Vista.ai Appoints MedTech Veteran Daniel Hawkins as CEO

March 20, 2024—Vista.ai announced the appointment of Daniel Hawkins as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Vista.ai is focused on artificial intelligence (AI)–driven MRI. Its image-acquisition technology is intended to enable MRI technicians to consistently produce high-quality scans for complex indications quickly, efficiently, and affordably.

The company’s first FDA-cleared product is One Click MRI, an AI-guided software that automates cardiac MRI (CMR) exams. Future releases will focus on brain, spine, and other anatomic areas.

According to the company, Hawkins is a serial entrepreneur and leader with > 30 years of medtech experience. He has held marketing, business development, and managerial roles in established and early stage companies including Guidant (Abbott Vascular), Intuitive Surgical, and Shockwave Medical, where he invented the core technology and served as CEO. Additionally, he is a prolific inventor named on > 160 medical device and digital health patents and applications.

The company noted in the press release that Hawkins joins Vista.ai at a pivotal time after receiving FDA clearance and confirmatory early commercialization of the initial CMR product.

“I am excited to join the outstanding team responsible for Vista’s transformational AI-based MRI technology,” commented Hawkins in Vista.ai’s press release. “This is an important time for the company, and I’m looking forward to leading our efforts to bring this much-needed technology to market.”

He continued, “Over 40 million MRI scans are performed each year in the United States alone; wait times to receive a scan are often very long, and scan quality can be quite variable. Most often, this is due to systemic shortages in MRI technicians with particularly acute needs for those trained to conduct complex scans in specialties like cardiac, brain, and spine.”

Hawkins concluded, “Vista software is designed to eliminate those issues, enabling completion of high-quality complex and specialty scans by virtually any MRI technician, faster, better, and more consistently than ever before. The team at Vista is looking forward to bringing this powerful capability to providers and patients worldwide.”