When Kendra Workheiser was a student at the University of Connecticut, the insurance industry wasn’t what she was interested in. A political science major, she knew she didn’t want to be a lawyer, so she went back to school to learn more about technology, eventually landing an internship in software development at Travelers. She focused on developer testing and was hired as a full-time associate developer after the internship ended.
Fast forward a few years and Werkheiser is now Assistant Vice President of Software Engineering and one of this year’s Women in Insurance Leadership: NEXT honorees. She says she loves solving new problems every day and that the insurance industry has changed dramatically to be data-driven. She is responsible for crafting the engineering strategy for the company’s industry-wide initiatives, including product and platform modernization and the Travelers engineering portal.
“Kendra’s work touches all of our technology and operations strategic priorities in some way, but her contributions have been instrumental in delivering innovative solutions, specifically to realize our policy and product modernization objectives that accelerate our ability to deliver insurance products while reducing technical debt and upskilling our workforce,” said Mojgan Lefebvre, Travelers’ EVP, chief technology and chief operating officer, in nominating Werkheiser for the Women in Insurance Leadership: NEXT award.
“Kendra’s leadership will deliver outcomes that benefit multiple stakeholders: greater competitiveness and profitability for travelers, a more seamless experience for customers and agents, and more engaging, meaningful, and strategic work for employees that prepares them for the future of work.”
Workheiser joined Travelers in 2012 and is grateful for the opportunities that working for the company has provided her. One of her favorite experiences was her secondment to Travelers Canada. “The work culture is different and I got to see the differences in the market, such as U.S. agents versus Canadian agents. They use different methods to solve problems because customer expectations are different.”
Technology is having a major impact on many aspects of the insurance industry, and Werkheiser is very aware of how it is impacting his own field of development: “The speed of technology is changing and continues to accelerate. If you like change, it’s fun. You learn something new every day.”
She says that being able to interact with data more efficiently has enabled Travelers to price products more accurately, and having access to improved data has enabled her team to create stronger models: “The cloud allows us to use our data better and create better products for every customer.”
Constant learning and contributing to others have been hallmarks of Werkheiser’s career, and she is involved with the Travelers Software Engineering Chapter, a group of employees who work together to establish and drive adoption of internal best practices and tools that accelerate Travelers’ product time to market and improve employee experience.
Werkheiser is also involved with EmpowerHER+, a professional development group for women in technology.
She has also been involved in two internal mentoring efforts, reverse mentoring a vice president and working with another engineer to help him improve his soft skills. “I’m so happy to have the opportunity to give back to society.”
When asked what advice she would give to women hoping to advance in their careers or gain more responsibility, Werkheiser offers the following advice: “Don’t be afraid to take risks. Uncomfortable situations are a good thing because they lead to growth. Get to know people you don’t know, because other people’s experiences are truly unique and valuable.”