ACORD Student Challenge 2025 Empowers Students to Drive AI Innovation in Pet Insurance Underwriting

ACORD Launches 2025 Student Challenge Focused on AI Innovation in Pet Insurance Underwriting

ACORD, the global standards organization for the insurance industry, has announced the ACORD Student Challenge 2025. This national competition invites university students to apply advanced technology tools to real insurance problems, with a focus this year on pet insurance underwriting.

With pet ownership increasing worldwide, insurers face the task of accurately assessing risk and crafting personalized coverage options. Students participating in the challenge will identify and organize essential data fields for underwriting pet insurance policies. They will also extract insights that could influence the future of this growing market.

Contestants will use modern AI tools such as Large Language Models (LLMs) and data science techniques to gather and analyze insurance carrier data. This hands-on experience includes prompt engineering, data architecture, and process documentation. The results will aid in developing data standards to be adopted across the global insurance industry.

Practical Benefits for Participants

• Apply AI and data science skills to a real insurance challenge
• Gain exposure to industry-standard data practices
• Develop expertise in prompt engineering and data structuring
• Contribute to standards that impact insurers worldwide

“ACORD supports the next generation of insurance innovators,” said Malou Soriano, SVP, Global Chief Officer of Education, Consulting & Advocacy at ACORD. “The Student Challenge offers a hands-on opportunity to solve meaningful insurance problems using emerging technologies.”

Competition Details and Prizes

• Registration Deadline: October 1, 2025
• Submission Deadline: November 1, 2025
• Grand Prize: $5,000 cash
• Two Runners-up: $2,000 each
• Additional Rewards: Recognition in ACORD media, free passes to ACORD Connect 2026, and a one-year mentorship with an insurance professional

Students interested in participating can register at www.acord.org/studentchallenge. For further questions, contact programs@acord.org.

About ACORD

ACORD sets global standards for the insurance sector, enabling fast and accurate data exchange and improving workflow efficiency. The organization serves over 36,000 participating entities across 100+ countries, including insurers, brokers, software vendors, and industry associations. ACORD operates offices in New York and London.

Learn more about ACORD and its initiatives at www.acord.org.