By Isha Marathe

March 31 - (The Insurer) - The Hartford has named Shekar Pannala chief information officer, along with leading technology, cyber security, infrastructure and cloud modernization, and named Jeffery Hawkins chief data, AI and operations officer, along with leading operations.

Deepa Soni, who served as the former CIO and operations officer, resigned from the company to pursue an external opportunity and will work with Pannala and Hawkins to ensure a smooth transition.

Pannala has over 30 years of experience in the industry. Before joining The Hartford in 2023, he served as the global CIO of Chubb. He has also held roles at S&P Global and BNY Mellon.

Hawkins has over 25 years of experience in the industry. Before joining The Hartford in 2023, he was CIO at CVS Health, and held senior leadership roles at Humana.

Pannala and Hawkins will report to The Hartford’s chairman and CEO Christopher Swift, effective immediately.

“Over the past several years, we have made tremendous progress on our technology and operations strategy, including digitizing processes, modernizing foundational technology infrastructure and investing in cloud, data and AI,” Swift said.

“Our new structure enables us to focus more deeply on our critical technology-and-operations priorities and build on our competitive advantages.”