Leading Transformation in Times of Change

Tosin Akinwekomi (AMBA'15)

Title: Director, Optimization & Process Engineering at CIBC

Organizations of all ages and stages—from startups to enterprises—find themselves navigating transitions of all shapes, sorts and sizes on a daily basis.

“There is no doubt that things are shifting,” says Karen Jackson-Cox, executive director of the Smith Career Advancement Centre. “The organizations of tomorrow are going to look very different than they do today, and they need leaders that can help them adapt.”

Tosin Akinwekomi is a professional change agent. In his role as Director, Optimization & Process Engineering at CIBC, he helps the bank’s Caribbean business troubleshoot issues that are blocking progress and develop frameworks for new and better ways of doing things. In an organization as large and complex as a major bank, challenging the status quo is never simple. 

But as Tosin explains, it’s also never boring: When you’re in the business of transformation, every day is different, and there’s never a shortage of important work to do.

How did you come to work in transformation?

After my undergrad degree, I worked in accounting and audit-related roles. When you go through an audit you see how businesses actually work. You see processes: Some efficient, some less so. With every engagement you see something new and different. And you start to build a library of what great looks like, what good looks like, and what typical looks like. I loved thinking about how to make processes more effective and productive. I started seeking opportunities to go from auditing those processes to actually being a part of the teams working to improve them.

I had a lot of awareness and acumen, but I was missing the frameworks that would help me get beyond diagnosing what was wrong and into how to fix it. So, I went to Smith to do my MBA, which gave me a more rounded education to help me transition into transformation work. 

From there, I just went deeper and deeper. I kept looking for opportunities to learn more. I kept looking for different frameworks. I kept looking for opportunities to do this type of work in different spaces. I did some consulting. I did a lot of work in banking. I did a bit in not-for-profit. Over time, I built my experience and my skills. And that’s what helped me transition into my work at CIBC.

How do you explain your job to others?

I help the bank change things that need to be changed. Once we identify an area that needs transformation, I scope out the situation, diagnose the problem and recommend ways to fix it. I then provide advisory for the implementation journey.

What are your key responsibilities?

Scoping, diagnosing and making recommendations for how to solve problem areas. 

Typically, business leaders will come to our team with a hunch. They know something is wrong—it could be related to speed to market, responsiveness to clients, increasing costs, capabilities, all manner of issues. We’ll get these directional problem statements, and my job is to then go in and scope it out. That involves putting a little bit more structure into what the problem is: I usually spend three or four weeks trying to size up and figure out what is really wrong. That means analyzing data, talking to stakeholders, interviewing people, reading reports, all sorts of research. That helps me identify the problem and start building a plan. I’ll do a diagnostic of the cause of the problem and then I’ll work with those stakeholders to develop recommendations.

Once I have a plan, I’ll present the options to the leadership team. If there are 20 things they should be doing, I’ll help them determine what to do first, then second, and so on. More and more, those discussions involve asking where AI can help the process, but it’s still very early in that evolution. The goal is for everyone to leave these meetings with a roadmap that allows for manageable implementation. 

What about your job tends to surprise people?

That you don’t need to have everything perfectly mapped out to drive action. You can spend a lot of time in analysis, which is important, but at some point you have to be comfortable saying, “OK, I know enough to move forward. I think we’re moving in the right direction, so let’s get some action going.” People might challenge it—and they often do—but to me, the bias to drive action and adjust as we go as needed is better than spending weeks trying to get something perfect.

What do you love most about what you do?

It’s the problem solving. My strength is putting order to chaos. I love that I can start with something painful but undefined, and over time put structure around it. 

I also find it very satisfying to get alignment. It’s one thing to make recommendations. It’s another to get people to commit resources to it. You have to think of change as a process of influencing. I don’t have direct authority over any of the people whose problems I am working to change. They control their own budgets and decisions. So I need to be able to get them to buy in to what I am selling in a way that makes sense and is sustainable. I love that process. 

What skills are most valuable in your work?

First, your super skill has to be learning. I work with a lot of different areas of the bank, and as you can imagine, I am not an expert in all of them. What I am is a quick learner. You need to be in order to establish credibility. Say a leader in the bank has a problem with transaction disputes, and I don’t know much about disputes. I’ll do a bunch of research about how disputes are handled in different countries, different banks, and in the industry as a whole. I’ll never know everything. But I have a mindset that every engagement is a great learning opportunity. 

Second, you have to be able to communicate and influence others. When you’re leading transformation, you’re not doing it alone: You have to carry a bunch of other people along with you. So you have to be able to understand what’s being said and what’s not being said. You have to assess what people need to hear at any given moment. If you do that well, your engagement will be super-successful. If you don’t, you’ll lose people. 

Third, you have to keep up with new tools and frameworks. Right now, there’s a proliferation of AI out there. You have to be well-versed in emerging technologies and ways of doing business. You don’t have to be an expert necessarily, but you should be articulate enough to speak to how tech can be applied to the issues or opportunities you’re exploring. 

Finally, you should have solid technical business skills. You should know finance and accounting. You should understand Lean Six Sigma, different problem solving and analytical tools and frameworks for change management. I think of these things as a foundational toolkit for success.

What excites you about the future of your profession? 

I am very excited about AI. It’s changing the speed at which we can now get things done, the speed at which we can do analysis, the speed at which we can put together material, the speed at which we can review and synthesize information. I’m excited about how we can leverage AI to tackle problems that we previously thought were wicked problems—that is, those with no straightforward solutions. AI can help make things easier for employees and for clients, and I am excited about that future.

What’s your best advice for people considering a career in transformation?

I would consume as much learning as I can, especially if you’re early in your career. Read books—there are great ones out there on change management. If you’re still in school, take classes around service design, UX design and behavioural science. Keep acquiring knowledge over time.

From there, look for opportunities to practice your learnings in safe spaces: Join clubs where you can help lead some change, or take on projects in that allow you to do so—in your school, your work, your volunteer activities, your church, mosque or temple. The more you force yourself to apply change frameworks to scenarios that allow you to go from the start of an idea to execution, the better. Put your hand up and practice. That’s how you build the muscle for transformation and change management early in your career.