Yalavac has been with Bupa since January 2006. He has been the CIO of Bupa Australia and New Zealand since January 2016, responsible for information services & technology, business roadmap planning, and delivery across all businesses in both regions, as well as private health insurance (PHI), care homes, optometry, dental, telemedical services, Visa services, wellness, and other Bupa businesses in the region.
A spokesperson for Bupa confirmed with ITNews that Yalavac returned to New Zealand to take on the second role of managing director of the group's aged care business.
Yalavac has 30 years of insurance industry experience and has held numerous technical and senior leadership roles in various information services teams at Bupa, resulting in significant service improvements, performance, and results for the business and its customers.
Speaking about Yalavac's time with Bupa, the spokesperson told ITNews: “Over the past 16 years, Sami has held a number of senior leadership roles across the technology team and has led significant projects that have transformed our technology function and enabled improvements across our businesses, in service of our customers.”
As Bupa continues its recruitment process for the permanent role and Yalavac focuses on his new temporary role, Jenny Watson will be the interim CIO – bringing to the role her extensive technology and leadership experience from her current role as technology director, health insurance and finance.
