Lincoln Financial Group has appointed Nilanjan Adhya (pictured above) as executive vice president and chief AI, data and analytics officer, effective Jan. 9, 2026.
The CAIDAO position is intended to build AI and data into core capabilities across Lincoln’s businesses, including distribution, operations and customer engagement. The company is positioning the role as part of a broader effort to use analytics to support its operating model and business strategy.
Since 2021, Adhya has served as chief digital officer and global head of digital platforms and experiences at BlackRock. In that role, he led client-facing AI initiatives and oversaw efforts to modernize digital platforms to deliver personalized and integrated capabilities at scale.
Before joining BlackRock, he spent 16 years at IBM in a series of leadership posts, ultimately serving as chief digital officer and vice president of digital transformation.
Adhya holds an MBA in strategy and finance from Yale University’s School of Management and a Master of Science in industrial engineering and operations research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He serves on the Society for Human Resource Management’s board of directors and on the board of Purdue University’s Krenicki Center for Business Analytics and Machine Learning.
In the newly created role, he will report to Ellen Cooper, chairman, president and CEO, and join the company’s senior management committee.
“As we continue to position Lincoln for future growth, we are building the foundational capabilities that will allow us to operate with greater speed, efficiency and insight,” Cooper said.
She said “AI and data play an increasingly important role in supporting the optimization of our operating model” and that under Adhya’s leadership the company plans “a thoughtful and disciplined step forward in leveraging AI to support business needs and drive tangible business outcomes.”
The appointment follows a run of improving results, including Q2 2025 net income of $688 million and management’s emphasis on a more diversified earnings mix across business lines.
Lincoln has also reported changes in unrealized losses on its available-for-sale portfolio tied to interest rate movements, while continuing to shift toward products designed to provide more stable cash flows and risk-sharing.
Lincoln has also been reshaping its capital and investment profile, with Bain Capital agreeing in 2025 to invest $825 million for a 9.9% stake and enter a 10-year investment management arrangement.
The company has said it expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings starting in 2027, citing expanded access to alternative strategies as a support for its long-term growth and balance sheet plans.
