A veteran USAA executive is taking on a leadership role at Tractable, an InsurTech developing artificial intelligence for accident and disaster recovery.

James Spears joined the New York-based company as head of Automotive. He was most recently an assistant vice president at USAA in various capacities over more than a decade at the property/casualty insurer, according to his LinkedIn posting. While there, he developed experience in areas including auto physical damage operations and served on USAA’s Connected Vehicle and Autonomous Vehicle teams.

Spears previously led the Strategic Initiatives team at Farmers Insurance and is a 30-year insurance and automotive insurance industry veteran, Tractable said.

Tractable said that Spears, while leading USAA’s auto physical damage operations, was able to achieve the highest scores for nine years running in the JD Power Auto Claims Satisfaction Survey through various initiatives that boosted communication and trust.

At Tractable, he’ll support the startup’s North America leadership in driving adoption of Tractable’s AI products in the U.S. and Canada. Tractable develops artificial intelligence for accident and disaster recovery, and the company said its customers include insurers in Europe, North America and Asia. Among those customers: Japan’s Tokio Marine and France’s Covea, which Tractable said used its technology to analyze vehicle damage.

Tractable recently nailed down $25 million in new Series C venture capital financing. Georgian Partners led the investment, though existing investors including Insight Partners and Ignition Partners also participated.

Source: Tractable