Carlsmed Appoints Tony Jarc as Chief Product and AI Officer

Carlsmed, a Carlsbad, California-based medical technology company pioneering AI-enabled personalized spine surgery solutions, has announced the immediate appointment of Tony Jarc, Ph.D., to the newly created position of Chief Product and AI Officer. Jarc will lead the development and commercialization of the company’s next-generation technology platform, surgical UI/UX, and personalized spine surgery procedures.

Jarc joins Carlsmed from Intuitive Surgical, where he most recently served as Vice President of Digital Products and Machine Learning Insights. During a tenure spanning more than 15 years, Jarc built the global AI organization from the ground up and pioneered clinical AI innovations including Case Insights and My Intuitive. Jarc earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and holds both a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University.

The appointment follows the recent appointment of Rich Heppenstall as CFO and the promotion of Jeff Bertolini to COO, bringing together an executive team with large-scale experience to drive the next phase of growth. With Carlsmed’s proprietary technology platform for lumbar and cervical spine fusion, clinical outcome data, and enhanced CMS reimbursement for all aprevo lumbar fusion procedures effective today, the company is positioned to execute on its strategic growth priorities.

Mike Cordonnier, Chairman and CEO of Carlsmed, stated that Jarc’s addition comes at a pivotal moment as the company transforms its technology platform to scale and advance patient-centric innovation for its personalized surgery business. Cordonnier noted that as a thought leader in the clinical deployment of AI-enabled surgical technologies at scale, Jarc will help further elevate the company’s market leadership position.

Jarc said that he is excited to join the Carlsmed team that has advanced spine surgery through its commitment to clinical research and deployment of technology, and generated meaningful evidence supporting improved patient outcomes. Jarc noted that there is incredible opportunity to build on this foundation, both in the development of new products and the enhancement of existing solutions, and that he looks forward to working with Cordonnier and the team to execute this vision.