikal, head of Marsh Digital Labs.

“We are so proud to have been a part of this exciting event for women that brought different skill sets and ideas together and which gave us the opportunity to learn more about InsurTech,” said Xinyi Qian from Team Breeze.

Valeria Torres-Olivares, from Team iInsure, added: “Being able to attend all-female hackathons are pretty rare, so I jumped at the chance to attend #ReWRITE. I had a great time learning new ways in which I can apply my coding skills to real-world applications.”

Nishanthi Balakrishnan, from Team Marshmallow, said: “It was great to meet and network with so many Arizona women who are passionate about geeking out on AI.”

About Marsh

Marsh is the world’s leading insurance broker and risk adviser. With over 35,000 colleagues operating in more than 130 countries, Marsh serves commercial and individual clients with data driven risk solutions and advisory services. Marsh is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies NYSE: MMC), the leading global professional services firm in the areas of risk, strategy and people. With annual revenue over US$15 billion and 75,000 colleagues worldwide, MMC helps clients navigate an increasingly dynamic and complex environment through four market-leading firms: Marsh, Guy Carpenter, Mercer, and Oliver Wyman. Follow Marsh on Twitter @MarshGlobal; LinkedIn; Facebook; and YouTube, or subscribe to BRINK.

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