Alpesh Sethia joined First National as Chief Product and Technology Officer in May 2026. In this conversation, he shares how his interest in technology developed, reflects on the experiences that shaped his leadership approach, and discusses how product, technology, data and artificial intelligence can support First National’s next stage of growth.
Alpesh, you have more than 20 years of technology and leadership experience. When did you first know you wanted to make technology your career?
I have been interested in computers for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Montreal, and as a kid I was drawn to programming because it combined logic, creativity and problem solving. What started as curiosity became a real passion for software and systems. That interest led me to study engineering at Concordia University with a strong focus in software, which was still relatively unique at the time. Looking back, that early exposure shaped how I think about technology today: it is most powerful when it solves practical problems and helps people do something better, faster or with more confidence.
What did you do after graduating?
I started my career as a software engineer at Nortel, CAE and Motorola, and then moved into consulting with Accenture and Sapient. Those early roles gave me a strong technical foundation, while consulting helped me see technology from the client and user perspective. That was an important shift for me. I came to understand that good technology is not just about building systems. It is about solving problems in a way that is useful, reliable and easy to adopt. A strong solution should make someone’s job easier, improve an experience or help an organization serve its customers better. That is where my interest in product really developed.
From there, you joined the TMX Group, Canada’s leading capital markets infrastructure company, rising to become Chief Technology Officer.
At TMX, I had the opportunity to work at the intersection of business, markets and technology. I started on the business side, helping bring new products to market, including TMX Money for retail investors and TMX Webstore for market data and analytics. Over time, I moved into broader technology leadership responsibilities, including serving as CTO. That progression shaped how I think about technology leadership. It reinforced that technology cannot be separated from the business problem, the client experience or the outcomes that matter. Strong technology teams do more than deliver systems. They understand the business they support and help create value through better products, better execution and better experiences.
Your career also included serving as CTO at the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.
At HOOPP, the mission was very powerful. The organization serves Ontario healthcare workers, and technology played an important role in helping HOOPP operate securely, effectively and in support of that mission. It was a privilege to lead technology in that environment and to work with teams that cared deeply about the people they served.
Since joining First National, what has impressed you most?
This is a company with a rich history of entrepreneurship and accomplishment and best of all, it’s an organization with many opportunities to grow and advance in an industry that is a prodigious user of technology. Underlying First National’s success and what’s most impressive to me is the long tenure of the workforce. People are happy to be here, they are passionate about contributing on a personal level and with years and sometimes decades of experience, they know what they’re talking about. There is also an inherent sense of teamwork and collaboration, like a family, and that’s unique for a company this size.
How important is technology to First National’s present and future?
Technology is vital to First National today, and it will become even more important over time. I think about it in two ways. First, technology helps us run the company well. It supports our people, workflows, controls, service levels and ability to operate reliably at scale. In that sense, technology gives our teams the tools they need to do their jobs effectively. Second, technology can help us create better products and experiences for brokers, customers and business partners. In our market, speed, consistency, quality and ease of doing business all matter. Used well, technology can help us improve those areas, support growth and strengthen First National’s competitive position. The opportunity is not technology for its own sake. It is using product thinking, engineering discipline, data and automation to solve real business problems and create measurable value.
Can you outline your initial priorities for the Product and Technology team?
My initial focus is to make Product and Technology easier to work with, more disciplined in how we deliver, and more directly connected to business outcomes. That starts with reducing unnecessary complexity in how we work. Teams need to know the priorities, who owns what, and how decisions get made. When that is clear, people can spend more time solving the right problems and less time working through unnecessary complexity. It also means continuing to build the core capabilities of a modern product and technology organization, including product ownership, engineering practices, architecture, information security, data, delivery governance, vendor management and operational resilience. These are the capabilities that help us deliver change consistently, manage risk and support the business.
What’s the overarching goal?
The goal is to help First National move with speed and confidence while staying focused on service, reliability, risk management and measurable value.
How do you keep a growing technology organization from becoming too complex?
Complexity tends to build up naturally as organizations grow. New systems, new processes, new vendors and new ways of working can all make sense at the time they are introduced, but over time can create duplication, delays and unnecessary effort. The discipline is to keep asking practical questions. What problem are we solving? Who owns the outcome? Does this process add value? Can we make it easier for our teams, mortgage brokers, customers and partners? Are we making decisions in a way that improves speed, quality and accountability? That mindset is important because it creates capacity. The more we reduce unnecessary work, the more time and energy we can direct toward higher-value priorities for the business.
What advantages can First National create through this work?
The biggest advantage is better execution. When priorities are clear, teams can move faster, make better decisions and focus their energy on the work that matters most. Over time, that should help us improve speed, quality, reliability and cost discipline. It should also help us create better experiences for brokers and customers. Just as importantly, it gives us the foundation we need for modernization and AI, because those capabilities only work well when they are supported by good processes, good data, strong controls and clear ownership.
Where does AI fit?
AI has significant potential to complement the efforts of our technology team and support higher levels of productivity. One practical example is software development. AI can help developers write code, test, document and solve problems faster, while our technology teams provide the judgment, oversight and accountability needed to ensure quality, security and reliability. More broadly, I see AI and automation becoming important parts of how we work and how we evolve our product and technology capabilities. The key is to apply AI in a thoughtful way, focused on real business problems and supported by the right controls, including privacy, security, risk management and human judgment.
How would you describe your leadership style?
I’m an organized leader who believes in setting a clear direction, building a practical plan and aligning teams towards a north star. People do their best work when they understand the goal, why it matters and how their contribution connects to the broader business outcome. I value collaboration and direct feedback, but I also believe strong teams need trust, clear decision rights and accountability.
Any final thoughts?
I am excited to be part of First National at this stage of its journey. The company has a strong history, a talented team and a clear opportunity to use product and technology to support the next phase of growth. My focus is to help First National build a Product and Technology organization that is practical, disciplined and connected to business value. If we do that well, we can make it easier for our teams to deliver, improve experiences for brokers and customers, and build a stronger technology foundation for the future.