The Hartford, a US-based insurer, has announced leadership changes, expanding both Shekar Pannala and Stephen Deane’s roles while appointing James M. Yanosy as Chief Risk Officer, effective 2 November 2026.
The Hartford expands Pannala’s role as Chief Information Officer to include Data and Artificial Intelligence.
Pannala joined The Hartford in March 2023 to lead technology across the company’s Property & Casualty businesses and has served in his current role since March 2025.
Prior to that, he served as global CIO of Chubb, responsible for technology across the enterprise. He has also served as Chief Technology Officer at S&P Global and held senior management roles at BNY Mellon, where he was Executive Vice President and divisional Chief Information Officer, responsible for asset servicing technology.
Deane will oversee the company’s Operations in addition to his current role as Chief Claims Officer.
He returned to The Hartford in November 2023 following three years at Liberty Mutual Insurance, where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Claims Officer, Global Risk Solutions, North America.
Before that, Deane spent more than 16 years at The Hartford in various leadership roles, including Senior Vice President of Group Benefits and Workers’ Compensation claims. Earlier in his career, he was an attorney at Robinson & Cole LLP and managed a claims team at Travelers.
Yanosy has served as the firm’s Chief Financial Officer for Business Insurance, Employee Benefits, Claims and centralised services since 2019.
He joined The Hartford in 2003 and has held various roles within the finance team, including leading teams in financial reporting, expense management and technology risk management. He has served as Chief Financial Officer for every part of the enterprise.
Prior to joining The Hartford, Yanosy was a director of financial reporting at American Skandia. He also spent 10 years at Arthur Andersen LLP, where he rose to the level of senior manager as an auditor.
Yanosy will report directly to Christopher Swift, Chairman and CEO of The Hartford. Pannala will continue to report to Swift, while Deane will continue to report to President A. Morris “Mo” Tooker.
Swift commented, “These leadership changes reflect our commitment to continually evolving our organisation to better serve customers, accelerate innovation and position The Hartford for long-term success.
“We are simplifying execution, sharpening accountability, and increasing our ability to respond to a rapidly changing business environment while building on the strong foundation and performance track-record for which we are known.”
Tooker said, “These changes reflect our continued focus on making it easier to do business with The Hartford, positioning us for opportunities ahead while maintaining our excellence in managing risk. Closer alignment between Operations and Claims will create greater connectivity across the customer experience, helping us respond with speed, empathy and consistency when it matters most. By bringing our data and AI capabilities together under the leadership of our chief information officer, we can more effectively embed advanced analytics and emerging technologies into the way we serve customers and support distribution partners.”
The Hartford also announced that Prateek Chhabra, its current Chief Risk Officer, and Jeffery Hawkins, its current Chief Data, AI and Operations Officer, will leave the company at the end of the year.
