Travelers SVP of software engineering Kendra Werkheiser focuses on finding innovative solutions

When Kendra Werkheiser was a student at the University of Connecticut, insurance wasn’t exactly on her radar. The political science major knew she didn’t want to be an attorney, so she went back to school to learn more about technology and eventually landed an internship in software development at Travelers. Her focus was on developer testing and when the internship ended, she was hired as a full-time associate developer.

Fast forward a few years, and Werkheiser is now the assistant vice president of software engineering and one of this year’s Women in Insurance Leadership: NEXT honorees. She says that she loves solving new problems every day and that insurance has very much become a data-driven industry. She is responsible for creating the engineering strategy for the company’s industry-wide initiatives like product and platform modernization and Travelers’ engineering portal.

“While Kendra’s work touches all of our technology & operations strategic priorities in some way, her contributions have significantly supported the delivery of innovative solutions – specifically, our policy and product modernization objective, which accelerates our ability to deliver policy products while reducing technical debt and upskilling employees,” shared Mojgan Lefebvre, EVP and chief technology and operations officer at Travelers in her nomination of Werkheiser for the Women in Insurance Leadership: NEXT honor.

“Kendra’s leadership produces outcomes that benefit multiple stakeholders: Travelers, making us more competitive and profitable; our customers and agents, by creating a more seamless experience; and our employees, by providing more engaging, meaningful, strategic work that prepares them for future ways of working.”

Werkheiser joined Travelers in 2012 and appreciates the opportunities working for the company has provided. One of her favorite experiences involved being on loan to Travelers Canada. “It was a different work culture, and I was able to see the differences in the marketplaces like for agents in the U.S. vs. agents in Canada. They use different methods to solve problems because the customer expectations are different.”

Technology has had a major impact on many aspects of the insurance industry, and Werkheiser is extremely aware of how it’s affecting her areas of development. “The speed of technology has changed, and it keeps accelerating. If you like change, it’s fun. There is always something different to learn every day.”

She says that the ability to interact more efficiently with data allows Travelers to price products more accurately, while access to improved data enables her team to create stronger models. “Because of the cloud, we can use data better and create a product that better suits all of our customers.”

Constantly learning and building into others has been a hallmark of Werkheiser’s career. She participates in the Travelers Software Engineering Chapter, which comprises employees who collaborate in order to help establish and drive adoption of internal best practices and tools that will help increase how quickly Travelers’ products get to market and also enhance the employee experience.

Werkheiser is also part of the company’s professional development group for women in technology, EmpowerHER+, founded by Tracey Cournoyer (also a Women in Insurance Leadership honoree) and Lefebvre. “With Tracey’s support, through EmpowerHER+, I am co-leading Travelers’ involvement with T200, a non-profit organization that fosters the growth of women in technology, particularly those aspiring for their first C-level role,” she says. “We want to make sure that women continue to have a presence in the tech industry, and we can see how it’s growing throughout the organization and providing paths for the next generation of women.”

She also participates in mentoring two individuals within the company, including reverse mentoring a vice president and working with another engineer to help expand his soft skills. “The opportunity to give back gives me a lot of joy.”

When asked what piece of advice she has for women who want to move up in their careers or expand their areas of responsibility, Werkheiser advises, “Don’t be afraid to take risks. Being uncomfortable is a really good thing because it helps you to grow. Get to know people you don’t know because other people’s experiences are really unique and valuable.”