Canada Life’s efforts to equally strengthen talent and tech

With headquarters in Winnipeg and a total of nearly 11,000 employees worldwide, Canada Life prides itself on being a technology-first organization, but equally people-centric. From IT’s point of view, there’s going to be a steep trajectory over the next few years, spearheaded by generative AI and machine learning, that will dramatically change how people live and work.

“It’ll create new opportunities and new roles as we grow the functionality,” says Renate Cunneen, VP of global corporate technology. “There are a lot of things we have to do to get prepared for that, though. Policies and governance need to happen. Integrating gen AI is exciting, not just how it can support our clients, but also our internal teams to create efficiency.”

Being responsible for all the corporate technologies that support the company’s global footprint, including all HR functions like payroll, human capital management, and financial and actuarial systems, Cunneen, at the global level with all the different components she works on, appreciates there’s never a dull moment in a complex role.

And to ensure a robust drive to succeed, Canada Life knows the value of inspiring people to achieve not just what they want, but what they think they can’t. Mentorship, championing women to pursue careers in tech, and acknowledging imposter syndrome to gain perspective, balance, and self awareness are all part of the mission for people to realize their true potential.

“Thankfully, I have mentors and that’s another way I suggest people to support themselves,” she says. “Having a mentor is the greatest thing I’ve done for myself in my career, and I don’t have one — I have more than one. That consistently helps to remind me, from someone that I admire as highly successful in their career, when they reflect back to me, how far I’ve come. It’s the greatest thing you can do. You have to challenge negative thoughts and replace them with positive affirmations. From somebody who’s a highly anxious individual, I have to do this a lot.”

Cunneen recently spoke with Rennick about the need for mentors, confronting imposter syndrome, and the inspiration needed to get more women to pursue careers in technology. Here are some edited excerpts of that conversation. Watch the full video below for more insights.

On confronting fears: The most important thing I can tell anyone is be open to roles that scare the life of you. You have to think about taking on roles that will challenge you and make you grow. I’ve been consistently in roles where I felt I had no business being in, like capital markets, infrastructure, DevOps, engineering, and now in corporate technology, managing large SAP deployments. I didn’t have strong knowledge in any of these things. I equate every new and demanding role to a 2,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. You pull it out of the box and it’s a mess. It’s completely overwhelming, but that’s where my fire is. I like complex things and that kind of thing fuels me. Then you realize you need to take it in pieces and start sorting through it in manageable chunks. Eventually, you create something you thought was impossible when you started. That’s the excitement of taking on things you don’t really know, and the more times you do it, you can remind yourself that when you’re in that situation, it may be different, but the feelings are always the same. You don’t have to have everything solved in one day. I think what happens with people is there’s an analysis paralysis. We’re waiting for everything to be perfect and well-planned before you start executing. You have to believe in yourself. Trust the process. Just take the first step and the rest of it will fall into place.

On women in tech: The reality is we need to see people we want to emulate. We need examples. So we’re getting involved with local high schools and first-year university students and sharing the art of possibilities. That’s something I’ve done a lot of over my career. Women make up only 23% of Canadians working in science and technology, so it has to start with parents showing there’s a lot of roles in tech that don’t require you to be a developer. You can be an analyst, project manager — there are so many different things to do. It’s also vital for employers and organizations to implement mentorship programs, provide targeted training opportunities, foster inclusive workplace cultures, and seek out diverse candidates during the recruitment process. You have to encourage a supportive environment that offers flexibility and contributes to women’s professional growth in the tech industry. It’s a very tough thing to solve. It takes resilience. There are a lot of great growth opportunities in our organization. We all have a vested interest to see that diversity grow.

On being a technology-first organization: It’s pivotal to stay competitive. Any technology leader’s job is to understand, in simple terms, the problem the business is trying to solve. Usually it sits within a few key areas like efficiency improvements, cost reduction, communication, collaboration, and data management — how do I get insights to make better decisions? There’s much more underneath that, but it’s really simple what we’re trying to solve. Once I know the problem, I can tackle it by thinking about what the business has and what it needs. For example, when we think about transitioning data to the cloud, we know it enhances scalability and accessibility. But we also have to think about prioritizing cybersecurity and safeguards against evolving threats. Then there’s thinking outside the box to figure out what the unknown risks are regarding generative AI and machine learning. This is such an exciting proposition that will steadily grow. So we’ll have to prioritize strategic planning, invest in upskilling our workforce, and collaborate with tech experts to secure technology integration. We’re probably on the same trajectory as everyone else, exploring and looking at use cases.

On imposter syndrome: Everybody can identify with it, whether they admit it or not. And this is where I’m extremely transparent and vulnerable. I wasn’t always this way, but I think it’s important to have those conversations. I always thought that when people got to a certain level in their career, they knew it all. And a lot of people portray that. But the reality is, from time to time, you’re going to experience imposter syndrome. As a woman in technology who didn’t grow up in the STEM fields, I still ask myself what do I know, who am I, or am I the right person, am I smart enough for this, how do I have this job, and how am I leading these people. But I acknowledge it and normalize it with others. So I’ve had other executives, not just females, who’ve admitted it because I think once you do that, other people come forward. It shows confidence. But the reality is we put on a face every day, and imposter syndrome is something you take home and it stays under the covers. So I celebrate my achievements and I’m the first one to say I’m not doing very good or I’m not doing good enough. I never understand people who don’t have a mentor, or don’t know how to get one. A mentor is looking at someone you admire and simply asking them. It’s all about continuous learning. I mentor quite a few people and a big thing for me is goal setting. I’ve had an Excel sheet since about 2010 and I’ve broken down goals regarding my career, financials, relationships, my spirituality. If you don’t write them down, they’re hard to accomplish. Going back to that Excel sheet is positive self-talk to see what I’ve done, so I reinforce those things.