# Claire Burns

> Claire Burns is The Hartford's executive vice president and chief marketing and customer officer, leading marketing, brand, digital, communications, community relations and the Enterprise Customer Office. Across a career spanning Aetna, Lincoln Financial, ALICO, MetLife, Prudential International and The Hartford, she has focused on turning complex insurance organizations toward customer needs while connecting long institutional histories to present-day change.

- **Role:** Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at The Hartford
- **Organizations:** The Hartford, Prudential International, MetLife, ALICO, AIG, Lincoln Financial Group, Aetna, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Yale Center for Customer Insights, Healthfirst, Presidio Institute, Our Piece of the Pie, Leadership Greater Hartford
- **From:** Tucson, United States
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts in Government / International Relations, Wesleyan University, Master of Business Administration, Yale School of Management
- **Known for:** Named the Chief Customer Officer Council's 2014 CCO of the Year for customer strategy, accountability and customer-centric culture work at MetLife., Inducted into the YWCA-NYC Academy of Women Leaders in 2012., Helped lead the separation of ALICO from AIG and its eventual sale to MetLife across a global organization.

## Career timeline

- **c. 1989-1995** — Joined Aetna through a management-training program after deferring law school; worked there for six years while later earning an MBA.
- **1998-2006** — Held strategy leadership roles at Lincoln Financial Group, including head of Employer Markets Strategy.
- **2007-2010** — Served in senior strategy roles at AIG and as chief strategy officer of ALICO, helping evaluate and execute ALICO's separation and sale to MetLife.
- **2010-2018** — Served as MetLife's senior vice president and chief customer officer, leading its shift from a product orientation toward customer journeys and customer-focused accountability.
- **2014-2015** — Completed a cross-sector leadership fellowship with the Presidio Institute and White House Office of Social Innovation.
- **2018-2021** — Served as chief marketing and strategy officer for Prudential International, overseeing brand, marketing, digital transformation, product management and business strategy across major international markets.
- **2021-present** — Joined The Hartford, initially as chief marketing and communications officer and now as executive vice president, chief marketing and customer officer.
- **2023-present** — Serves as a trustee of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
- **2025** — Led The Hartford's refreshed brand identity and modernized stag logo, developed with Pentagram and Solve.

## Achievements

- Named the Chief Customer Officer Council's 2014 CCO of the Year for customer strategy, accountability and customer-centric culture work at MetLife.
- Inducted into the YWCA-NYC Academy of Women Leaders in 2012.
- Helped lead the separation of ALICO from AIG and its eventual sale to MetLife across a global organization.
- Established a global Office of the Customer at MetLife and led customer-centered transformation across markets.
- Led The Hartford's 2025 company vision and brand refresh, including a modernized stag identity.
- Convened a cross-functional Hartford team for Yale's stakeholder-design lab on the insurer's environmental strategy.
- Has served as a nonprofit board chair and as an advisor or trustee for education, civic and arts organizations.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Participated in a New York U.S. Lloyd's Lab Pitch Day co-hosted by The Hartford, Lloyd's Lab, Google Cloud and Y-Risk, focused on technology, data and AI for emerging business risks.
- **2026-03** — Appeared on the Power of Now panel at CBIA's When Women Lead conference in Hartford.
- **2025-11** — Returned to Yale School of Management for a Colloquium on Marketing Leadership about career evolution, customer-centered leadership and The Hartford's rebrand.
- **2025-08** — The Hartford publicly identified Burns as leader of its newly formed Enterprise Customer Office, working alongside the Enterprise Strategy Office.
- **2025-02** — The Hartford launched its refreshed company identity and modernized stag logo after a nearly year-long design process led by Burns's organization.

## Links

- Website: https://www.thehartford.com/about-us/claire-burns
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairemburns

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/claire-burns
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-14