Where Are They Now -- A Different Kind of Alignment

When she was with Farmers Insurance (Los Angeles) and Zurich Financial Services' (Zurich, Switzerland) European operations, one of Cecilia Claudio's preoccupations was business and technology alignment. Now, as CIO and VP of engineering of Align Technologies, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based manufacturer of orthodontic appliances, a position she began last September, Claudio is concerned with another kind of alignment. She describes her new company's transparent plastic Invisalign product as an alternative to metal braces.

At Align Technologies, Claudio is responsible for the "typical CIO stuff," she relates, but she also had the opportunity to direct the company's engineering teams. "I was in charge of all the developers that create the tools used for accomplishing the clinical outcomes, including the algorithms used to ensure applying the necessary forces for each tooth to move in the appropriate way," Claudio explains.

According to Claudio, her current work is similar to her experience in the insurance industry in that Align's product aims to help a customer in the way that insurance can "help a person get their life in order."

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio