Careers in AI: Meet the women revolutionizing health care at Optum
From bold career pivots to building cutting-edge health care solutions, three engineers at Optum share their journeys into AI. From their workplaces around the world, each provides a fascinating insight into the technology at their fingertips, the real-world impact of their work and the support that’s helped them along the way.
How we use AI responsibly
We think of responsible AI as the practice of ensuring that AI is designed and used fairly, ethically and safely. We continually assess and improve our practices based on our own learnings, industry best practices and regulatory guidance. Through our AI governance, we assess intended uses, the appropriate use of data, performance, fairness and bias testing results and provide ongoing clinical, legal, compliance, business and technical oversight.
“I was a bit unsure at first, but it’s opened up a whole new path for me.”
- Arthel D., senior software engineer
For Arthel D., a senior software engineer at Optum, the move from over a decade as a web developer into the world of AI was both daunting and exhilarating. “Honestly, I was a bit unsure at first,” she admits, “but it sounded like a really exciting challenge. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I've made in my career. It opened up a whole new path for me.”
Brenna S., a software engineer, went through her own process of discovery. As part of the intern program, she rotated across two distinct teams over a year, gaining exposure to different parts of the business. “As [the program] allows you to pick different avenues, it gave me a lot of freedom to choose what I wanted to work on and where I thought I could help out,” she explains.
Meanwhile, Achala S., a senior director and AI architect, joined Optum in early 2025, bringing with her 14 years of experience in the tech sector. "I’ve problem-solved across many areas: in retail, finance and networking. But here, they are actually applying AI to build something which can help people in their most distressed moment. That sense of purpose is the main reason I joined.”
“My role here is identifying the problems where AI can make a greater impact.”
- Achala S. Senior Director
Despite being based in different countries, their work within AI is all part of a broader effort across Optum to reduce wait times, streamline access to care and ease the burden on busy clinicians.
From her home in Manila, Arthel develops intelligent conversational voice bots that support the Optum business lines. She builds bots that do everything from providing member benefits information, to helping members confirm appointments.
As a software engineer based in New York, Brenna’s work has evolved from supporting internal systems to advanced AI work, which she hopes will benefit the whole organization in the future.
Meanwhile, in Bangalore and across India, Achala and her team focus on identifying high-impact health care challenges that can be solved through AI and engineering – and creating scalable, reliable systems to address them. One critical problem they’re tackling is the workflow nurses navigate when writing authorization letters. With AI-driven tools, the team is streamlining this process, freeing up valuable time for patient care.
“Seeing people like yourself in places of leadership is really encouraging.”
- Brenna S., software engineer
“There's a lot of support here in Optum,” says Arthel, “from mentors to training programs and leaders who really care about your growth. My team and I talk every day, analyze designs, give feedback and do peer reviews.”
Brenna echoes this, adding that the positive representation she sees all around her is just as important: “A lot of the leadership that I work with are all women. It's been great to see them speaking in townhalls or presenting their findings. Seeing people like yourself in places of leadership is really encouraging.”
“My leaders really encouraged me to do independent research and drive my own experiments.”
- Brenna S.
Brenna credits her growth to the backing she received during her time as an intern: “My leaders really encouraged me to do independent research and drive my own experiments. This allowed me to be continually up to date with emerging tech while building my leadership skills.”
Brenna also adds that mentorship has come full circle for her: “From being the person learning all these things to being the one teaching them has been a really cool experience. I had a great time interviewing a new graduate, and now we work together. Even though we’re at different stages of our careers, I consider us equals.”
At the same time, Arthel continues to lean into lifelong learning: “I try to stay proactive, whether that's exploring our internal knowledge spaces, or joining team learning sessions. Staying curious and open to learning is the key.”
“If you're curious, adaptable and willing to step outside of your comfort zone, you'll find a lot of opportunities here.”
- Arthel D.
Achala puts it simply: “The problems you will work on will have an impact on someone's life in their most critical moments. If this is something that drives you, definitely come and join us.”
“I wouldn't try to conform to what you think a software engineer needs to look like or act like,” reflects Brenna. “We value you just being yourself.”
And Arthel agrees: “If you're curious, adaptable and willing to step outside of your comfort zone, you'll find a lot of opportunities here.”
AI’s future may still be taking shape, but these three colleagues are energized by the pace and possibilities of their work.
Search for the latest job openings in AI at Optum here.
Tags:
Related Posts
.png)
Share This Story