Trey Sutten

As co-founder and current Chief Executive Officer of Siftwell Analytics, Trey Sutten combines decades of deep managed care experience and proprietary AI to help health plans identify members at high risk of chronic health conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and renal failure.

Trey knows the costs of chronic disease all too well. For years, he has seen acquaintances, friends, and family members suffer with health conditions that were likely preventable or at least could have been better managed with earlier detection and more focused, responsive care.

This experience showed Trey that advances in modern medicine only go so far in treating chronic disease. Far more important is the healthcare system’s ability to detect and treat these conditions early, ideally before they begin causing problems at all. The more Trey investigated, the clearer it became that the industry was woefully behind the times — that it was failing to apply the same tech-enabled, expertise-driven processes that other sectors from logistics to retail to agriculture already were.

Trey founded Siftwell to address this competitive gap. Today, he leads a team dedicated to empowering health plans and other payors to control care costs and allocate limited resources while improving outcomes for patients at every stage of life.

Trey brings more than two decades of experience in the healthcare, housing, and education sectors. The common thread throughout his career has been a dedication to improving the lives of everyday people and making complex systems work smarter and harder for the folks they’re supposed to serve.

Most recently, Trey was first CFO and then CEO of a billion-dollar managed care organization with more than 950 employees, more than 900 medical and behavioral health providers, and more than one million plan members. Many of these members had complex, potentially costly health conditions, leaving the plan at a competitive disadvantage to rivals with healthier member populations.

Trey’s tenure there was widely regarded as successful. He reversed several consecutive years of losses while nearly doubling revenue to more than $1.2 billion. He also led a comprehensive HR transformation that improved employee satisfaction and engagement while shrinking administrative spend. And he simultaneously obtained NCQA accreditation and HiTrust certification for the organization following complex, multiyear compliance campaigns.

Trey Sutten came to the managed care world from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Medical Assistance, where he served as CFO. During his tenure, he ended a half-decade of cost overruns and restructured the department to improve legislative and inter-executive branch relations, enhance internal accountability, and reduce costs by $350 million. This last achievement produced three consecutive under-budget years, a significant achievement.

Trey earned an MBA in Health Sector Management from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He has been a member of the board of directors for both the Medicaid Health Plans of America (MHPA) and the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP).

In his spare time, Trey focuses on giving back to the community. He is actively involved with several North Carolina organizations that work with at-risk youth.

What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?

While I can’t say there’s a typical day, there are typical activities. For example, I start my day by checking in on top priorities. I re-sort these and take care of the most uncomfortable tasks first. I also regularly check in with key people of our team to see what they need from me. I remove as many obstacles as I can. I see one of my key roles as connecting dots for others and serving as connecting tissue throughout our organization.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I believe that it’s important to make sure our ideas are clearly articulated and that the people around me have developed a shared vision of what the idea is and what it will look like when we bring it to life. Then it’s about decomposing that vision into tactical steps, developing timelines and action plans, and holding each other accountable.

What’s one trend that excites you?

A trend that excites me is Generative AI. This includes not only what we’re doing at Siftwell, but also ChatGPT and DALL-E.

What is one habit that helps you be productive?

Working out consistently helps clear my head and enables me to be more productive. The interrelationship between physical health and mental health is key.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell my younger self to pursue opportunities where the work is challenging and your teammates are of high caliber. Be less fixated on titles and marginal salary increases. Instead of chasing the money, focus on opportunities where you can learn, grow, and love what you do. Money and title will find you when you are ready.

What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?

Work out. It’s free (or relatively inexpensive) to exercise and the returns are amazing. Working out enables you to be a better partner, parent, boss, co-worker, human, everything.

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?

When I feel overwhelmed or unfocused, I make a list. I keep the list simple, rank the tasks in order, and start executing. Sometimes this can be difficult when you look at your life, your goals, your challenges. In these situations, I do something called paired comparison. If I had to choose between doing A or B, then A and C, then B and C, what would I do? When I go through the exercise of comparing things in a binary way, I can create scores and sort them more easily. I rarely have to do that, but it comes in handy when things get really busy.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?

In terms of my career, one strategy that’s helped is erring on the side of being overprepared. I now know how to strike the right balance in terms of preparing for a meeting, a pitch, or an interview. Early on, however, I overprepared for business tasks — and that actually served me quite well. Senior company members soon learned they could rely on me to bring well-researched resources and have key details memorized. For example, what did revenue or payroll look like year over year or month over month? When was this deadline or that deliverable due? I credit this preparation with leading to opportunities that accelerated my career.

What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?

Early in my career, I took a job that required a great deal of autonomy and professional confidence that I hadn’t yet developed. It was a painful lesson to underperform relative to my peers and company expectations, but I grew from it. The biggest lesson I took away from this experience was the importance of really knowing yourself and what you are good at — and, more importantly, what you are not good at. Once you step into a new arena, develop situation awareness straight away and understand how your strengths and weaknesses will play. Bring on trusted teammates where there are holes in your game.

What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Because new ideas and technologies are developed so quickly these days, I wouldn’t be surprised if this one already exists. The idea is a camera that leverages facial recognition software and an AI backend that sales professionals engage with using an earpiece and verbal commands. Imagine a camera at a conference or high-end retail establishment that detects a potential customer and then shares relevant information about that individual with a sales associate. For example, let’s say I was walking around a conference hall and approaching an exhibit booth. After identifying me, this camera would send to the booth staff details like how I have deep Medicaid experience, have served as a CEO, CFO, etc. As a result, the booth staff could use that background to create a meaningful connection more rapidly.

What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?

I love ChatGPT. I use it to create first drafts of blogs and to answer more technical questions in plain language.

What is the best $100 you recently spent?

The best $100 I recently spent was on a dinner with my co-founder where we kept the shop talk to a minimum. I find these kinds of dinners invaluable, and so can you. This doesn’t need to be with a co-worker. Take a friend or loved one to dinner. Listen — really listen and really share. Focus on being present and find a way to help that person or learn from them.

Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?

“Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals,” by Oliver Burkeman. The book definitely had an impact on me and how I see the world — it puts life, life choices, and the finite nature of time into perspective.

What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?

I really liked Ted Lasso. I think the writing is incredible in its ability to link humor with challenging life experiences.

Key learnings:

• It’s important to make sure your ideas are clearly articulated and that the people around you have developed a shared vision of what the idea is and what it will look like when you bring it to life.
• Pursue opportunities where the work is challenging and your teammates are of high caliber. Be less fixated on titles and marginal salary increases. Instead of chasing the money, focus on opportunities where you can learn, grow, and love what you do. Money and title will find you when you are ready.
• Work out. It’s free (or relatively inexpensive) to exercise and the returns are amazing. Working out enables you to be a better partner, parent, boss, co-worker, human, everything.