CEO David Cordani built Cigna into a $275B juggernaut but now wants to be ‘somewhat forgotten’

In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady interviews Cigna CEO David Cordani. The big leadership story: Inside Vietnam’s fast-growing economy. The markets: Mixed globally as the Nikkei 225 touches a new intraday high. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune. Good morning. The hardest decision for a CEO isn’t just knowing what to build. It’s knowing when to stop. Not so for David Cordani, who grew Cigna from $18 billion in annual revenue to $275 billion over 17 years, in part through the 2018 Express Scripts acquisition that gave rise to the Evernorth health services business. Cordani is stepping down as CEO on July 1, becoming executive chairman. I spoke with him recently about the industry, AI, and what it actually feels like to hand over the keys. On the his ‘leadership moment.’ When COVID-19 hit, Cordani was on the executive committee of the industry’s trade association. The question on the table: would they cover all vaccination costs? “I asserted that we need to,” he told me. Within two hours, they had an agreement and a plan worked out with HHS and the White House. Then he pushed further: would they proactively commit to covering all COVID-related services, regardless? “It was silent,” he said. “I postulated, if not, if not now, when? The board never said, ‘Let’s see the business case and the EPS impact.’ We said our mission guides this decision. To me, that is a leadership moment.” Cigna was the first major health insurer to waive patient costs for treatment. On AI in health care. Cordani is measured about the impact AI will have. “Sometimes we overestimate the impact in the first two years and underestimate the impact over the first 10 years,” he said. He doesn’t believe AI is ready to make clinical decisions but sees real value in curating information to support them. His other concern: “It makes cyber challenges even more significant.” Worth kee