Technology and Heart with Eric Whaley

Eric Whaley is a CIO who has spent three decades quietly doing something that most technology leaders only talk about: building cultures where people actually want to show up. Across Canada Trust, HSBC, IIROC, and now Wolseley Canada — part of Ferguson, the country's leading national distributor of plumbing, HVAC/R, and PVF products — Eric has led transformations of extraordinary complexity while consistently being described in one way: as someone who engages and motivates people and builds highly collaborative work cultures. Known as a business technology executive with a talent for leveraging technology and building inspired teams, Eric is recognized for his leadership in setting goals and fostering collaboration. Outside of his day-to-day work, he stays connected to the startup community and emerging technologies through partnerships with educational institutions and participation in community forums. This conversation explores what it means to lead technology transformation with a fundamentally human orientation — how collaborative cultures are built and sustained through change, what wellbeing looks like inside organizations navigating digital disruption, and why the softest skills in a CIO's toolkit may be the most strategically consequential ones of all.