Scholten Will Lead The Principal's IT

According to Gary P. Scholten, the new senior vice president and chief information officer at The Principal Financial Group, his 20-plus years of experience at the Des Moines-based company will help him easily work with the many business leaders with whom he must interact.

"I have worked with, and been part of, many different business units and many different management teams since I have been here and that will give me a definite advantage," Scholten says about his career, which includes many IT positions. "My experience at The Principal has given me a good feel for the issues."

Scholten, who sits on the IT governance committee that oversees technology across the entire company, will be responsible for continuing The Principal's successes with IT and the business. "I am stepping into a position where we have a strong IT heritage," he says. "Our charge is that we have to continue to deliver world-class IT solutions and we have to evolve and be aligned with the business."

Scholten, who replaces the retiring Carl Williams, senior vice president, will take over as head of The Principal's IT organization. He says he will continue the emphasis on enterprise application integration (EAI), "to make sure that the customer, or financial intermediary, has a common user experience" in an effort to support the company's mission of helping the customer achieve financial security."In order to do that we leverage technology heavily," according to Scholten. "EAI is something that The Principal has had success with."

Greg MacSweeney is editorial director of InformationWeek Financial Services, whose brands include Wall Street & Technology, Bank Systems & Technology, Advanced Trading, and Insurance & Technology. View Full Bio