AI chiefs have become increasingly present in health systems, shaping governance, implementation and oversight. Health plans and their subsidiaries have been getting on the bandwagon, too.
While analytics- and technology-centric executives are often responsible for AI initiatives at companies, some insurers are tapping leaders to specifically focus on AI.
Here are five AI executives pioneering the technology’s applications at health insurers and their businesses:
1. UnitedHealth Group’s Optum recently named Shobhit Varshney as chief AI officer, just days after Optum confirmed a partnership with Anthropic. He garnered AI leadership experience at Citi and IBM.
2. In May, Humana announced that Santosh Bardwaj would serve as senior vice president of enterprise AI. Prior, Mr. Bardwaj held data-oriented executive positions at JPMorganChase and CNA Insurance.
3. SCAN Group appointed Aman Bhandari, PhD, as its first chief AI officer in March 2026. He previously led AI initiatives at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Merck, served as a senior advisor to the U.S. and HHS chief technology officer, and worked at CMS as a senior health economist. Dr. Bhandari’s LinkedIn profile said his doctorate is from the University of California, Berkeley.
4. UnitedHealth Group tapped Michael Pencina, PhD, as its chief AI scientist in October 2025. He was previously vice dean for data science at Durham, N.C.-based Duke University School of Medicine and chief data scientist for Duke Health. According to his LinkedIn profile, Dr. Pencina received his doctorate from Boston University.
5. In April 2025, Alignment Health named Arta Bakshandeh, DO, president of AVA, its AI clinical insight platform. Leading up to that role, Dr. Bakshandeh was the insurer’s chief medical informatics officer, his LinkedIn profile said. He got his doctor of osteopathic medicine degree from Touro University and is an adjunct faculty professor at the Los Angeles-based Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
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