Bob Bastian, MSM

I'm an executive who runs data, AI, and technology as one mandate. Over twenty-five years I've turned large, complex organizations into high-performing, AI-enabled growth engines: global teams to 5,000 and budgets to $1.6B across insurance, retirement, and annuities. Today I'm fortunate to serve as Prudential's first Chief Data and AI Officer (CDAO), with an enterprise mandate to transform the company through AI. The first move was focus: we narrowed 250 disconnected use cases to the six with the most business value, then concentrated our people and funding behind them. Guided by an AI strategy and playbook, with governance built in from the start (responsible AI, data standards, model risk), we've embedded GenAI, LLM, and agentic AI into underwriting, service, claims, and software development. Today: 23 AI systems in production, generating $23M in annual run-rate savings. Most recently I led global technology for Prudential's Retirement & Insurance businesses across the U.S., Japan, and emerging markets: more than $60M in verified savings, Priority 1 incidents down 46% year over year, and agentic developer tooling with nearly 3,000 engineers. Earlier I introduced Scaled Agile at Prudential (70 teams at the start, now how the organization delivers) and launched FlexGuard ahead of schedule; it now exceeds $10B in total sales. The work I care about hasn't changed: take on a hard business problem, fix what's broken, and build something better. I lead by creating clarity and explaining the reason behind every important decision; that's how you earn trust and bring out the best in people. If you're building in this space, I'm always glad to trade notes; please reach out. I AM KNOWN FOR: ✓ AI-enabled Service transformation: reimagined the digital customer experience; complaints at record lows, down ~45% year over year. ✓ One operating model for Service, Data, and Technology: NPS gains across business lines and $26.1M in run-rate GenAI savings. ✓ ~100 complex legacy systems retired since 2022, a 38% cut in the core legacy estate. ✓ Japan transformation strategy spanning leadership, operations, and customer relationships. ✓ Technology separations for the Empower divestiture and the ~$31B Fortitude Re block sale, with zero service disruption. CORE COMPETENCIES Enterprise Transformation | AI & Data Strategy | AI Governance & Responsible AI | GenAI, LLM & Agentic AI | Data Products | P&L Management | Customer Experience | Board Engagement | Talent & Succession | M&A