Sharp Mobile wins IBAA Hackathon

Calgary, AB (May 19, 2017) – Sharp Mobile Technology Ltd., won the inaugural IBAA Hackathon on May 9th. The hackathon gave teams 24 hours to create a new technology that would help advance the broker channel. Sharp Mobile, an independent insurance technology company beat out stiff competition including Intact Insurance for their interactive broker chat called BRIE.

On the success of Sharp Mobile’s first hackathon event, Ken Sedgewick notes “It’s quite amazing what you can do in 24 hours. Our team really rallied together and worked around-the clock to make BRIE into a reality.”

BRIE, or Broker Resource Information Engine, is an intelligent chat robot that can answer a diverse range of insurance questions that draw from various insurer underwriting manuals. Some of the questions used in the live demo at the Hackathon include: How much will a client pay in cancellation fees, information about a specific insurance company’s motorcycle policy, as well as requesting BRIE to text a pink card to a client.

“As an insurance broker I was very excited to see what Sharp had submitted at the IBAA Hackathon. A lot of the pain points in document management, information lookup and market research seemed to disappear thanks to an AI chat bot named BRIE – the most amazing part being that she was developed in a mere 24 hours,” states Scott Romans from Ing+Mckee Insurance. BRIE is designed to be a broker aid by reducing the time spent scanning through underwriting manuals.

According to Wassim Salib, VP, Development at Sharp Mobile, they’ve only just started: “This was just a few use cases that we were able to develop in 24 hours, but we haven’t scratch the surface yet. BRIE’s AI will get better in time through a continuous learning experience and will be able to solve much more complex problems – the sky is the limit.”

Although BRIE was designed specifically for the IBAA Hackathon, Sharp Mobile is currently working on other innovative projects for the brokerage sphere. “This is a really exciting time at Sharp Mobile. We have a lot of great ideas combined with a hard-working and talented team. We are looking forward to launching some of our new initiatives in the near future,” states Sedgewick.

About Sharp Mobile Technology Ltd.

Created out of the need for technological advancements in the insurance brokerage industry, Sharp Mobile provides digital solutions geared towards the modern brokerage. Inspired by real-life, day-to-day insurance demands, Sharp Mobile created the industry’s first mobile app and online portal that offers clients full access to insurance documents and digital pink cards. The mobile app and online portal also support self-service tools including payment information, claims submittal and policy change requests. Sharp Mobile provides digital solutions for brokerages across Canada and is now working with several other industries to improve their digital offerings. For more information, visit sharpmobile.ca.

SOURCE: Sharp Mobile Technology Ltd.