Fawad Butt is the CEO of Penguin AI, a cutting-edge health AI company based in Palo Alto, California. Under his leadership, Penguin AI is driving innovation through the application of artificial intelligence to reduce the administration burden in healthcare . Before taking the helm at Penguin AI, Fawad was a Partner at a multi-billion-dollar venture firm in Silicon Valley, where he helped guide and invest in transformative healthcare, data, and AI technologies.
Fawad previously served as the Chief Data Officer at UnitedHealthcare and Optum, where he led the healthcare industry’s largest team of data and analytics professionals and managed a multi-hundred-million-dollar P&L. His tenure at UnitedHealthcare was marked by the modernization of the company's data and analytics capabilities, platforms, and services. He fostered a culture of innovation, advancing experimental approaches and leveraging new technologies to deliver cutting-edge solutions. His efforts supported the analytical needs of the business, driving best-in-class care and cost outcomes for over 60 million members.
Before his time at UnitedHealth Group, Fawad served as Chief Data Governance and Chief Data Officer at Kaiser Permanente, where he spearheaded major data strategy initiatives. He also held senior roles at Northern Trust Bank as Global Head of Data Strategy, consulted for TIAA, TD Bank, and Sun Microsystems, and worked in various leadership capacities at technology and product firms.
In addition to his enterprise leadership experience, Fawad is a highly sought-after advisor for startups in healthcare, data analytics, and emerging technologies. He has been an early advisor to successful companies like Collibra, Monte Carlo Data, and Redesign Health, and has made numerous personal investments in AI, Web3, and data-driven healthcare companies. His thought leadership has been featured in prominent publications like Forbes, FierceHealthcare, and MedCity News, and he is a frequent keynote speaker at major industry events.
Fawad holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering.
