Editor's note: Women in Insurance Leadership honoree profiles will roll out over the course of the week. For the full list,
Deputy CIO for Liberty Mutual Insurance, Monica Caldas, drives the organization's innovation and collaboration on a global scale. Her approach to providing customer-focused digital capabilities, and guiding a team operating in local and diverse markets demonstrates her dedication and passion to solving complex problems through data.
"One of my favorite taglines that I always use is, 'We don't chase shiny objects,'" states Caldas. "It's not just about turning on tech, it's really about connecting the technology with the problem and then, the solution."
She takes pride in bringing together teams from various countries and markets to develop a digital infrastructure that streamlines and customizes the customer experience.
"We were transforming that group from a business process perspective, and the technology in each one of the countries was embedded," she says. "You can do that in many ways, but the way we went after it was to build this flexible modular architecture that has these digital capabilities that now change how we deliver to the customer."
Caldas is also actively engaged in mentorship and leadership guidance groups, and is an active advocate of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. She enjoys inspiring young women and girls to pursue careers in STEM fields and also participates in Hispanic Affinity groups. Caldas also introduced the National Society of Black Engineers to Liberty Mutual after a team member told her of the impact that organization had on their career. Now, the organizations have established a partnership.
"That's super important for me – NSBE is something that I was super excited to get connected with," explains Caldas. "Our mission is to help create the pipeline for the future of tech and bring more diverse talent into the bench and into our teams. That's something that I'm really proud of having championed and brought that partnership to Liberty," Caldas states.
Her advice to young women in STEM is to be authentic and to be courageous.
"I stand on the shoulders of giants… I've had the opportunity to learn from others and watch other women role models," says Caldas. "You have to aim for roles that are going to excite you, motivate you, and inspire you. And part of that is learning…you have to stretch and grow, be courageous, and take risks."
Caldas joined Liberty Mutual in 2018 as EVP and CIO of Global Retail Markets, after a 17-year-long career with General Electric in various IT and executive roles. This past June, it was announced that Caldas will be promoted to EVP and CIO of Liberty Mutual, effective January 2023 after the retirement of current CIO, James McGlennon.
"I'm ecstatic to take over from James McGlennon, and he's been an incredible leader. I'm super excited about having the opportunity to think about the entire technology organization and how we can deliver for Liberty and for our customers," says Caldas. "We have a tremendous opportunity in front of us – the world's moved quickly in banking and other financial services verticals. And insurance is quickly catching up, in terms of the change in the digital adoption that we've seen. The acceleration in the last three years has propelled us, and I think our time is now; to take those opportunities, push us forward, and offer customers and partners different ways to get things done in terms of digital transactions."
