Former UnitedHealth Group executive brings dual expertise to guide CIOs in balancing AI adoption, data compliance, and business growth
Transcend, the compliance layer for customer data powering the world’s leading companies, today announced that Aimee Cardwell, former UnitedHealth Group executive, has been appointed as Transcend’s new CIO (Chief Information Officer) in Residence. This appointment expands her current role as CISO in Residence into a new, joint role. Aimee brings over two decades of experience guiding enterprises through responsible technology adoption, including roles as CIO and CISO at UnitedHealth Group and VP of Product Development at American Express.
As CIOs tasked with deploying AI across their organizations find even their highest-priority initiatives stalled by fragmented customer data and unclear permissions, her expertise arrives at a critical moment. Cardwell’s expanded role acknowledges what many enterprises are quickly discovering: they can’t responsibly activate AI when customer data and the permissions that go with it are scattered and fragmented.
“CIOs are under pressure to deliver AI that drives business value, but for any given customer record, most organizations can’t answer a basic question: what are we actually allowed to do with this data?” said Ben Brook, Transcend CEO and co-founder. “Can we use it to train a model? Share it with an ad partner? Personalize an experience? Every record carries its own set of permissions and restrictions, and almost nobody has them surfaced in a way that’s actionable. Aimee’s experience building technology systems while managing complex compliance at global scale makes her the right leader to help CIOs navigate this.”
As both CIO and CISO in Residence, Cardwell will work with technology leaders navigating the convergence of infrastructure, security, and data governance. These domains increasingly share the same dashboard as AI adoption accelerates, and their leaders face a common challenge: most enterprise tech stacks were built to collect and store data efficiently but weren’t designed to track usage permissions across sprawling systems. This worked when privacy was a checkbox exercise but breaks down when teams need real-time answers about data rights across millions of records to move AI initiatives forward.
The challenge is also compounded by velocity. Enterprises add new data systems weekly, and AI projects multiply faster than governance teams can review them, creating bottlenecks that slow innovation.
“CIOs and CISOs often try to accomplish similar goals using different tools, which means the company is duplicating investments to get the same outcomes,” said Cardwell. “Both roles need to know where user data is stored across the enterprise. Both need to understand what consent has been given and what regulations apply. My experience in both roles allows me to help Transcend’s customers bring these functions closer together to reduce redundancy. One tool, one set of information, two strong perspectives using that information in different ways. That’s how you enable AI initiatives that were previously stalled.”
“Aimee has lived the reality of managing both the ‘enable the business’ and ‘protect the business’ mandates, and she’s done it while building critical products at global scale,” said Kate Parker, Transcend President. “That combination of product development, infrastructure, and security expertise is exactly what CIOs need as they navigate AI adoption, and it’s invaluable as we help enterprises reimagine their infrastructure to unlock competitive advantage through AI and personalization.”
Cardwell’s appointment reflects Transcend’s focus on helping companies modernize how they handle consumer data for an AI-driven economy. The In Residence program brings executive expertise to help organizations move from reactive compliance to systems that enable responsible innovation.
