Wawanesa Insurance

Sangeetha Varghese

Restaurant Technology Integrator

Sangeetha Varghese is a data and AI executive experienced in translating data and analytics into actionable insights to drive business outcomes. Her expertise spans strategy, governance and enterprise enablement with a focus on building trusted data foundations and supporting responsible AI adoption. 

From Engineering to Data Leadership

I'm an engineer with an undergraduate degree in electronics and communications engineering from India. After exploring teaching and a family business, I began my corporate career in project management with Reliance Group. Later, I moved to Canada and pursued an MBA from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary.

After my MBA, I joined a boutique management consulting firm, working across strategic planning, project management, process improvement and organizational change. Eventually, wanting to broaden my experience led me unexpectedly into data when I joined Shaw Communications as a data governance principal. 

Although new to data governance, the role drew on my consulting experience in strategic planning, stakeholder management and critical thinking. It became my unplanned entry into the data space, where I've grown ever since.

Today, at Wawanesa, I lead data and AI enablement, bringing together two interconnected priorities: building trust in enterprise data and enabling responsible AI adoption. 

As Wawanesa is undergoing a broader transformation to improve core business processes, I make data more accessible, strengthen trust and help the organization harness AI to improve how work gets done and create better outcomes. 

Empowering Cross-Functional Teams

Scaling AI is as much an organizational challenge as a technology challenge. My team creates the conditions for responsible AI adoption through governance, learning, engagement and practical enablement, helping people understand where AI can create value and how to use it responsibly.

My leadership starts with creating clarity around the outcomes we need to achieve, then creating the conditions for people to apply their expertise with context and autonomy. For example, our instructional designers determine how learning content will best resonate with employees, while I focus on the desired outcome and support their approach. 

Removing blockers is another core part of my leadership, whether they involve unclear direction or team dynamics, helping people move forward and deliver the outcomes we need. 

Delivering Value through AI

AI can improve productivity for individual employees. But the bigger opportunity is to rethink workflows, ultimately improving the member experience.

We're already using AI across our technology function through an AI-enabled software development lifecycle that supports requirements gathering, coding and testing. As we expand AI into core business workflows, we're looking across end-to-end business processes, from underwriting through claims, to simplify work, improve decision-making and strengthen member, broker and employee experience.

  Removing blockers is another core part of my leadership, whether they involve unclear direction or team dynamics, helping people move forward and deliver the outcomes we need.  

These opportunities require organizations to approach AI adoption deliberately. It is not just about introducing new technology. It requires identifying the right business problems, establishing governance and guardrails and building confidence and capability. Governance, in that sense, is an enabler of responsible adoption. Data protection, human oversight and validation of AI-generated outputs become increasingly important as AI becomes more embedded in work.

For me, successful AI enablement is about finding the balance between innovation and responsible adoption, creating enough structure to build trust while giving people confidence to explore meaningful business value.

Advice for Aspiring Data and AI Professionals

My advice for professionals looking to advance their careers in data and AI is to actively manage their growth and understand what work helps them learn and brings them satisfaction. In a constantly changing field, curiosity, critical thinking and perseverance are essential.

Curiosity drives learning, while critical thinking helps professionals make sound decisions, especially in the world of AI-generated outputs. Perseverance builds the resilience needed to navigate changing technologies and business problems.

Taking courses, staying current with new tools and applying them to real work can help professionals continue learning, adapt to change and contribute meaningfully.