Gary Hagmueller Joins CLARA Analytics to Lead the Artificial Intelligence Movement in Commercial Insurance
CLARA Aggressively Scales to Power the Next Generation of AI-Augmented Claims Operations
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — July 30, 2019 — CLARA Analytics (“CLARA”), the leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the commercial insurance industry, today announced that Gary Hagmueller has been named chief executive officer as company founder Jayant Lakshmikanthan transitions to the role of chief product officer. This further expansion of the executive team partners a proven leader with deep experience scaling companies in high-growth markets with a product visionary, passionate about reducing claims costs while improving the claimant experience. The addition of Hagmueller comes on the heels of a number of key executive hires as CLARA enters a new stage of growth.
“Throughout my career, I have sought out companies that use innovative technology to fundamentally transform key markets. In CLARA, I see a rapidly growing firm that is transforming claims operations from an ineffective and expensive process into a highly effective function that significantly reduces costs while substantially improving the experience for both customers and employees,” said Hagmueller. “Given that $330B is spent annually on claims operations and settlements, this is a massive market ripe for disruption.
“AI and machine learning are transformative technologies but only when applied strategically to solve real problems. The CLARA team understands the fundamental issues in the commercial insurance industry at a very deep level and has developed a suite of elegant solutions to address these sticking points. Adoption and enthusiasm for CLARA’s products thus far has been amazing, and we’ve only just begun to commercialize our applications,” added Hagmueller.
With more than 20 years’ experience, Hagmueller is a seasoned veteran in the technology industry, with a deep focus on building AI and machine learning applications for the enterprise market. Over the span of his career, he has created over $7.5B in enterprise value through multiple exits.
Hagmueller comes to CLARA from Ayasdi, an enterprise AI pioneer, where he most recently served as COO. During his tenure at Ayasdi, he led efforts to turn the firm into a vertically focused AI application developer and built the financial services and healthcare teams that ultimately resulted in the company’s successful sale to SymphonyAI Group.
Prior to Ayasdi, Hagmueller was CFO of Zuora, Inc., the leading cloud-based subscription management platform provider. He has also served as CFO of KnowNow, COO of Vinfolio (acquired by Revolution Capital), and senior director at RouteScience Technologies (acquired by Avaya). Earlier in his career, Hagmueller was the director of corporate development for NorthPoint Communications, where he helped drive its IPO. He came to NorthPoint from Verizon, where he led a business development team in the enterprise offerings group.
“Gary is the ideal CEO for CLARA as the company takes bold steps forward. Adoption and demand have increased so quickly that the company needs a leader with deep experience in all facets of scaling an enterprise-focused, AI-based SaaS company,” said Lakshmikanthan. “I am thrilled to be shifting my attention back to my passion in developing and evangelizing our products as CLARA is poised to become the dominant provider of AI tools for claims operations in insurance worldwide. I look forward to partnering closely with Gary and all that we will accomplish together.”
Hagmueller joins CLARA as the company builds on its momentum by signing an industry-first partnership with leading global professional services firm Aon to deliver a jointly developed AI solution that helps risk managers understand their underlying legal costs and prevent litigation from entering the workers’ compensation claims process. While doubling the number of customers since 2018, CLARA also strengthened its exceptionally talented executive team. Earlier this summer, CLARA added Pramod Akkarachittor as vice president of products, and in September, CLARA announced that MSA veteran Kim Wiswell joined the company as vice president of managed care operations. Additionally, Tom Ash was named the senior vice president of sales and business development, while Ruth Estrich was appointed to CLARA’s advisory board.
To learn more about CLARA and how it is leveraging AI and machine learning to transform the commercial insurance industry, please visit www.claraanalytics.com.
About CLARA Analytics
CLARA Analytics improves claims outcomes in commercial insurance with easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI)-based products. CLARA’s suite helps claims teams reduce various sources of loss costs in claims handling by keeping claims on track throughout their life cycle. The suite uses the latest in AI and machine learning (ML) technology and can integrate easily into any workflow or infrastructure to rapidly start showing value. CLARA’s customers include companies from the top 25 insurance carriers to small, self-insured organizations. CLARA Analytics was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Silicon Valley in California. For more information, visit www.claraanalytics.com, and follow CLARA Analytics on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Media Contact:
Dottie O’Rourke
TECHMarket Communications
650-344-1260
CLARAanalytics@techmarket.com
