CARLSBAD, Calif., Oct. 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carlsmed, Inc. (Nasdaq: CARL) (“Carlsmed” or the “Company”), a medical technology company pioneering AI-enabled personalized spine surgery solutions, today announced that Tony Jarc, Ph.D. has been appointed to the newly-created position of Chief Product and AI Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Jarc will lead the development and commercialization of the Company’s next generation technology platform, surgical UI/UX, and personalized spine surgery procedures.
Carlsmed Appoints Tony Jarc as Chief Product and AI Officer

“Tony’s addition comes at a pivotal moment as we transform our technology platform to scale and advance our patient-centric innovation for our highly differentiated personalized surgery business," said Mike Cordonnier, Chairman and CEO. "As a true thought leader in the clinical deployment of AI-enabled surgical technologies at a large scale, I am thrilled to have Tony join our team and further elevate our market leadership position.”
Following the recent appointment of Rich Heppenstall as CFO and the promotion of Jeff Bertolini to COO, Tony joins an executive team that brings large scale experience to drive the next phase of growth. With Carlsmed’s proprietary technology platform for lumbar and cervical spine fusion, compelling clinical outcome data, and enhanced CMS reimbursement for all aprevo® lumbar fusion procedures effective today, the Company is well positioned to execute on its strategic growth priorities.
Dr. Jarc joins Carlsmed from Intuitive Surgical, Inc., where he most recently served as Vice President, Digital Products and Machine Learning Insights. During a tenure that spanned more than 15 years at Intuitive Surgical, he built the global AI organization from the ground up and pioneered clinical AI innovations including the case insights and My Intuitive. He 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.
"I am excited to join a Carlsmed team that has truly advanced spine surgery through its commitment to clinical research and deployment of technology, and generated meaningful evidence to support that these solutions improve patient outcomes,” added Dr. Jarc. “There is incredible opportunity to build on this foundation, both in the development of new products and the enhancement of our existing solutions. I look forward to working with Mike and the team to execute this vision.”
About Carlsmed
Carlsmed is a medical technology company pioneering AI-enabled personalized spine surgery solutions with a mission to improve outcomes and decrease the cost of healthcare for spine surgery and beyond.
Forward Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects, including statements about Carlsmed’s ability to execute on its strategic priorities, the potential and capabilities of Carlsmed’s current and future product offerings, Carlsmed’s growth prospects and market position, Carlsmed’s ability to improve its products and technology and develop new products and other statements containing the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “target,” “potential,” “likely,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “continue,” and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including such important factors as are set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in Carlsmed’s Annual Report on Form 10-K on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Carlsmed’s views as of the date of this press release. Carlsmed anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its views to change. However, while Carlsmed may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Carlsmed’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
Investor Relations
Stephanie Zhadkevich
Vice President, Head of Investor Relations
IR@Carlsmed.com
Media
LeAnn Burton
Senior Director, Brand Marketing
Marketing@Carlsmed.com
Author
The De Angelis Group | Orthopedics This Week | MSK Innovations
Why This Matters
Two Perspectives
MBA Lens: Economic and industry impact
Carlsmed appointed Tony Jarc as Chief Product and AI Officer, a strategic move to scale its AI-enabled personalized spine surgery platform and enhance market leadership. This appointment, alongside recent CFO and COO hires, strengthens the executive team for accelerated growth. With enhanced CMS reimbursement for aprevo® lumbar fusion procedures, Carlsmed is well-positioned to capitalize on its differentiated technology and compelling clinical outcomes, driving competitive advantage in the personalized surgery market.
- The appointment aims to transform and scale Carlsmed's technology platform, advancing patient-centric innovation and market leadership in personalized spine surgery.
- Enhanced CMS reimbursement for aprevo® lumbar fusion procedures and a strengthened executive team are expected to drive the company's strategic growth priorities.
PhD Lens: Clinical and outcomes impact
Carlsmed appointed Tony Jarc, Ph.D., as Chief Product and AI Officer to lead the development of its next-generation AI-enabled personalized spine surgery platform and surgical UI/UX. Dr. Jarc, with extensive experience building AI organizations and pioneering clinical AI innovations at Intuitive Surgical, will focus on advancing solutions that improve patient outcomes. His role emphasizes leveraging technology and clinical research to enhance existing and develop new personalized spine procedures.
- Dr. Jarc's expertise includes building global AI organizations and pioneering clinical AI innovations, such as case insights and My Intuitive, at Intuitive Surgical.
- His new role involves leading the development and commercialization of Carlsmed's next-generation technology platform, surgical UI/UX, and personalized spine surgery procedures, supported by clinical outcome data.

Discussion
This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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