Travelers is not positioning technology transformation as a break from the past. For Mojgan Lefebvre (pictured), EVP and chief technology officer, the work is designed to reinforce what an insurer must do every day: execute reliably, manage risk, and deliver results - while steadily upgrading the architecture, data, and skills required to compete in a cloud- and AI-driven market.
“At Travelers, we think of it in terms of ‘perform and transform” describing an enterprise-wide imperative established several years ago. “We all operate within that.”
In that framing, perform is about execution against financial strategy – delivering industry-leading results and return on equity. Transform, meanwhile, is centered on innovation with a focus on ensuring that competitive advantages remain relevant now and differentiating in the future.
That balance is central to how she approaches modernization across the organization. As the executive responsible for technology and business operations, Lefebvre emphasized that transformation is not confined to one program or platform. “The transformation that my team and I work on isn’t confined to one place,” she explained. Technology, in her view, has to be aligned to - and in service of - business strategy across underwriting, claims, and operations.
Lefebvre’s technology agenda begins with certain foundations. “There were several elements from a technology perspective that we knew we had to put in place, one was modernizing the core in order to enable the innovation that we’re talking about.”
For Travelers, that has meant moving toward a modern architecture and cloud infrastructure, strengthening the data foundation, and improving “data accessibility and quality.” It also includes preparing the organization for data and AI “at all levels,” while ensuring security and resilience are built into the work from the start.
The emphasis on architecture is not academic. Modern systems, Lefebvre said, create the flexibility to integrate capabilities as needs evolve, rather than being locked into rigid, monolithic environments. “A modern architecture enables a much more open structure,” she said, allowing components to be “loosely coupled” and more easily swapped or upgraded.
That flexibility is particularly important as insurers attempt to layer new analytics and AI capabilities on to long-standing core platforms. Lefebvre noted that AI can help introduce real-time intelligence alongside legacy systems, potentially reducing the need to replace everything at once. But she was equally direct that “a level of modernization at the core is absolutely necessary,” and said Travelers has pursued that modernization.
Across cloud, data, AI, and customer experience technologies, the biggest strategic question is often what to own versus what to outsource. Lefebvre described Travelers’ approach with a simple rule: “Buy for commodity and build for competitive advantage, that means we don’t want to build everything, but we also don’t want to go buy everything either,” Lefebvre explained.
Where a partner can speed delivery and provide a capability efficiently, Travelers will integrate that solution into its ecosystem. But where a capability is a durable advantage – Lefebvre cited areas such as pricing and risk segmentation – the organization prefers to build.
The principle extends beyond procurement and into operating capability. Whether Travelers buys or builds, she said “engineering capability and engineering acumen become critical.”
Early in her tenure, she focused on strengthening internal decision-making through what the organization calls “engineering excellence.” The idea is not to avoid external providers, but to ensure Travelers owns the architectural and engineering competence required to control outcomes.
That internal capability also changes how partnerships evolve over time. Lefebvre pointed to platforms such as Salesforce and Guidewire: Travelers may “partner strongly” during early implementation, but the goal has been to develop the internal muscles and capabilities needed to run and extend those platforms over the long term.
In some cases, she added, external providers are still the practical answer – especially for short-lived needs or scarce skill sets. The goal is disciplined use of partners, not reflexive dependence.
If technology transformation fails, Lefebvre suggested it is often because organizations focus too narrowly on systems. “Any sort of implementation is about process, technology, and people,” she said – a point she considers even more relevant as AI becomes part of the workflow.
The critical step, she argued, is to rethink processes rather than simply automate them. “It’s about taking a step back and reimagining the process,” she said, instead of saying, “Let’s take the process that we have today and automate it.”
Lefebvre rejected the idea that transformation belongs to one leader or function. “We think of it as a team sport,” She credited several groups that enable momentum: data and analytics teams that turn “decades of proprietary, valuable data” into intelligence used across underwriting, claims, engineering, and service; cloud and cybersecurity teams that build secure, scalable platforms; and product, product management, CX, and UX teams that champion iterative delivery and a product-centric mindset.
“There are a thousand things we could be doing,” Lefebvre added. “Having focus and ensuring that we focus where value is going to be, and where we make our investments, is critical.”
