Leading healthcare AI company expands advisory board and appoints veteran transformation executive to help organizations operationalize AI at enterprise scale

AUSTIN, Texas, June 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Autonomize, the healthcare intelligence platform transforming fragmented healthcare operations into autonomous, intelligent workflows, today announced the appointment of three distinguished healthcare and technology leaders to its Advisory Board and the addition of veteran healthcare transformation executive Mike Longacre as Head of Transformation.

The appointments reflect Autonomize's continued investment in helping healthcare organizations move beyond AI experimentation and achieve enterprise-wide adoption that delivers measurable operational, clinical, and financial impact.

Joining Autonomize's Advisory Board are:

• Dr. Brian Anderson, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI), the leading industry organization focused on advancing responsible AI in healthcare.
• Bill Fandrich, accomplished healthcare and financial services executive recognized for four decades of leadership in business transformation, analytics, artificial intelligence, and operational excellence.
• Keith Reynolds, Chief Operating Officer of Welldoc and former CVS Health executive with deep expertise in scaling AI-driven healthcare solutions and driving payer innovation.
  

In addition, Mike Longacre joins Autonomize as Head of Transformation, bringing more than two decades of experience leading large-scale operational and digital transformation initiatives across health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, healthcare technology organizations, and consulting firms.

"Healthcare organizations increasingly recognize that AI success requires far more than deploying models or automating individual tasks," said Ganesh Padmanabhan, CEO and Co-Founder of Autonomize. "Real transformation happens when AI is embedded into the fabric of how work gets done across clinical, operational, and administrative functions. With the addition of these exceptional leaders, we're strengthening our ability to help customers navigate both the technology and the organizational changes required to achieve AI at scale."

As healthcare organizations face mounting pressure to improve efficiency, reduce administrative burden, and enhance patient outcomes, many are struggling to move AI initiatives from pilots into sustainable enterprise programs. Autonomize's expanded leadership team reflects a growing market need for expertise that combines AI innovation, operational transformation, governance, and change management.

Dr. Brian Anderson brings deep expertise in responsible AI, healthcare interoperability, and national health technology policy. As CEO of CHAI, he leads industry-wide efforts to establish consensus-based frameworks for trustworthy AI in healthcare and has played a central role in advancing standards for AI safety, effectiveness, and validation.

"Healthcare's AI future depends on building systems that organizations can trust and scale responsibly," said Anderson. "Autonomize has demonstrated a strong commitment to applying AI in ways that create meaningful value while supporting transparency, governance, and accountability. I'm excited to contribute to that mission."

Bill Fandrich adds decades of executive leadership experience spanning healthcare, technology, and financial services. With deep expertise in business operations, technology, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence, Fandrich has executed several large scale business and technology transformations for some of the largest and most complex organizations. In addition, his innovative, entrepreneurial, and operator expertise provides both the vision and understanding of what it takes to execute AI strategies within organizations to drive value with new business and operating models.

"Healthcare is entering a new era where AI will fundamentally reshape how organizations operate, make decisions, and serve patients," said Fandrich. "The greatest opportunities won't come from isolated technology deployments, but from reimagining business processes and operating models around intelligence. Autonomize is helping healthcare organizations bridge that gap between innovation and real-world impact, and I'm excited to support the company's vision for transforming healthcare operations at scale."

Keith Reynolds brings a unique combination of payer, provider, and digital health experience. Having led major strategic initiatives at CVS Health and now serving as COO of Welldoc, Reynolds has extensive expertise in commercializing AI-enabled healthcare solutions that improve outcomes while reducing costs.

"Healthcare leaders are under increasing pressure to improve outcomes, reduce costs, and create better experiences for both clinicians and patients," said Reynolds. "AI has the potential to be a powerful catalyst for that transformation, but success depends on integrating intelligence into everyday workflows in ways that are practical, scalable, and measurable. Autonomize is focused on solving that challenge, and I'm thrilled to join the advisory board as the company helps organizations unlock the full value of AI across the healthcare ecosystem."

While Autonomize's advisors bring deep expertise in healthcare operations, clinical innovation, and enterprise leadership, the company is also investing in helping customers translate AI strategy into measurable business outcomes. To support this mission, Autonomize has appointed Mike Longacre as Head of Transformation, a newly created leadership role focused on helping healthcare organizations accelerate enterprise-wide adoption, navigate organizational change, and unlock the full value of AI-driven transformation. Working closely with customers, Mike will help align technology initiatives with business priorities, identify the operational and financial levers that drive success, and ensure organizations realize lasting impact from their AI investments.

Most recently a Partner in PwC's Health Transformation practice, Longacre advised payer executives and boards on enterprise modernization, AI strategy, operating model redesign, governance, and performance transformation. His experience also includes leadership roles at ConnectureDRX, UnitedHealthcare, and other healthcare organizations where he drove consumer engagement, digital innovation, and operational excellence initiatives.

"Many organizations know where they want to go with AI, but the path from pilot to enterprise-wide transformation remains challenging," said Longacre. "Success requires aligning people, processes, governance, technology, and culture around a shared vision. I'm excited to help our customers unlock the full potential of AI by translating innovation into sustainable operational change."

The appointments come as Autonomize continues to expand its AI platform, which enables healthcare organizations to deploy intelligent agents and workflows across utilization management, care management, prior authorization, revenue cycle operations, and other mission-critical processes.

Together, the advisory board additions and creation of the Head of Transformation role underscore Autonomize's belief that the next phase of AI in healthcare will be defined not only by advances in technology, but by organizations' ability to operationalize AI across the enterprise in a responsible, scalable, and measurable way.

About Autonomize AI
Autonomize AI is the enterprise intelligence platform transforming how healthcare organizations access, orchestrate, and act on complex operational and clinical knowledge. Trusted by three of the five largest U.S. health enterprises, the company's Intelligence Platform combines healthcare-specific AI agents, workflow intelligence, and domain expertise to power smarter decision-making across utilization management, care management, claims, pharmacy, and appeals. By serving as an AI operating layer across the healthcare ecosystem, Autonomize helps organizations unlock the value of fragmented data and institutional knowledge while ensuring enterprise-grade governance, security, compliance, and explainability. Backed by Valtruis, Asset Management Ventures, Cigna Group Ventures, ATX Venture Partners, and TAU Ventures, Autonomize is building the critical infrastructure to power AI-native healthcare operations.

Learn more at autonomize.ai.

Media Contact: AutonomizeAI@watersagency.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/68daee9e-a2ba-4680-b196-dc32aeb99af5.

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