# Doug Proctor

> Doug Proctor is the Denver-based co-founder and chief operating officer of Candid Health, where he oversees product, customer, and people teams and serves on the board. His route to healthcare billing ran through Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, two years in Beijing, defense and intelligence work at Palantir, and Insula, a climate-materials startup whose central technology his team invalidated before returning capital to investors. At Candid, that appetite for difficult, consequential systems is now trained on automating the administrative machinery by which healthcare providers get paid.

- **Role:** COO and Co-founder at Candid Health
- **Organizations:** Candid Health, Insula, Palantir Technologies, Georgetown University, Sidwell Friends School
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Graduate; specific degree not publicly stated, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Secondary education, Sidwell Friends School
- **Known for:** Built and led Palantir teams responsible for software used in U.S. Special Operations Command activities, the Army's DCGS-A CD2 to TITAN modernization, and Army Vantage., Built the Insula team, invalidated its central technical premise, returned capital to investors, and wound the company down., As Candid Health COO, oversees product, customer, and people teams and serves on the board of directors.

## Career timeline

- **Before college** — Lived in Beijing, China, for two years after growing up in Washington, D.C.
- **2015-2020** — Worked at Palantir, first as chief of staff to the head of product and engineering and later leading product and business teams in defense.
- **2020-2021** — Co-founded and led Insula, a climate-materials company; wound it down and returned capital after the team invalidated its core technology.
- **2021-present** — COO and co-founder at Candid Health, overseeing product, customer, and people teams and serving on the board.
- **2024-01** — Appeared with Nick Perry on American Optimist to discuss lessons from Palantir and Candid's approach to healthcare billing.
- **2026-02** — Spoke at ViVE on revenue-cycle infrastructure, financial pressure, and fit-for-purpose AI.
- **2026-07** — Candid Health announced a $120 million Series D led by Sixth Street Growth after reporting 190% year-over-year ARR growth.

## Achievements

- Built and led Palantir teams responsible for software used in U.S. Special Operations Command activities, the Army's DCGS-A CD2 to TITAN modernization, and Army Vantage.
- Built the Insula team, invalidated its central technical premise, returned capital to investors, and wound the company down.
- As Candid Health COO, oversees product, customer, and people teams and serves on the board of directors.
- Helped grow Candid Health through a period culminating in a $120 million Series D and 190% year-over-year ARR growth reported in July 2026.
- Helped establish a customer-outcomes culture that mobilized teams across dozens of physical and remote locations during a complex customer go-live.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Candid Health announced a $120 million Series D led by Sixth Street Growth; Fortune reported 190% year-over-year ARR growth and more than $219 million raised in total.
- **2026-02** — At ViVE 2026, Proctor discussed how financial constraints can push health systems to reconsider billing infrastructure and argued for methodical, fit-for-purpose deployment of AI.
- **2025-12** — Appeared on Becker's Healthcare Podcast to discuss AI-powered revenue-cycle transformation and Candid's approach to workflow data and automation.

## Links

- Website: https://dougproctor.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-proctor-10337624/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/doug-proctor
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26