BATON ROUGE – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana (Louisiana Blue) has named two new senior-level leadership team members. Prashanth Cannanbilla is senior vice president, chief enterprise delivery officer, and Jay Balden is vice president, chief customer experience officer (CXO).
Cannanbilla reports to Paula Shepherd, executive vice president of Health Plan Operations & Technology. In these roles, they will enhance Louisiana Blue’s digital presence and improve customer engagement through innovative solutions and strategies. Balden reports to Cannanbilla.
"Prashanth and Jay have deep experience and share a passion for finding ways to make it easier for members to interact with us,” Shepherd said. “Their appointments reflect our unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence in customer service. We believe their leadership in these new roles will drive our mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians forward, ultimately improving the experiences of all our stakeholders."
Prashanth Cannanbilla Named Senior Vice President, Chief Enterprise Delivery Officer
Cannanbilla oversees the successful delivery of enterprise-wide projects and strategic initiatives. Collaborating with leaders across the organization, he aligns delivery strategies with business goals, optimizing resources to drive operational excellence and improve customer and stakeholder experiences.
With over 25 years of experience in payer, finance, banking, informatics and technology domains, Cannanbilla brings a wealth of expertise in business and technology, particularly in healthcare and informatics.
Cannanbilla holds a master’s degree in computer science, software engineering and artificial intelligence and an MBA in finance and strategy, both from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a certified project management professional and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the honor society for collegiate schools of business. Cannanbilla also holds health insurance associate and managed healthcare professional designations from AHIP.
Jay Balden Promoted to Vice President, Chief Customer Experience Officer
Balden, a Louisiana Blue employee of more than 20 years, defines and oversees the end-to-end customer experience (CX). In his new role, he works with leaders across the organization to develop a CX vision and road map. Implementing a new customer experience culture, Balden coordinates initiatives across key lines of business to bring Louisiana Blue’s brand promise and purpose to life.
Balden has spent the past five years leading Louisiana Blue’s Digital Product Management Team, collaborating across the enterprise to identify customer experience pain points, design and prioritize solutions, and align all work to the company’s business strategy. He developed and managed the company’s user experience (UX) practice, transforming both internal and external platforms to be more intuitive and interactive.
Since joining Louisiana Blue in 2002 as a senior programmer analyst, Balden has taken on progressively responsible roles, including website architect and director of Marketing and Digital Technology. He earned his bachelor’s degree in information systems and decision sciences from LSU.
About Louisiana Blue
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, or Louisiana Blue, is committed to our mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians. Founded in New Orleans in 1934, we are a taxpaying, not-for-profit health insurer with offices in every major region of Louisiana to serve our customers. We have been recognized for the past seven years as an honoree of The Civic 50, named by Points of Light as one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States. J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Commercial Member Health Plan Satisfaction Study ranked us #1 in member satisfaction among commercial health plans in the East South Central Region. Louisiana Blue also was nationally recognized for exceptional customer service by USA Today’s America’s Best Customer Service 2025.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association . We invite all Louisianians to visit our website at lablue.com or talk to us on social media @MyLouisianaBlue.
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