At Cigna, I was brought in as an Associate Director via Deloitte to design and implement a global programme governance framework. The initiative was a multi-year, $100m+ transformation aiming to consolidate Cigna’s disparate platforms into a single digital system spanning the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

The challenge? Different regions were already working with their preferred vendors, each had bespoke reporting methods, and there was a strong sense of regional autonomy. My proposed governance model, which included a centralised structure and standardised reporting, was met with heavy resistance—particularly from senior leaders in the US and Asia-PAC, who saw it as overreach and a potential blocker to local agility.