Ask Veena Balram about her career, and two words come up again and again: keep learning.
Those words have guided a career that has taken her across banking, technology, consulting and payments and continues to shape what she calls her “encore years.”
For Veena, growth has never been defined solely by a new role or title. It comes from remaining curious, knowing when it is time for a new challenge and, above all, learning from the people around you.
“Am I growing and am I more than what I was six months ago?” is a question she believes professionals should regularly ask themselves.
Building business by building relationships
Veena joined CGI in 2018, bringing extensive banking experience spanning both the technology and business sides of the industry. During her time with the company, she served as Director and Vice-President, working with major Canadian banking clients before taking responsibility for the Scotiabank account as Vice-President, Consulting Services.
She is rightly very proud of the business growth she helped achieve and the new relationships her team established across the bank. But Veena is quick to shift the emphasis away from her individual contribution.
“It was always a team effort,” she says.
That belief in collective success is central to how she remembers CGI. One of her favorite memories is working on the 20th floor at 250 Yonge Street, where she felt like a team member could simply announce, “I have a problem, I need help,” and colleagues would step in to find a solution.
For Veena, those everyday moments captured something important about CGI: people were willing to share their knowledge and help one another succeed.
Creating space for others
Ask people in the Toronto office, and they will say Veena worked hard to strengthen inclusion and create opportunities for people to learn from one another.
She supported initiatives that increased awareness and understanding of Black, Asian, Indigenous and women’s communities and helped build a bridge between CGI’s Women in Technology and Young Women Connect communities. She was particularly proud of the number of women on her team and of seeing male colleagues become active allies.
She also helped strengthen CGI’s presence in Women in Payments, representing the company in a forum where it previously had little visibility.
The common thread was bringing people together, something Veena sees as closely connected to CGI’s culture.
She describes her experience as a balance of collaboration and autonomy. Teams worked toward shared business goals, while individuals had the freedom to act entrepreneurially and find new ways to achieve them.
Staying curious in the “encore years”
Veena doesn’t particularly like the word retirement. She prefers “encore years.”
After a career largely spent in banking, she is now putting more of her energy into coaching and mentoring. Having earned her coaching certification several years ago, she enjoys working with people serious about their own development who can benefit from her experience.
Her advice is refreshingly simple: you don’t need to have all the answers.
“It’s OK to say, ‘I don’t know.’ You don’t have to know everything,” she says.
Being willing to be vulnerable about what you don’t know creates space to learn and, she believes, to enjoy your work. Titles and compensation are ultimately byproducts of finding meaning and enjoyment in what you do.
That philosophy also shapes how she approaches the workplace. Stay curious, be present and take time to genuinely connect with people. Instead of relying on assumptions or falling into routines, Veena encourages people to pay attention, ask questions and understand how others are really doing.
Making the encore count
Veena is filling her encore years with community work, learning and time with family.
She serves on the board of the Sunshine Center for Seniors, a cause with a personal connection. With her own parents living thousands of miles away while maintaining their independence, supporting older adults has become particularly meaningful to her.
She is also making time for Buddhist study, teaching, tai chi, yoga, walking and strength training, as well as learning Japanese calligraphy. There are books to read, old friends to rediscover and places to explore. Recent travels have taken her to five countries and 22 cities. Among her greatest pleasures is spending time with her 5-year-old granddaughter.
Although colleagues may remember her as highly sociable, Veena considers herself an introvert, perfectly content staying home with a book and music.
One recent read particularly resonated with her: Angela Duckworth’s Grit. Its focus on passion and perseverance reflects something Veena recognizes in her own journey. Success requires more than education or talent. It is often based on a willingness to stay curious, keep learning, be vulnerable and connect deeply with others.
Keep learning, keep connecting
Technology and banking continue to change rapidly. Veena sees AI becoming a bigger part of conversations about payments, while the move away from cash is making ideas that once seemed distant feel increasingly familiar.
Just as important to her is something distinctly human: seeing people come together face to face, care about one another and stand up for their colleagues.
Perhaps that is why “encore years” fits her so well. This chapter is about deciding what deserves her time next. For Veena, that means continuing to learn, investing in people and staying open to new experiences. It also means carrying forward a lesson that defined her years at CGI: we don’t work, grow or succeed in isolation.
