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For Kathy Kay, customer-centric IT leadership starts with a moving target: customer needs change, so technology strategy and business practices must change with them. In a January 30, 2025 interview with CIO, Principal Financial Group’s executive vice president and CIO described technology not merely as an efficiency tool, but as a way to help employees serve customers better, connect experiences across products, and make more informed recommendations.
What customer-centric IT leadership means to Kay
Kay’s central point is that an organization cannot assume yesterday’s successful practices will remain right for tomorrow’s customers. “The world is constantly changing, our customers’ needs are constantly changing, and as such we need to make some pivots to serve our customers more effectively,” she said in the CIO interview.
That makes customer focus an ongoing discipline rather than a one-time technology project. Leaders need to listen for changing expectations, connect technology choices to business priorities, and be prepared to adjust when the existing approach no longer serves customers effectively. The CIO profile described Principal as 145 years old at the time of publication in January 2025; Kay presented the company’s long history as a reason to keep evolving, not to preserve old ways of working.
Technology is a way to improve service, not just efficiency
Kay links technology investment to the quality and continuity of customer service. “Technology plays an essential role in everything we do at Principal. It’s not just about enabling efficiency; it’s about unlocking opportunities to serve our customers better.”
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In practical terms, her account points to three connected goals:
- Help employees serve customers. Technology should make it easier for employees to respond to customer needs, rather than being measured only by internal process efficiency.
- Connect experiences across products. Customers may interact with different parts of a financial-services business. Kay’s strategy aims to make those interactions more integrated rather than treating each product line as a separate experience.
- Support more personalized interactions. Better access to relevant information can help employees and agents tailor conversations to individual circumstances.
These are strategic aims as Kay described them in the interview, not independently measured outcomes. The interview does not quantify improvements in service, personalization, or customer satisfaction.
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How data, analytics, AI, and cloud fit into the approach
Kay describes enterprise data and analytics as foundations for more integrated service. Curating data for use across the organization can help employees and agents see relevant context and make better-informed, proactive suggestions. This frames data work as part of the customer experience, not only as back-office infrastructure.
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Leadership habits that make the strategy adaptable
Technology alignment depends on leadership behavior as well as architecture. Kay emphasizes listening, curiosity, humility, feedback, learning, and removing blockers so teams can solve problems together. She puts the point plainly: “Great leaders don’t have all the answers; they ask great questions and empower their teams to solve challenges collaboratively.”
Her approach implies a practical cycle for IT leaders:
- Listen. Pay attention to customers, employees, agents, and business teams to understand where expectations or needs are shifting.
- Connect priorities. Relate those needs to business objectives before choosing or expanding technology work.
- Enable teams. Give people access to useful information and remove obstacles that prevent them from improving service.
- Learn and adjust. Seek feedback, stay curious about what is working, and course-correct rather than treating an initial plan as permanent.
Kay describes learning from others as essential to long-term success: “Staying open to learning — especially from those around you — is essential for long-term success.” The emphasis is on remaining responsive, not claiming that any single leadership method guarantees a particular customer result.
Principal’s organizational context
Earlier CIO coverage offers dated context for how the strategy has been organized. In November 2023, CIO reported that Principal had unified its IT strategy and established Enterprise Business Solutions as an internal technology division focused on modernization. The report also mentioned Evolution IQ in connection with improving customer experience in disability insurance claims. These are reported initiatives at that time, not evidence here of their current status or measured effect.
A May 2024 CIO interview with Kay discussed balancing traditional AI and generative AI and serving customers holistically across digital and non-digital interactions. Together, the dated coverage illustrates the breadth of the challenge she describes: customer journeys cross technologies, channels, and business processes, so IT strategy has to account for the whole experience.
Kay’s remit at Principal
Principal’s official management biography identifies Kay as executive vice president and CIO, with responsibility for global technology, digital operations, service delivery, digital strategies, and innovation. It says she joined Principal in May 2020 and has over 35 years of cross-industry IT leadership experience. These details describe her role and background; they do not independently validate the outcomes of the initiatives she discussed.
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