Meet the Team Behind Optura: Healthcare’s AI Operating System
At Optura, we’re not simply an AI company. We’re a team of healthcare builders, operators, and technologists who’ve sat in the rooms where decisions get made, pilots stall, and ROI falls short.
That’s why we started Optura: to fix the disconnect between AI ambition and real-world outcomes.
We’ve lived the pain our clients feel, and we know the kind of grit it takes to turn complex problems into practical solutions. Our backgrounds span healthcare payers, tech platforms, and hands-on delivery, and we share a belief that healthcare doesn’t need more noise. It needs people who can roll up their sleeves, dig into the mess, and drive results that matter.
Time to meet the team behind the work — the ones who’ll help turn your AI pilots into progress.
Andy Fanning
Co-Founder & CEO
“The Potential Harnesser”
Andy’s the guy who’s been deep in the trenches of healthcare transformation and still wants to fix what’s broken. Before co-founding Optura, he spent years at Cigna leading business transformation and AI strategy, delivering over half a billion in value back to the business. But titles and numbers aside, he’s driven by a belief that big ideas only matter if they get real results.
At Optura, Andy focuses on turning AI from a buzzword into a working system — one that gives health plans control, visibility, and real ROI. His background in intelligent automation and technology innovation guides the platform’s evolution from concept to impact.
Michael Hollis
Co-Founder, President & Chief Growth Officer
“The Dot Connector”
Mike’s career has been all about finding the signal in the noise. He helped grow Emids into a leading healthcare tech company by understanding what health plans really need: clarity, trust, and action, not more slide decks. At Optura, he brings that same people-first mindset to everything he touches, from growth strategy to client relationships.
What keeps Mike grounded is his family. He and his wife, Ellen, started TeamHunt, a foundation honoring their son Hunt, and focused on helping families facing medical complexity. That lived experience shapes how he sees the future of healthcare: human-centered, empathetic, and built with purpose.
Joel Thimsen
SVP, Solutions Engineering
“The Systems Architect”
Joel doesn’t just build systems — he builds solutions designed to solve the real-world problems health plans face every day. With more than 20 years in healthcare tech and AI, he’s led cloud architecture and platform strategy for payers, providers, and tech firms alike.
At Optura, Joel leads the solutions engineering team, turning complex enterprise needs into scalable, compliant, and production-ready capabilities. His experience as a fractional CTO and Chief Architect means he’s seen firsthand where AI breaks down, and how to make it work at scale.
Jerry Buchanan
Head of Growth
“The Market Navigator”
Jerry’s been at the intersection of healthcare, data, and AI for over two decades, and he’s still not tired of solving hard problems. From building commercial teams to leading growth strategy at SoftServe and Ursa Health, he’s spent his career helping healthcare organizations cut through complexity.
At Optura, Jerry’s focused on bringing our AI platform to the right people with the right message. He’s the kind of leader who listens first, strategizes second, and ensures our solutions align with real business needs, not just sales goals.
Bogdan Blaga
SVP of Platform & Chief Architect
“The Bridge Builder”
Bogdan is the kind of architect who obsesses over every detail because he knows that’s what it takes to build systems that last. Since 2011, he’s been developing enterprise, B2B, and B2C applications with a focus on scalability, security, and real-world usability.
At Optura, Bogdan leads the engineering strategy behind our AI Enterprise Operating System (AIEOS). He ensures that the platform can grow with our clients and handle the complexity of healthcare AI without breaking. He’s not just building code; he’s building the technical backbone that makes real ROI possible.
Clayton Kelly
Director of Brand & Event Programs
“The Experience Curator”
Clayton is a detail-driven event marketer with a passion for crafting thoughtful, high-impact brand experiences. Over the past four years, she’s led integrated marketing strategies focused on provider engagement, driving demand, lead conversion, and revenue growth through high-impact events, trade shows, and multi-channel campaigns.
Her work blends strategic vision with meticulous execution, consistently delivering results and elevating brand presence. Clayton thrives at the intersection of logistics and creativity, and she’s excited to bring her expertise to Optura to help shape bold, future-forward experiences.
Gaurav Pandey
Vice President of Growth Operations
“The Growth Orchestrator”
Gaurav is a healthcare technology leader with a proven track record of turning go-to-market (GTM) strategy into scalable, revenue-generating engines. With over 15 years of experience working with digital health companies, Gaurav has built GTM functions from 0 to 1, aligning sales, marketing, and operations to drive high-impact growth. He combines strategic vision with AI-driven execution to accelerate pipeline development, expand market presence, and scale customer acquisition.
Gaurav is deeply committed to advancing the role of AI in driving meaningful, system-wide transformation across healthcare.
We’re hiring!
If you’re passionate about making AI work for healthcare and joining a collaborative team that works hard and has fun doing it, check out our open positions.
Together, Let’s Put AI to Work
We built Optura for teams like yours — payers navigating complexity, chasing value, and tired of AI that promises more than it delivers. Our team’s been in your shoes, and we know what it takes to turn stalled pilots into real programs and shiny tools into operational wins.
If you're ready to stop guessing and start building, we’d love to show you how AIEOS works and how our team can help you make a real impact with AI across your organization.
Let’s roll up our sleeves together.
