The financial services sector is undergoing profound change. From shifting customer expectations and rising competition to the promise, and complexity, of emerging technologies, banks across the globe are racing to modernise. Across ten countries in the Caribbean, CIBC is positioning itself at the forefront of this transformation. Helping to spearhead that charge is Trevor Wood, Deputy CIO, at CIBC Caribbean, whose journey from teller to technology leader reflects not only the evolution of the bank, but also the changing face of financial services leadership.
“My current role places my team at the centre, if not at the tip of the spear, for digital transformation,” Trevor explains. “It goes beyond a technology perspective because we see ourselves as both the catalyst and the cradle for digital transformation.”
Strategy Meets Culture in Banking
CIBC’s transformation journey is not just about systems upgrades or shiny new platforms. For Trevor, sustainable change in banking begins with building the foundations for architecture, governance and culture.
On the architecture side, his team’s mandate is clear: “protecting the organisation from the cost of change”. That means identifying and integrating technologies in ways that push the bank forward strategically, avoiding duplication and minimising disruption. It also means orchestrating delivery across the business, with the project management office serving as the conductor of a complex symphony of moving parts.
Yet technology alone cannot drive transformation. Trevor is adamant that culture plays an equally vital role.
“Culture can be one of those nebulous things that people talk about as ‘the way we do things around here,’” he reflects. “But if you want positive behaviour, you have to be intentional about describing it. We’ve adopted something called the culture of care, which is about framing your responsibilities and your priorities with your peers, with your communities and in the way you relate.”
The Transformation Journey: From MVP to Market Leadership
Digital transformation at CIBC Caribbean is well underway, but Trevor is clear that the journey is just beginning.
Borrowing from agile terminology, he suggests the bank has moved past its minimum viable product (MVP) stage and is now focused on scaling value. “If this were a race, we’d just be getting up out of our starting phase and starting to stride,” he says with a nod to his Jamaican colleagues.
That acceleration is evident in concrete outcomes. The bank has:
- Launched a market-leading digital lending channel, enabling qualified clients to access loans in under five minutes.
- Reinvented the onboarding experience, allowing both clients and non-clients to open accounts in five minutes or less.
- Adopted squad-based operating models combining developers, data scientists, and other specialists to accelerate delivery.
“The transformation has not only been about technology, it’s been about a change in our operating model,” Trevor emphasises. “We are now starting to reap the benefits of developing the muscles that allow us to create products like this.”
