# Zach Taft

> Zach Taft is the CEO of IgniteData, a healthcare technology company whose Archer platform automates the transfer of clinical trial data straight from hospital electronic health records into pharma data-capture systems. Brought in by the founders in 2024, he has scaled the company from a handful of trial sites to a network spanning four continents and eight of the top ten U.S. cancer centers. Before IgniteData he helped drive the $1.1B acquisition of M*Modal by 3M, served as a 3M product leader, and ran digital innovation and ventures at Memorial Sloan Kettering, where he co-founded the Clinical Research Innovation Consortium. His obsession: cutting the weeks of manual data re-typing out of clinical trials so treatments reach patients faster.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at IgniteData
- **Organizations:** IgniteData, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 3M, M*Modal, Clinical Research Innovation Consortium
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** MBA
- **Known for:** Helped drive the ~$1.1B acquisition of M*Modal's healthcare business by 3M, Co-founded the Clinical Research Innovation Consortium at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Scaled IgniteData from roughly 5 clinical trial sites to 100+ sites across four continents

## Career timeline

- **pre-2019** — Helped lead the growth of M*Modal, a clinical documentation and AI company
- **2019** — M*Modal's healthcare business acquired by 3M for approximately $1.1 billion; Taft continues as a 3M product leader
- **2020s** — Head of Digital Innovations and Ventures at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; co-founds the Clinical Research Innovation Consortium
- **2024** — Joins IgniteData as CEO, recruited by founders Dan Hydes and Richard Yeatman to scale the company
- **2025** — Oversees 786% site-network growth; closes oversubscribed $11M Series A led by FCA Venture Partners with Labcorp and Epsilon
- **2026** — Focused on 'acceleration' - scaling the Archer platform and generative-AI data automation globally

## Achievements

- Helped drive the ~$1.1B acquisition of M*Modal's healthcare business by 3M
- Co-founded the Clinical Research Innovation Consortium at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Scaled IgniteData from roughly 5 clinical trial sites to 100+ sites across four continents
- Closed an oversubscribed $11M Series A in 2025 with Labcorp and Epsilon as strategic investors
- Delivered 786% year-over-year site-network growth and 87% reduction in data queries at IgniteData
- Partnered with 8 of the top 10 U.S. cancer centers and engaged 81% of NCI-designated research sites

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — IgniteData closed an oversubscribed $11M Series A led by FCA Venture Partners, with Labcorp Venture Fund and Epsilon as key investors.
- **2026-01** — Taft framed 2026 as the year of 'acceleration' after 786% site growth in 2025, expanding Archer and generative-AI data automation.

## Links

- Website: https://ignitedata.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachtaft/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ignitedata

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/zach-taft
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-07