Vardis Supports Guardian Life with the Appointment of Jim Tierney as Head of Group Benefits Digital & Technology
Guardian Life, a Fortune 250-scale mutual insurance company serving 29 million customers, has appointed Jim Tierney to lead technology and digital strategy for its Group Benefits line of business. In this role, Jim will oversee a team of 600-700 employees and contractors, driving the execution of Guardian's ambitious Journey to 2030 strategy, which has identified Technology, Data, and AI as a core strategic pillar.
Jim is a seasoned executive technology leader with over 20 years of insurance and digital experience. Most recently, he served as SVP, Divisional Chief Information Officer at Lincoln Financial Group, where he led technology strategy and delivery for the Life & Annuity business, Distribution, and Brand functions at the $390B AUM carrier. Managing 800+ global resources and a $130M budget, Jim delivered measurable results including leading an enterprise-wide mainframe modernization effort that achieved $15M+ in annual savings, spearheading an ETL transformation projected to deliver 90% runtime improvement, and deploying an AI-enabled voice bot platform driving $3M+ in annual operational savings.
Earlier at Lincoln, Jim served as SVP of Corporate Strategy, where he partnered with the CEO and C-suite on enterprise transformation and M&A evaluations. As VP of Distribution Technology, he launched a $30M+ digital transformation program and delivered critical enterprise-wide integrations. His career also includes leadership roles at Nationwide Insurance, where he created the digital marketing function for the launch of Nationwide's retail mutual fund product line.
Jim holds a degree from Columbia University and completed the Securities Industry Institute at The Wharton School/SIFMA.
Founded in 1860, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America is one of the largest mutual insurance companies in the United States. The company serves 29 million customers through a comprehensive range of insurance and financial products, including dental and vision, disability and absence management, life and AD&D, and supplemental health benefits. Guardian's Group Benefits business manages over 112,000 cases with 12.3 million members.
About Vardis
Vardis is a trusted partner for executive and board recruiting. Our partners personally conduct all candidate outreach, ensuring our clients are well-represented and get the top candidates to the table. To determine what drives exceptional returns, we’ve analyzed executive teams—pre-close and post-exit—across the 500 most successful PE investments, compiling over 1 million data points on leaders’ expertise, credentials and industry experience. This proprietary, data-driven approach helps us identify and secure executives with the traits that consistently deliver superior returns.