Sun Life is one of the world’s leading international financial services organizations, helping clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives across markets including Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, and multiple fast-growing Asian economies. This scale reflects the complexity of the organization’s data landscape behind its insurance, wealth, and asset management businesses.

In this environment, data is no longer a back-office concern — it is a strategic asset that underpins client experience, risk management, and the responsible adoption of emerging technologies such as generative AI (GenAI) and agentic AI.

In this first part of a three-part series, Chris Goodale, Vice President, Enterprise Data and Analytics Enablement at Sun Life, joins Jason Sturgess, Regional VP and General Manager, Canada and Central at Denodo, to discuss how Sun Life is evolving its data strategy, enabling AI across the enterprise, and nurturing a truly data-centric culture at a global scale.

From multi-industry experience to an enterprise-wide mandate

Goodale joined Sun Life in 2024 with a career that spans financial services, retail, consumer packaged goods, and cloud technology. Most recently at AWS, he focused on helping organizations leverage data and emerging technologies more effectively — an experience that now informs his remit at Sun Life.

He and his team support all lines of business, business units, geographies, and functional areas, ensuring data and analytics initiatives are enabled at scale, not in isolated pockets.

Goodale describes his team as working closely with “a series of really impressive practitioner teams” to ensure they have the capabilities and supporting processes to do their jobs “as effectively and efficiently as possible.”

Recently, his responsibilities expanded further to include enabling GenAI and AI technologies across the organization. He adds that he will approach this in much the same way: as an enterprise enabler, not a siloed innovation lab.

A third pillar of the role is enterprise data governance, encompassing ownership, stewardship, and active management embedded into day-to-day operations. “That is a broad and complex area, especially when it comes to maintaining consistency and implementing best practices across our global operations,” he says, emphasizing that managing these challenges is difficult even with structured data alone, and becomes far more complex with unstructured data.

Evolving the data strategy for GenAI and agentic AI

As AI reshapes financial services and insurance, Sun Life’s data strategy must evolve in lockstep. Goodale is clear that this evolution is not optional but strategic.

“That evolution is crucial in driving effective GenAI and agent implementation and ensuring we remain at the forefront of tech innovation and ultimately driving better experiences and better results.” He highlights several core elements of this evolution:

• High-quality, diverse data: It starts with the basics. GenAI’s appetite for “vast amounts of clean, relevant data” demands a renewed focus on quality and breadth. Without that, outputs will not be accurate and valuable.
• Elevated governance and compliance: Data governance must rise to meet emerging ethical and regulatory expectations. This is particularly important “in handling sensitive insurance and financial data.”
• Enhanced accessibility and integration: Breaking down silos and making it easier for AI models to access diverse sources is another key priority. It is “about enhancing data accessibility and integration… making it easier for AI models to access and utilize the diverse data sources across the organization.”
• Reinforced security: With AI increasing the stakes, “placing an even greater emphasis on robust security measures” is non-negotiable, both for proprietary information and client-sensitive data.
• A data-driven (and AI-literate) culture: “It’s about fostering a data-driven culture where we encourage and enable employees across all levels to really understand the value of data and how it can be leveraged with AI to drive innovation and improve decision-making.”

Right tool, right problem

Despite the excitement around GenAI, Goodale is careful to frame it as a means, not an end.

“We see it as an enabler that complements our core principles and our problem-solving approach.”

That problem-solving approach is deliberately pragmatic. “It’s really about the right tool, right job kind of thing,” he says. The team does not start from the assumption that GenAI is always the right answer. Instead, the aim is to ensure that “we apply the right technology to the right problem.”

His enterprise data and analytics enablement function is therefore dedicated to empowering the development and scaling of AI “right across the enterprise” in what he calls “a thoughtful and outcomes-oriented manner.”

From provisioning GenAI services to coding co-pilots

This philosophy is already materializing in concrete capabilities and use cases inside Sun Life.

“We’ve made significant strides in this area as well,” Goodale notes. “We’ve enabled new features and automated the process of provisioning GenAI  services, which allows us to build solutions much more quickly and effectively.”

The team is also using GenAI to improve its own internal workflows:

• Test automation and synthetic data:  “We’re using GenAI-enabled automated test case generation and creating rich, realistic test data,” he explains. This significantly improves time to value in software development and testing.
• Developer productivity: “Our developers broadly are harnessing the power of GenAI-powered coding tools like GitHub Copilot to accelerate cycle time and boost productivity.”

These examples, he says, show how an evolving data strategy and modern AI capabilities come together to “continue to innovate and deliver tangible value to clients and stakeholders in a safe and secure way.”

What a data-centric culture really requires

When it comes to fostering a data-centric culture, Goodale thinks i i’s more about capitalizing on opportunities than about overcoming challenges. For him, success hinges on a multidimensional, collaborative approach.

“One of the primary focuses for us is building stronger partnerships with our business groups,” he explains. The team dedicates “significant time and resources” to understanding each group’s unique needs and aligning data and analytics initiatives with their specific goals and maturity.

This tailored approach acknowledges that a one-size-fits-all approach is not going to work given Sun Life’s size and complexity.

Partnerships, upskilling, and change management

To turn culture into a durable asset, Goodale highlights three interlocking focus areas: partnerships, upskilling, and change management.

• Deep partnerships with the business: By aligning with each group’s data maturity and priorities, the enterprise team can tailor data strategies and tactics, and ensure their effective and relevant implementation.
• Upskilling for a fast-evolving landscape: By prioritizing workforce training, Sun Life is equipping its teams to take full advantage of its data and rapidly evolving capabilities. A strong culture of continuous learning allows the organization to realize greater value from the investments it has made and continues to make.
• Thoughtful change management: Change management is equally central. Sun Life is putting “considerable effort” into clear communication strategies and adoption tactics that demonstrate the tangible value of data-driven decision-making and the related tools.

By showcasing real-world benefits, Goodale and his team work to “foster enthusiasm and genuine buy-in across the organization.”

Global alignment, local relevance

Finally, Goodale points to one of the most compelling opportunities for a global enterprise like Sun Life: “Perhaps one of the most compelling opportunities is achieving global alignment while respecting regional differences in regulatory requirements,” he says.

“The bottom line is that it’s about taking a multidimensional approach for us to build a stronger, more engaged, and more data-savvy culture in the organization,” he concludes.

CDO Magazine appreciates Chris Goodale for sharing his insights with our global community.