NEW YORK – November 06, 2026 -- Guardian Life Insurance Company of America will route about 1 million yearly dental benefit verification calls through Sierra's AI-native customer engagement platform under a multi-year strategic partnership.
Guardian targets its highest-volume service interactions
Beyond dental benefit verification, Guardian is applying Sierra's technology to payment processing and claim status inquiries. The insurer aims to make these routine requests faster and let customers complete them without waiting on a live agent.
Michael Prestileo, Guardian's Chief Strategy Officer, said the goal is to remove friction from everyday interactions so colleagues can focus on moments where human judgment matters most. He described the deal as part of Guardian's approach of pairing its business with external technology providers to modernize operations.
Sierra CEO and Co-founder Bret Taylor said, "No one should have to sit on hold to check on a claim or confirm dental benefits." He added that customers can get answers at any time of day.
Sierra reached $100 million in ARR within seven quarters
Sierra launched in February 2024 and reports more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue after 7 quarters. The company says it works with 46% of the Fortune 50, eight of the 10 largest healthcare companies and one in three of the world's leading banks. Its named customers include The GAP, Rocket Mortgage, SoFi, Sutter Health and Wayfair.
Sierra says agents built on its platform handle tasks ranging from product discovery and returns to refinancing loans, originating mortgages and preventing subscriber churn.
Guardian backs the deal with a $93.8 billion statutory asset base
As of December 31, 2025, Guardian reported statutory admitted assets of $93.8 billion, liabilities of $83.8 billion (including $64.0 billion of reserves) and surplus of $10.0 billion. The mutual insurer has allocated a record $1.7 billion for 2026 dividends, which are not guaranteed and are declared annually by its Board of Directors.
The Sierra agreement follows two other technology partnerships Guardian signed over the past year: one with global technology company HCLTech, and one with Avantos, an AI-native operating system for financial services firms.