Anna Daley, AVP, Data and Application Security at Travelers, took risks to find her place in the world, then found her career home protecting others from risk. 

When Anna immigrated from Poland at age 20, she put herself through college by waiting tables. “America was seen as a place where opportunities are endless, and all you need to do is work hard and persevere to be successful in life and have a bright future.”  

Although Anna had never seen a computer growing up in Poland, she instantly discovered joy in technology and found great reward in writing programs that helped people do their jobs. She was hired to write a data loss prevention program for a friend’s company – her first foray into cybersecurity. She took to it instantly, and from there, Anna was hired to create the entire security program for a local start-up company. 

When Anna joined Travelers in claim – she has never looked back. In fact, she only wishes she had found Travelers sooner. 

“I love the work I do. We are using tech to simplify our cybersecurity, making it easier for people to do their jobs. And I love that Travelers is a very caring company, generously giving to the community and invested in employees’ growth and happiness. Diversity is highly valued and supported here, and Travelers puts a lot of energy into developing and promoting women.”  

After creating and implementing a risk and security program for a large Travelers business unit, including a multi-year strategy, she went all-in, earning a master’s degree in cybersecurity.  

Cybersecurity is what truly captured her interest, and her wealth of IT knowledge gave her a unique advantage in understanding and avoiding cybersecurity pitfalls. Fully understanding risks requires an understanding of how web applications are built, how information travels through systems, and how everything is connected and works together.  

“Cybersecurity and technology are evolving at a rapid pace. It’s really intriguing to me – there is always something exciting to learn about. Travelers enables my professional development by providing the latest technologies and tools, whether it is for application development or security concepts.”  

As a leader in Travelers’ Cybersecurity team, Anna is implementing new cutting-edge product development tools that will be used by the entire engineering community to both identify and repair vulnerabilities while simplifying the engineering experience.  

“It’s a great opportunity to make an impact on a large scale, on something very important: preventing security issues. It feels wonderful to give people a tool that they can use every day, to make sure that the product is sound from the time they start writing the code to the time they push it to production.” 

As Travelers transitions more technology to the cloud, enhancing its service offerings, Anna is making sure that its systems and information remain secure. 

“The cloud brings in new areas of focus from a security perspective, but also provides a powerful functionality.”  

To supplement her on-the-job learning, Anna studies tech trends in her spare time and stays closely connected with peers.  

She is also an active member of T200, a national community of women in tech that was co-founded by Mojgan Lefebvre, EVP and Chief Technology & Operations Officer at Travelers.

“It is amazing to work with a team of truly talented individuals who gel together – our team is really close. We genuinely like working with one another, and there’s a level of professional comfort that we have with each other. We can have transparent discussions, give each other feedback and ultimately come up with the best solutions.”  

Anna’s family – her husband and two children – enjoy “outdoorsy” activities year-round; especially snowmobiling, skiing and hiking, which means lots of vacation time in Vermont. You’ll also find Anna outdoors at home, tending to the backyard garden oasis she created – where there are no risks; only peace, tranquility and relaxation and a world away from it all.